Number of alleged victims of ex-Penn State coach rises
11/18/2011STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Several more people have told a private attorney they were abused as children by former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
Mr. Sandusky, 67, was charged earlier this month with molesting eight young boys over a 15-year period. Several more alleged victims came forward after hearing Mr. Sandusky interviewed on an NBC news program Tuesday night, according to the (Harrisburg) Patriot-News newspaper, citing attorneys in State College.
His indictment has triggered a crisis at the university. Two other former officials have been charged in the case, and last week Penn State's football coach, Joe Paterno, and its president were fired.
"The folks we talked to are largely folks in their 20s, who in a lot of cases have never told their story before," attorney Andy Shubin said of the new abuse claims.
Mr. Shubin said one case went back to the 1970s. Mr. Sandusky founded The Second Mile, the charity through which he is alleged to have met his victims, in 1977.And while Mr. Sandusky faces far more serious charges, it is former vice president for finance Gary Schultz, who may be in the most financial jeopardy.
That's because Mr. Schultz, if convicted of perjuring himself before a state grand jury, could see the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System seek the forfeiture of his $27,558-a-month pension. State law lists perjury, with which Mr. Schultz is charged, as a crime that can trigger forfeiture of public pensions.
Violent crimes, such as the child sexual assaults with which Mr. Sandusky is charged, don't trigger pension forfeitures.
Mr. Sandusky and Mr. Schultz get pensions through the state system for their work at Penn State.
Former Athletic Director Tim Curley, who is also accused of perjury, did not have an account with the state system. If he has a privately managed pension account, it may or may not be subject to a forfeiture bid, depending on how it is funded.
Pension attorneys this week generally agreed Mr. Sandusky's $4,908-a-month pension was probably not at risk under the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act.
On the heels of the Penn State scandal, ESPN reported Thursday that police were investigating an assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University on allegations of child molestation.
Shortly afterward, Syracuse placed longtime assistant coach Bernie Fine on administrative leave.
ESPN reported that Mr. Fine is accused of molesting a former Syracuse ball boy, who is now 39.
The Block News Alliance, the Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.