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Eyewitness testifies on abuse

Coach says he saw sex act in progress

By: Genaro Armas and Mark Scolforo

Posted: 06/13/2012 1:00 AM

Gene J. Puskar / The Associated Press Penn State University assistant football coach Mike McQueary arrives at court to testify in the trial of Jerry Sandusky. (CP)

Warning: Details in this story may be disturbing to readers.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- A former Penn State assistant coach who was a central figure in Joe Paterno's downfall testified Tuesday he heard a "skin-on-skin smacking sound" in a campus locker-room one night in 2001 and saw something that was "more than my brain could handle."

Jerry Sandusky was standing naked in the showers behind a boy, slowly moving his hips, Mike McQueary told the jury.

McQueary, one of the star witnesses in the child sexual abuse case against Sandusky, said he had no doubt he was witnessing anal sex. He testified he slammed his locker shut loudly as if to say, "Someone's here! Break it up!"

Sandusky, 68, is on trial on charges he molested 10 boys over a 15-year period. Authorities say he abused them in hotels, at his home and inside the football team's quarters. The former assistant coach and founder of an acclaimed youth charity has denied the allegations.

Paterno was fired last fall, shortly after Sandusky's arrest, when it became known that McQueary had told the head football coach about the shower episode a decade ago. Two months after his dismissal, Paterno died of lung cancer at 85.

Sandusky lawyer Karl Rominger pressed McQueary during cross-examination about discrepancies in his estimate of the boy's age.

McQueary replied: "If (you) want to argue about 9, 10, 11, 12... the fact is he had sex with a minor, a boy."

Testifying on Day 2 of Sandusky's trial, McQueary said he went to the football team building one night. As he entered the locker-room, he said, he heard a noise.

"Very much skin-on-skin smacking sound," he said.

McQueary said he went to Paterno's house the next morning and relayed what he had seen. Penn State administrator Tim Curley called him a week later to say the school had looked into it, McQueary testified.

Earlier Tuesday, the teenager who triggered the grand jury investigation became the second of the alleged victims to take the stand.

Choking back tears, he said Sandusky kissed him, fondled him and engaged in oral sex with him during numerous sleepovers in the basement of Sandusky's home.

The accuser, labelled Victim No. 1 by a grand jury, said he eventually told a guidance counsellor Sandusky was molesting him, only to be told: "He has a heart of gold, and he wouldn't do something like that."

During cross-examination, Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola asked the teen whether he had financial motives for bringing his accusations.

"All I know is I'm here to tell the truth about what happened to me, just like everybody else," he replied.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 13, 2012 A9