McGettigan seemed surprised by the response and asked Anderson a flurry of follow-ups.
“Eleven-year-olds?” McGettigan said.
“Yes,” Anderson said.
“That you didn’t know?’
“Yes.”
Anderson said, “I do it all the time,” and added, “There are regularly young boys at the YMCA showering at the same time that there are older people showering.”
Sandusky, however, is accused of more than showering in the company of young boys. He is accused of molesting them. Prosecutors say the assaults occurred at Penn State facilities, in hotel rooms and at Sandusky’s home, and involved 10 boys over the course of 15 years. Sandusky has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The case is moving more rapidly than anyone anticipated. Judge John Cleland originally predicted a three-week trial, but he surprised the packed courtroom here early Monday afternoon by adjourning for the day, saying the defense would likely rest Wednesday and the two sides could present closing arguments Thursday morning. The jury will have a long list of charges to sort through, but a verdict by the end of the week seems possible.
Monday’s start of the Sandusky defense proved anticlimactic by any standard. There has been much speculation that Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, could testify in his defense. His attorney, Joseph Amendola, implied during opening statements last week that Sandusky himself would take the stand. And the defense has steadily suggested that alleged victims have been inconsistent in their stories and may be motivated by the possibility of a big payout in civil suits.
But when the defense finally got its turn Monday, it presented only a few character witnesses who spoke in general terms about Sandusky’s sterling reputation.
“A lot of us were inspired by the way Jerry could relate to youth and get to their level,” testified David Pasquinelli, a former consultant for The Second Mile, the charity Sandusky founded to help troubled kids.
The two coaches spent much of their time on the stand discussing showering habits in locker rooms. Anderson said he had never seen Sandusky do anything inappropriate. That assertion was echoed by Booker T. Brooks, who had also coached alongside Sandusky at Penn State when both were assistants to the late Joe Paterno.
“Have you ever showered with young kids?” Amendola asked.
“Many times,” Brooks said.
Amendola asked Brooks if he was always naked in the shower.
“I have never showered with any type of clothing on,” Brooks said, as laughter rippled through the courtroom.
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