Jerry Sandusky trial: Witness weeps as he testifies to abuse; McQueary recounts shower episode

BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky faced two accusers Tuesday, one a hulking former Penn State quarterback and assistant coach, the other a skinny 18-year-old who graduated from high school last week.

The first, Mike McQueary, testified that he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy, maybe 10 to 12 years old, late one night in a locker room shower. The second, previously identified by the grand jury as “Victim 1,” sobbed and buried his face in his hands as he said Sandusky lured him into a close relationship and then sexually abused him repeatedly when he was still in junior high school.

“I just kind of blacked out and didn’t want it to happen,” he said, weeping as he described the first alleged assault, in Sandusky’s basement.

Sandusky, who has pleaded not guilty to 52 counts related to child sex abuse, showed no reaction to the searing testimony. The prosecution plans to bring eight alleged victims to the stand, and two have now testified in the trial about protracted sexual abuse by Sandusky.

The judge has required that the alleged victims be identified in court by their full names but said he hoped that media organizations would follow their usual practice of protecting victims’ privacy. The Washington Post generally does not identify alleged sex-crime victims.

McQueary said that on Feb. 9, 2001, he became fired up about his job after watching the football movie “Rudy.” He decided to go to work late in the evening to look at recruiting tapes.

He said he went to his locker and saw in a mirror the reflection of Sandusky in the shower pressed up against a young boy — who has never been identified — who was facing away with his hands on the wall. McQueary slammed his locker door to create a loud noise, he said. He turned and saw Sandusky and the boy directly.

“We looked directly in each other’s eyes. At that time, I left the locker room.”

The prosecutor asked if he had any doubt about the identity of the man.

“No doubt,” McQueary said, and for the first time in his testimony, he looked directly at Sandusky. “None!”

McQueary, a strapping man who looks like he just came off the gridiron, proved to be a combative witness during the cross-examination as the defense queried him about inconsistencies in his previous accounts of what he saw. McQueary said that when he told legendary coach Joe Paterno about the incident, “I made sure he knew it was sexual and it was wrong.” Paterno was fired after Sandusky was charged last fall, and he died in January.

McQueary told two other university officials about the incident but no significant action was taken against Sandusky, who, according to prosecutors, continued to prey on boys.

Four years ago, “Victim 1’s” allegation of sexual abuse by Sandusky set in motion the investigation that has culminated in the trial in this picturesque Victorian town.

“Victim 1” said he grew up not knowing his father. He was not yet a teenager when he began attending camps sponsored by the Second Mile, the charity Sandusky founded to help troubled kids.