Recent claims that two Penn State assistant coaches witnessed sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky on separate occasions in 1987 and 1988 are now being dismissed as unreliable by prosecutors, following similar action by Penn State in lieu of damning reports alleging that Joe Paterno’s knowledge of abuse dated back to 1976.
The Associated Press reported that Solicitor General Bruce Castor cited “double and triple hearsay” within the reports as a reason for the dismissal, noting that the coaches in question each denied seeing anything. The names of the coaches were not provided in the documents.
Castor also reported that while investigators were aware of claims of abuse dating back to 1971, no significant documentation could be found to substantiate them.
“The victim in that case had a civil lawyer who asked us in 2014 not to interview him formally because of a pending lawsuit,” Castor said to the Associated Press. “We abided by his wishes after determining that this victim’s information was too remote in time to be useful in our cases against the PSU administrators.”
Castor’s dismissal should provide an air of truth to the early reports that were so feverishly reported on, but the court of public opinion may still remain unmoved by today’s news. No other details about any of the incidents were made available.
David is a senior from Rochester, NY, nestled right in beautiful Western New York. He is majoring in Broadcast Journalism, and as an avid sports fan, he passionately supports the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. He is the first Penn Stater from his family, and couldn’t be prouder to represent Penn State University. In his free time, he likes to alpine ski, and play golf. You can follow him on Twitter @abruz11, and can contact him via email at [email protected].
