The narrative of the investigation behind the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse allegations played out Wednesday as a state attorney general’s agent testified Wednesday in the fourth day of the Sandusky trial.
Anthony Sassano, the attorney general’s agent, testified that the whole process began in 2008 when the guidance counselor of the person referred to as “Victim 1” contacted Centre County Children and Youth Services about inappropriate contact between the person and Sandusky. The grand jury began hearing the case about six months later in 2009.
Sassano also said Centre County District Attorney Stacey Parks Miller received an anonymous tip by e-mail to contact Mike McQueary, who may have information about the case. McQueary testified Tuesday that he saw Sandusky doing something sexual with the person referred to as “Victim 2” in the Lasch Football Building in 2002, but was later amended to a year earlier in 2001.
Agents quickly began trying to come up with ways to find any additional victims, including sending subpoenas to janitors who worked at the Lasch Football Building, although this process was difficult, Sassano said.
“Penn State was not very quick in getting us our information,” Sassano said.
The Office of the Attorney General used lists of children associated with the Second Mile, the charity started by Sandusky in 1977 for underprivileged boys, and narrowed the list down to people who lived within an hour of State College to interview people.
A search warrant was eventually issued on Sandusky’s home, Sassano said, where agents found photos of the person referred to as “Victim 1.”
Information agents found on the person referred to as “Victim 4” were also shown in court. This included a still shot of the 1999 Alamo Bowl where Sandusky is seen with the person referred to as “Victim 4” and a list of people that were on the Alamo Bowl trip, which also included the person referred to as “Victim 4.”
Also obtained and shown in court were lists of children who attended Second Mile Camps. Three of the people referred to as “Victims” had asterisks drawn next to their names.
Sassano said investigators also used the Sandusky autobiography “Touched” to find leads. Sassano said they would leaf through the book looking for photos and names of boys and would track people down trough those.
Also found by investigators were 18 to 20 boxes in a Penn State storage room filled with letters Sandusky wrote to the person referred to as “Victim 4.”
Sassano also explained why Mike McQueary is now saying he saw Sandusky and the person referred to as “Victim 2” in the shower together in 2001 instead of 2002 as he initially said. Sassano said he bought 20 TV Guides and went through all of them to find when the movie “Rudy” was playing on a Friday night, since McQueary testified that the only reason he went to work in the Lasch Football building was because that movie was on that night and it got him excited.
Senior Judge John Cleland said that, because of “errors” in the audio clip from the Bob Costas interview submitted into evidence Wednesday, the jury will have a transcript with them to consider when deliberating instead of the clip they heard.
