Hear Released Jerry Sandusky Voicemails to PSU Sexual Assault Victim

Attorney Andrew Shubin announces intentions to sue Penn State for Sandusky’s sexual assault of Victim 2, the boy in the shower.

The man who says he was the victim of the horrific 2001 sexual assault by Jerry Sandusky in the showers of the Penn State football team’s locker room has come forward and will sue the university, the victim’s lawyers said Thursday.

The man, known as “Victim 2” in court documents, was at the center of the explosive criminal case in which Sandusky, the longtime defensive coordinator under Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno, was convicted last month of 45 counts of child rape, sodomy and other child sex abuse crimes. He awaits sentencing.
“Our client suffered extensive sexual abuse over many years both before and after the 2001 incident Michael McQueary witnessed in the Penn State Lasch building shower,” said Victim 2’s attorneys, Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici, who are working with the Philadelphia law firm of Ross Feller Casey LLP. “We intend to file a civil lawsuit against Penn State University and others and to hold them accountable for the egregious and reckless conduct that facilitated the horrific abuse our client suffered.”

The suit, announced in a statement by the law firm, is one of what is expected to be a flood of suits against the university, Sandusky and the Second Mile charity Sandusky founded, and possibly others. Jeff Anderson, an attorney who represents another alleged Sandusky victim, Travis Weaver, told the Daily News Weaver’s civil suit is “still on hold” while the criminal investigation is ongoing. Anderson said he represents two other alleged Sandusky victims, and that all three will file civil suits.

Anderson also said that Penn State’s insurer, Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association (PMA), has tried to deny coverage, claiming Penn State had an obligation to notify PMA about allegations against Sandusky. “This applies to all cases,” Anderson said. There has been no court ruling on the matter yet, according to Anderson.
McQueary, the former Penn State quarterback and a university graduate assistant in 2001, testified during Sandusky’s criminal trial that when he went to the Lasch Building locker room in 2001 to drop off a pair of sneakers, he saw a naked Sandusky and a young boy of about 10 to 12 years old in the shower area.
He said he saw the boy’s hands against the wall of the shower and that Sandusky was directly behind the boy.
“I heard rhythmic slapping sounds, two or three slaps that sounded like skin on skin,” McQueary testified. “I believe Jerry was sexually molesting (the boy) and having some type of intercourse with him.”
“Based on the positioning, I didn’t see insertion nor was there screaming or yelling … but that’s truly what I believe. Jerry was behind him in a very close position with hands wrapped around his midsection,” McQueary testified, who said that he reported what he had seen to Paterno.
The existence of Victim 2 was first revealed to the public in the November grand jury presentment, but he never came forward and did not testify in Sandusky’s trial. Eight of 10 Sandusky victims took the stand.
Shubin and Andronici obtained voicemails they say were left for Victim 2 by Sandusky just two months before Sandusky’s arrest last November. The voicemails are posted on the law firm’s website.
In a Sept. 12, 2011 voicemail, Sandusky allegedly says:
“…Jere. Um. I am probably not going to be able to get a hold of anybody. Um. Uh. Probably ought to just go forward. Uh. I would be very firm and express my feelings, uh, upfront. Um. But, uh, you know, there is nothing really to hide so. Um. If you want, give me a call. You can call me on my other cell phone or on this one, either one so. Alright, take care. Love you. Uh. Hope you get this message. Thanks.”
Seven days later, Sandusky allegedly left another message with Victim 2:
“…Just calling to see you know whether you had any interest in going to the Penn State game this Saturday. Uh. If you could get back to me and let me know, uh, I would appreciate it and when you get this message, uh, give me a call and I hope to talk to you later. Thanks. I love you.”
Penn State was leveled with severe sanctions by the NCAA Monday, including a $60 million fine, reduction of scholarships and a four-year ban from bowl play. The NCAA also vacated 111 victories between 1998-2011 from Paterno’s Penn State coaching record. Paterno’s statue was removed from outside Beaver Stadium Sunday.
The sanctions came on the heels of the release of the independent Freeh report, which was compiled by former FBI director Louis Freeh.
In the report, Paterno is identified with three former PSU administrators as having orchestrated a cover-up of the sex abuse allegations against Sandusky, including the McQueary incident, as far back as 1998.
Paterno died in January of lung cancer. He and former PSU president Graham Spanier were fired Nov. 9 after Sandusky’s arrest. McQueary said he told Paterno about the 2001 shower incident involving Victim 2 the day after he witnessed it, but Paterno waited another 24 hours before telling the then athletic director, Tim Curley, and then school vice president Gary Schultz. None of the three men nor Spanier alerted authorities about the incident.
Curley and Schultz are charged with perjury and failure to report an incident of abuse. Spanier may face criminal charges. Paterno was never charged.
“Penn State has now admitted and there is no longer any question that its top officials could have and should have prevented these acts,” Shubin and Andronici said in their statement. “Jerry Sandusky’s abuse of Victim 2 and other children is a direct result of a conspiracy to conceal Sandusky’s conduct and the decisions by top Penn State officials that facilitated and enabled his access to victims.”
Anderson said he was “applauding Victim 2 for coming forward. But there is still more to be known.”
Robert Hoatson, the founder of Road to Recovery, a non-profit that supports sexual abuse victims, said at a news conference outside Beaver Stadium Thursday that he has been working with another alleged Sandusky victim. Hoatson said the man, who is currently serving a prison sentence in Massachusetts, met Sandusky when he was a high school student at a football camp on the university’s campus about 25 years ago.
Hoatson did not identify the man but said he is scheduled to be released from prison soon. The man has retained Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented victims abused by Catholic priests and the man who was abused by former Christ the King Regional High School coach Bob Oliva.