Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested Wednesday on new sexual molestation charges. He spent a night in jail before being released on $250,000 bail. Sandusky was already facing 40 counts related to the sexual abuse of children. He maintains his innocence, and had been trying to salvage his image by doing media interviews to tell his version of the story. What do the new allegations mean for Sandusky's case, and his reputation? Here, a brief guide:
What exactly do these new accusers say?
One said Sandusky sexually assaulted him numerous times in 2004, when he was 11 or 12, in the basement of Sandusky's home, where he frequently spent the night. The other says he was abused in 1997, when he was 10. He says he never spent the night at Sandusky's, but that the molestation began there when, he says, Sandusky pulled down his pants and performed oral sex on him. Both boys participated in programs offered by Sandusky's Second Mile charity for at-risk children, just like the eight other alleged victims.
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What is Sandusky charged with?
The grand jury filed 12 new charges — including "involuntary deviate sexual intercourse" and illegal contact with children, both first-degree felonies — after hearing the alleged victims' stories. "The contact with Sandusky allegedly fit a pattern of 'grooming' victims," Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly tells The New York Times. "Beginning with outings to football games and gifts, they later included physical contact that escalated to sexual assaults."
What does Sandusky say?
He denies the new charges. Before these new revelations, Sandusky had admitted that he showered with some of the alleged victims in a Penn State locker room, but had maintained that he's no pedophile.
What now?
Sandusky's attempts to salvage his reputation don't seem to be helping him or the charity he founded in 1977. Second Mile announced it would cut its staff, having lost "significant financial support," and the organization is making preparations to shut down altogether. And more damning publicity is coming: Next Tuesday, some of Sandusky's accusers will appear in court to talk publicly for the first time about what they say happened.
Sources: ABC News, LA Times, NY Times, Patriot News
