In civil suit, man claims Sandusky molested him 100 times

Another man claiming to have been sexually abused by former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky has stepped forward.

The man, identified only as John Doe A in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Philadelphia, is suing the university and Sandusky over abuse he claims he suffered from 1992 to 1996. He claims the abuse started when he was 10.

Attorney Jeff Anderson said the victim, now 29, was abused once on a trip to Philadelphia and was subsequently threatened when he said he would go to the authorities.

“Sandusky made a threat to him that nobody would believe him,” Anderson said. “And a threat to his family, and he coerced him into further silence.”

Anderson said the victim was not one of those named in the original grand jury report on Sandusky. He reported the abuse to authorities for the first time Tuesday.

The suit claims John Doe was abused more than 100 times–at Penn State, at a bowl game, and at the Sandusky home.

The victim wrote in a statement that he is finally coming forward to prevent other abuses at Penn State.

“I am hurting and have been for a long time,” he wrote. “Because of what happened, but feel now even more tormented … because of so many other kids were abused after me.”

Attorney Marci Hamilton, co-counsel on the case, said they are filing a civil suit because they want to target the responsible institutions, not just individuals.

“The big question in our culture right now is, ‘What do you do about institutions that aren’t accountable and that don’t respond to eyewitness accounts of child sex abuse, that don’t respond to the voices of the children?’ ” Hamilton said. “This case is about bringing these institutions into meaningful accountability.””

The complaint was filed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. It names Penn State, The Second Mile charity and Sandusky as defendants.

Anderson said they do not yet have proof that anyone at the school or the charity knew about the abuse in this case.

A Penn State representative said it is the first civil suit she knows of in relation to the child sexual abuse scandal there. She said the school has not yet received copies of the suit and is unable to comment on current litigation.

The Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victims Unit said it has not received a report on the abuse that allegedly occurred in the city back in 1996.