Testimony nears end in Sandusky’s abuse trial
The defense in the Jerry Sandusky trial is building its case that the alleged victims, many of whom have civil attorneys, stand to gain something from a guilty verdict in this trial. A former neighbor of one of the men who has accused the former Penn State defensive coordinator of sexually assaulting him says both the victim and the victim’s mother talked about benefiting financially from a civil lawsuit against Sandusky.
The neighbor says he heard the 18-year-old man known as Victim One say, “When this is over, I’ll have a nice new Jeep,” and heard the man’s mother talk about getting a bigger house. Alleged Victim One and his mother denied ever making such statements.The jury also heard from a psychologist who testified for the defense about his diagnosis of Sandusky as having Histrionic Personality Disorder.Symptoms include needing to be the center of attention, inappropriate sexual behavior, and being manipulative.The defense says the diagnosis explains the highly emotional letters to alleged Victim Four, described as “creepy love letters” in which Sandusky seems to try to cajole the boy to keep spending time with him.But a psychiatrist called by the prosecution says the diagnosis is inconsistent with Sandusky’s history of thriving for years “on the sidelines” as an assistant football coach.
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