More than 14 years after his conviction, one of the alleged victims of ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky plans to recant his testimony, citing “psychological manipulation” by the prosecution.
It was on June 22, 2012, that a jury found Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 of the 48 counts against him, including indecent assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of minors, and endangering the welfare of children.
Now, Sandusky, 82, is scheduled to appear in court in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, on September 8 for an evidentiary hearing after a judge granted his request to examine evidence showing one of his 10 alleged victims, identified in court proceedings as R.R. or Victim 10, has substantially disavowed or recanted his trial testimony.
“I was told — both directly and indirectly — that trauma may have fragmented my memory, and that I could safely affirm details I did not fully recall. I was assured this was common and even expected,” R.R. said in an affidavit filed by Sandusky’s attorneys, according to News Channel 6.
Sandusky’s attorneys also claimed in a court filing that R.R.’s allegations were “based on suggestive leading questioning, prosecutorial coercion and influence, confirmatory bias and memory manipulation, which permeated throughout each of the accusers as well.”
R.R., who was 11-years-old and in foster care at the time of the alleged assault by Sandusky, testified against Sandusky at the age of 25. “He told me that if I told anybody that I would never see my family again,” he claimed.
Jerry Sandusky’s attorneys want a new trial
Sandusky’s defense team is requesting a new trial because they believe Victim 10’s estranged wife can testify that he was never molested. However, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office doesn’t believe that’s the case.
“Pondering what she thinks may or may not have really happened to [Victim 10] when he was 10 years old, or any other Sandusky child victim for that matter, is irrelevant and inadmissible,” the Attorney General’s Office said in response.
According to The Associated Press, Penn State paid $118 million to individuals who claimed Sandusky had abused them, according to an audit conducted during the 2019 fiscal year. Sandusky’s arrest also led Penn State to remove head football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier from their positions with the school.
Sandusky, who is serving a 30-to-60 year state prison sentence at SCI Laurel Highlands in Somerset County, has consistently maintained his innocence. In a 2024 interview, he said he was “accused of heinous crimes” that he “never committed.”