Records Unsealed: Could Reveal More Of Claim Boy Told Paterno Of Abuse
by Paul Kurtz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Penn State sexual abuse scandal has been reignited with an explosive accusation that was made two years ago and became public knowledge Tuesday.
Joe Paterno apparently knew that Jerry Sandusky was sexually abusing underage boys as early as 1976.
A man identified as John Doe 150 testified in a deposition that he was molested by Sandusky in a shower during a football camp he attended when he was 14.
The alleged victim first complained to some Penn State players, who said and did nothing. So the next day he approached Paterno and told him the story.
Paterno's reaction: "I don't have time to hear about any of that stuff. I have a football season to worry about."
Civil attorney Tom Kline, who represented one of Sandusky's ten victims, says that accusation and others will open a whole new can of worms.
"The depositions appear to suggest that there was knowledge by Mr. Paterno going back a significant period of time earlier than the 1998 period which was conventional at the time that Mr. Sandusky was prosecuted," said Kline. "There was a feeling when the first case settled in which I represented a young man who was known as victim number 5 that Penn State would somehow put this matter behind them. Instead it has festered long and it has languished."
Sandusky was convicted four years ago. The depositions are part of a court battle over Penn State and its insurance company, which refused to reimburse the university for the $60+ million it paid out to Sandusky's victims.