Watch CBS News

Jerry Sandusky Trial: "Victim 3" says coach "made me feel like part of the family"

Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky walks out of Centre County Courthouse after the first day of trial, in Bellefonte, Pa., Monday, June 11, 2012.
Jerry Sandusky walks out of the Centre County Courthouse after the first day of his trial in Bellefonte, Pa., on Monday, June 11, 2012. Abby Drey, AP Photo/Centre Daily Times

(CBS/AP) BELLEFONTE, Pa. - A seventh alleged victim of sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky testified Thursday that Sandusky touched his penis during sleepovers at the former coach's house, but that he didn't tell the older man not to get into bed with him because he "made me feel like part of the family."

Pictures: Child-sex scandal rocks Penn State

The trial, which began Monday, has thus far featured seven alleged victims, now young men, testifying about showers with Sandusky, forced oral sex and threats by the ex-Penn State assistant coach.

Like the other alleged victims, the man identified only as "Victim 3" testified Thursday that his father was not part of his life and that he met Sandusky through The Second Mile charity in the late 1990s.

Now 25-years-old, the man told the court that Sandusky was "like a father to me." He said the former coach would pick him up from school, then drive him to the Sandusky home where they would have dinner, and he slept over.

"The hand on the knee thing happened right away," Victim 3 testified. "That was a big thing for Jerry, rubbing the hand inside the leg and tickling me."

When it was time to go to bed, he said "He would come in and he would have his shirt off. I would be in all my clothes. He would say to me, why I would want to sleep with all my clothes on. I would strip down to my underwear."

He went on, testifying that Sandusky "would sit on the edge of the bed and make me laugh and whenever he made me laugh he got excited and jump (sic) into bed with me and start tickling me, start blowing on my stomach, pelvis, he would also at times he would touch my penis."

Victim 3 testified that he felt uncomfortable when Sandusky wanted to shower with him after workouts, but that "he coached me and forced me into taking off my clothes."

Also on Thursday, former Penn State police detective Ronald Schreffler testified that he investigated allegations from a woman that her 11-year-old son had showered with Sandusky in 1998 and that he believed charges should have been filed then, but that the district attorney, Ray Gricar, didn't agree.

Gricar disappeared in 2005 and has been declared legally dead.  He was last seen April 15, 2005, about nine months before he was to retire as district attorney, after telling his girlfriend he was going for a drive. His car later was found abandoned at an antiques market.

Gricar's laptop was found three months later in the nearby Susquehanna River, without its hard drive, which was found separately - and upriver - that October. Investigators later said Gricar had done searches on another computer about how to destroy a hard drive.

Sandusky has maintained that he is innocent of the 52 counts of sexual abuse against him.

Additional reporting by CBS News' Paula Reid in Bellefonte, Pa.

Complete coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial on CBSNews.com


View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.