Ghost Writer: Sandusky's Book Never Raised Red Flags
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Disgraced former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky's biography is getting new scrutiny, in light of charges that he sexually abused boys in his non-profit youth program (complete coverage).
But his ghost writer tells KYW Newsradio the book offers no red flags that might have warned readers about Sandusky's alleged criminal behavior. He says he was as surprised as anyone by the charges.
Before the book is even open, the one-word title provokes a sort of gag response: Touched.
Writer Kip Richael says, without even suspecting a hidden meaning, he tried to talk Sandusky out of the title. "I just didn't like the title," Richael says. "I just thought, it's a sports book, it's being published by a sports publishing company."
Richael says Sandusky, though, wanted to focus on his charity, The Second Mile. "I had to convince him that we need more football stories in there."
The book begins with the Second Mile receiving a Point of Light award from the first President Bush and much of it is devoted to stories about the kids in the program.
Prosecutors now say Sandusky used the charity to groom his victims. Richael finds it shocking.
"Every time I saw him with a Second Mile kid, he was always just being a good person to them. I didn't see any of the things that are being talked about in the grand jury (report)."
Richael says only in hindsight might some of the stories in the book -- about Sandusky's horseplay with the kids -- have been a clue.
"I knew that he could be a character, so for him to play with kids was nothing out of the ordinary."
He says he hadn't looked at the book (published in 2001) in years, but he dug out his two remaining copies last week. "In retrospect, yeah, I probably would have to think about it now, but at the time I'm writing about a big kid at heart."
Richael says he's never been contacted by the attorney general's office, but he'd be willing to help the investigation.
The book is out of print, but still available through Amazon.
See complete coverage of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.
Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060
