Report: 10 More Victims to Come Forward With Sex Abuse Allegations Against Jerry Sandusky
Speculation Arises Among Commentators That Alleged Victims Might Have Been Black Youth
As Jerry Sandusky, former defensive coordinator for the Penn State University football team, took to the airwaves Monday night to deny that he had sexually abused eight young boys, sources close to the investigation say nearly 10 more alleged victims have come forward to share their stories with authorities. Speculation has also arisen among some observers that the former football coach's alleged victims may have been poor black boys.
The New York Times reports that police have been working to confirm the new allegations against Sandusky, who was arrested Nov. 5 and charged with 40 felony and misdemeanor counts of sexually abusing boys ranging in age from 7 or 8 years old to about 15, over a 15-year period.
In a phone interview with Bob Costas on NBC's "Rock Center With Brian Williams," Sandusky was asked to respond to the charges he is facing as well as testimonies published in the grand jury indictment.
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"I say that I am innocent of those charges," Sandusky said.
As for allegations that he showered with young boys and subjected victims to anal and oral sex and other inappropriate contact, Sandusky responded: "I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them. I have touched their leg, without intent of sexual contact."
Costas also asked the married father of six adopted children if he was a pedophile, to which Sandusky replied, "No."
Sandusky also admitted, "I shouldn't have showered with those kids."
According to a 23-page indictment made public by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office on the day of Sandusky's arrest, the alleged abuse occurred while the football coach was employed by Penn State and after he retired from coaching.
The abuse described in the indictment allegedly occurred in various locations, including the Penn State campus and in Sandusky's home.
Sandusky, whose full name is Gerald A. Sandusky, also founded The Second Mile, a charity dedicated to helping troubled youth, in 1977. It was through this program that the former football coach found his victims, the indictment alleges. The Second Mile's stated mission is to "help children who need additional support and would benefit from positive human interaction."
"Through The Second Mile, Sandusky had access to hundreds of boys, many of whom were vulnerable due to their social situations," the indictment states.
It has been speculated among some observers that the alleged victims, whose identities were omitted in the grand jury indictment, may have been minority youth, specifically black.
Media analyst and commentator Roland Martin, for his part, refuses to comment on it.
"A lot of u [sic] have asked my thoughts about the alleged Sandusky victims being Black. NONE of that has been confirmed & I will not speak to it," Martin, who is African-American, said in his Twitter feed Tuesday. "But for me, it doesn't matter the race of the alleged victims. There is too much assuming going on right now. Facts are facts."
Journalist Edward Wyckoff Williams, writing for NBC News' The Grio, compares Sandusky's case with the sexual misconduct charges leveled against New Birth Missionary Baptist Church minister Eddie Long.
"When the allegations of sexual misconduct against Georgia minister Bishop Eddie Long hit headlines last year, there were shock waves throughout the African-American community," Williams writes in a post titled "Are poor black boys easy targets for sexual predators?"
Williams goes on to allege that Long had spent years "grooming young men from their early teens until the legally safe ages of 16 and 17 (under Georgia law at least) before allegedly initiating sexual activity."
While denying the charges and that he had committed any wrongdoing, Long eventually settled out of court with five accusers for an undisclosed sum of money.
The alleged victims were previously members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and had participated in the bishop's LongFellows Youth Academy.
"Like Bishop Long with his Youth Academy, Sandusky allegedly used his own children's charity program, The Second Mile, which focused on assisting poor, underprivileged kids, many of whom came from single-parent homes and were struggling in school – to find his prey," writes Williams.
Williams also highlights the cases of Ernest Lorch and Bob Oliva, the head of Christ King Regional High School's basketball program in the Queensborough of New York "as the most poignant examples."
Lorch, who founded the Riverside Church Hawks basketball program in the 1960s as an outreach group for underprivileged children, was accused in 2010 of sexual abuse by a former participant of the program. Oliva pleaded guilty earlier this year in the rape of a 14-year-old boy who attended the Catholic school.
According to Williams, race aside, these child sexual abuse cases point to "a universal truth, that those with the least defense mechanisms are the most vulnerable."
A commentator identified as "David" on an article published by EurWeb speculating on the race of Sandusky's alleged victim said:
"Whether the victims were Black, White, Green, Purple or Brown it really doesn't matter. They were kids and didn't deserve this horrific thing to happen to them. It’ll take this sickening story to a new level of sickness if we find out that Paterno dismissed the seriousness of these acts because the children may have been of color."
Dr. Charles A. Williams, who was recently appointed by Philadelphia's Mayor Michael A. Nutter to the Oversight Board for the Department of Human Services, has also expressed concern about speculation that Sandusky may have been preying on black youth.
"It seems that he [Sandusky] may have been preying on poor little Black boys, desperate for positive male attention," Dr. Williams said in an email to The Christian Post. "This would make it even more horrific in that they are already faced with so many challenges. This heaps on to their already unbearable burdens."
Dr. Williams, who is tasked with protecting abused and maltreated children at the Department of Human Services, keenly understands what victims of abuse suffer, having grown up in foster care due to abuse.
The doctor also expressed to CP his concern with the apparent cover-up of Sandusky's alleged abuse of young boys by officials at Penn State, which he insists only serves to add further injury to the alleged victims.
"People, especially men, are usually uncomfortable dealing with such matters, so they tend to want to ignore what they see and feel may be wrong. The denial begins to eat away at the victim: Maybe I deserved it. Maybe I made it up," Dr. Williams said.
Dr. Williams, also the youth psychology expert at Drexel University, credits his survival of child abuse to his faith in God and insists that, despite their suffering, Sandusky's alleged victims can find healing through God's love.
"By placing my faith in God, I have not only made it through that, but [He] has placed me in a position to advocate for the overall safety and welfare of vulnerable children. So, that which was meant to destroy me has made me strong enough to do His will," Dr. Williams said.
Although studies do no conclusively indicate that there is a direct link between socioeconomic status and child abuse, some organizations, such as the National Bureau of Economic Research, claim poverty and the maltreatment of children are indeed related.
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN): about 3 percent of American men - or 1 in 33 - have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime; 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape; 29 percent of sexual assault and rape victims are between the ages 12 and 17; Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault; and 3 percent of boys grades 5-8 and 5 percent of boys in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
