Sandusky Sex Scandal: 'Showering With Chidren 'Classic' Sign of Pedophilia,' Say Legal Experts
On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 last Monday, legal experts said that Jerry Sandusky's telephone interview with Bob Costas on NBC's Rock Center With Brian Williams did much more harm than good for the current child sex abuse allegations being brought forth against him.
The former Penn State football coach is at the center of a child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the famed football university, costing several administrators their jobs after officials discovered they had heard allegations of child abuse against Sandusky, but failed to take action.
Sandusky admitted in his interview with Costas to showering and "horsing around" with the young boys he is accused of sexually assaulting, but said that he is innocent of the charges being brought against him.
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Sunny Hostin, legal contributor to truTV's In Session, told Anderson Cooper that showering with boys is a "classic" indication that someone is a child sex predator.
"I've tried cases where pedophiles have showered with children," she said. "I think if you speak to anyone that has tried these types of cases and anyone that's an expert in this area, they will tell you that it’s just such a classic fact pattern. For him to admit that he showered with these children and horsed around and confessed to touching them, in my mind that's already misdemeanor child sex abuse."
CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said he thought the defense made a serious mistake by allowing Sandusky to try to explain his behavior.
"When you have an accusation, if you simply say, let's think about the presumption of innocence, that's a legitimate thing for a defense attorney to say," he explained. "When you start admitting that he's taken showers with boys, you make more trouble than you solve. If he had simply gone and said, 'This is a media lynching, it's outrageous', I wouldn't blame him a bit. But when he starts explaining the conduct in a way that sounds awfully incriminating to me, I think that's a mistake for a defense attorney to make."
Sandusky's attorney, Joe Amendola, appeared on NBC's Today show on Tuesday to defend his client.
"He didn't use a whole lot of common sense," he said when asked why Sandusky did not stop showering with young boys even after a mother complained it was inappropriate. "But showering with kids does not make him guilty, and that's the point. The point is that he's maintained his innocence and we live in a system that presumes innocence, and yet the public and the media, for the most part, have tried and convicted him and he hasn't even had a day in court yet."
