Jerry Sandusky Interview Fails To Help Case

For the first time since the news of child sex abuse occurring at Penn State hit the airwaves, Jerry Sandusky made a public appearance in a telephone interview with Bob Costas that aired on Rock Center Monday night.

Bob Costas did not shy away from asking some tough questions, so let's look at how Sandusky responded and whether he helped or hurt his defense.

To lead off the interview, Sandusky stated that he is innocent of the charges against him, although he admitted to touching young boys' legs and showering with them "with no intent for sexual contact." In other words, he denies any improper sexual contact with the accusers. He denies being a pedophile and denies being sexually attracted to young boys.

In response to a question about Mike McQueary's testimony about encountering Sandusky and a boy in the shower, Sandusky claims that he was "snapping a towel and just having horseplay" with the boy.

Analysis

This simply does not make any sense. One or two accusers could possibly emerge in a false accusation case. However, 23 pages of grand jury presentment against Sandusky and perjury charges against others appears to be an overwhelming amount of evidence.

Even if Sandusky were telling the truth, he put himself in questionable situations by showering with young boys on repeated occasions. He is clearly fond of young boys considering the Second Mile charity he founded, but how far those affectations went is hard to discern.

Sandusky sounded overwhelmed and repentant, which does not comport with the attitude one who is falsely accused would take. Sandusky may not be guilty of all the charges, but too much evidence is in the record to truly believe he is completely innocent.

In response to his comments about wishing he were dead and asking for forgiveness of a mother of one of the victims, he denies ever saying such things.

This was probably the only answer Sandusky could provide and not bring further problems to his defense counsel. Whether or not Sandusky ever had such conversations with the mother in question, he cannot give credence to hearsay evidence, or else it may actually be admitted into trial. That might not be satisfying to the general public, but it was the correct answer.

Regarding Joe Paterno's conduct regarding Sandusky's behavior, Sandusky stated that Paterno never discussed the matter with him and never offered to help.

Paterno allegedly told Sandusky when he was let go in 1999 that he would never become head coach at Penn State. Sandusky then took himself out of lucrative job searches at other universities like Maryland. These anecdotes indicate something else was wrong behind the scenes.

Again, no reason for Sandusky to bring Paterno into the trial mix by admitting that Paterno tried to speak with him about these issues. This response is incredibly good news for Joe Paterno, who does not want to be dragged further into this mess than he has to be. However, this response will not satisfy the public.

Regarding the fallout at Penn State, Sandusky stated that he feels terrible and that in retrospect, he should have never showered with those kids.

This is a massive understatement. Even if Sandusky is truly innocent of sexual abuse of children, he clearly is guilty of putting boys in compromising situations. For someone who had an altruistic goal of helping young boys, all these actions did was scar these young men, with or without sexual contact.

Sandusky may not feel guilty or culpable for the fallout at Penn State, but the fact that he feels terrible may be of little comfort to the Penn State community. Unfortunately, even if Sandusky were innocent, his questionable actions have had serious consequences for multiple high-ranking officials at Penn State University.

Bob Costas asked multiple times how someone could be "the unluckiest and most persecuted person in the world" with all these supposed false accusations, and all Sandusky could say is that Bob would have to ask his accusers about what their motivations were for making such accusations.

This was perhaps the most illuminating portion of the interview. When faced with the mountain of evidence and the multiple allegations of his conduct, Sandusky can only respond by telling Costas to go ask the accusers why they would lie. This is just simply not believable by any stretch of the imagination.

If Sandusky truly felt that he is being falsely accused of sexual abuse, then he should be the first person in line to express outrage at the actions of those set against him. The numbers do not lie, and Costas probably hit the nail on the head by saying that Sandusky would have to be the unluckiest man in the world to have this number of false accusations against him.

On the whole, Sandusky actually did not hurt his defense with this interview, but his defense counsel was present and it would have been shocking to have a different result.

However, in the court of public opinion, Sandusky did not do himself any favors. He did not answer questions that could indicate some chance of innocence. Moreover, he admitted that he has had contact with boys' legs and numerous showers with them.

One of the earliest lessons I learned as a young man was that you do not put yourself in compromising circumstances unless you want to invite bad things to happen. If you put yourself in questionable situations, then guilt will be easy to presume when things go awry.

Sandusky will have his day in court, but this interview did nothing to help him win over public opinion. The interview went as well as could be reasonably expected, and yet that is simply not enough. Even if he wins in court, he will never win in the court of public opinion, which may be more important in the long run.