Jerry Sandusky Interview: Ex-Penn State Coach's Denials Continue to Ring Hollow

Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State football assistant charged with sexually abusing young boys, has maintained his innocence from the first public revelation of the accusations against him. However, many observers felt that his televised interview with Bob Costas did little to change public opinion of Sandusky as a predator who repents getting caught but not the horrific actions of which he’s been accused.

Now, Sandusky has given the New York Times his most extended interview since the beginning of the scandal. Both the printed story and the accompanying video continue to paint Sandusky as a man struggling to understand why his actions have brought such a firestorm down around him.

Sandusky expresses incredulity at Costas having asked him the perfectly straightforward question, “Are you sexually attracted to young boys?” The former coach then goes on to explain that, of course, he’s attracted to young people, boys and girls, only to have his lawyer interject with, “But not sexually.”

When asked about some of the specific incidents that have been repeatedly discussed during the scandal—such as the 2002 incident in which Mike McQueary allegedly witnessed him raping a young boy in a campus shower—Sandusky continually turns away from the interviewer. He appears to be struggling for a way to explain his behavior that will be deemed acceptable by the audience. 

Sandusky's affect isn’t the only thing that hurts his credibility in the interview. He makes statements like a claim that the physical side of his relationships with young boys "just happened that way" with no apparent recognition that his words could be interpreted as evidence of his guilt.

At the end of the day, Sandusky’s guilt or innocence will be determined in a court of law. In the court of public opinion, though, every interview he gives makes him seem more like a man who doesn’t understand the harm in what he allegedly did.