Jerry Sandusky's Adopted Son Matt Would Have Testified of Abuse
Former Penn State Coach Accused of Sexually Abusing Matt Sandusky; Awaiting Jury's Verdict
Matt Sandusky, the youngest adopted son of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, came forward this week to say that he too had been a victim of child sex abuse at the hands of his adopted father and was reportedly willing to testify in court against the coach.
The 33-year-old moved into the Sandusky home as a foster child in 1995 and tried to commit suicide just four months after moving in. Although he was not part of the case against Sandusky, on Thursday Matt's lawyers spoke out saying that if called upon he would have testified in the highly public child sex abuse scandal against his adoptive father.
"Matt Sanduksy, one of Jerry Sandusky's adopted children, asked us to confirm with you the accuracy of (Thursday's) news reports indicating that he was prepared to testify truthfully as a commonwealth witness," lawyers for the 33-year-old said in a statement.
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"During the trial, Matt Sandusky contacted us and requested our advice and assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time in this case that he is a victim of Jerry Sandusky's abuse," the lawyers added.
When the news about Sandusky's child sex abuse charged surfaced last fall, Matt's mother, Debrah Long spoke out against Sandusky.
Long told ABC News that sharing her son with Sandusky was nightmarish and argued that her son, who met Sandusky through his The Second Mile charity foundation, was scared of the former assistant coach and only began acting up after Sandusky had entered his life.
"It was as if Jerry owned Matthew," Long said. "My son was afraid of Jerry. If Jerry said don't talk, he didn't talk. I would sit back and watch when Jerry would show up, how excited Matt was. And then, as time went on, I would watch the same kid hide behind the bedroom door and say, 'Mom tell him I'm not home.'"
The former Penn State coach did not testify, but Dottie Sandusky, who adopted six children with him, testified in the trial that she never witnessed her husband have inappropriate contact with children.
Sandusky, 68, is facing 48 charges of child sex abuse involving 10 children over a 15-year period and could face a prison sentence of over 500 years. His highly publicized trial was wrapped up on Wednesday and jury deliberations began on Thursday.
