Lead prosecutor Joe McGettigan called the mother of the person referred to as “Victim 9” as the Commonwealth’s final witness. She quickly became emotional, crying during much of her testimony. She said that her son did not want to spend time alone with former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, but she would make him go anyway, because the boy did not have a male role model in his life.
Shortly after her son began spending the night at the Sandusky residence, she said that her son’s behavior and physical conditions began to change. She said that her son complained of stomach aches, behaved badly, performed poorly academically and could not sleep.
She said that her son’s underwear were frequently missing from the laundry, and when she asked him where they were, he told her that he was having “accidents” and threw them away.
One night in particular sticks out in her mind — she once received a phone call from her son, she said, asking her to pick him up from the Sandusky’s home at around 11 p.m., she testified.
When she arrived at the Sandusky’s, her son was standing in the driveway, and he was not wearing shoes. On the way home, the boy told his mother he did not want to talk about anything and went straight to bed, she said.
Sandusky introduced himself to the person referred to as “Victim 9” and his mother during the boy’s second year at the Second Mile summer camp between 2004 and 2005.
The person referred to as “Victim 9” never told his mother about the incidents of abuse included in his testimony, his mother said, and she didn’t want to put him through explaining the situation to her.
Earlier in the trial, the prosecution called eight of those referred to as “Victims” out of the ten Sandusky is charged with abusing. The person referred to as “Victim 2” and the person referred to as “Victim 8” have not been identified by investigators.
In addition to the eight men referred to as “Victims,” the prosecution has called a number of witnesses during the presentation of its case, including people involved with The Second Mile and former assistant coach Mike McQueary who testified as an eyewitness.
One official from The Second Mile, Program Director Marc McCann, verified for the court that a contract between Sandusky and the person referred to as “Victim 4” was not an official document of The Second Mile. Two employees of the Hilton Garden Inn — Mandy Musser, the front office manager and Cynthia Burns, the director of housekeeping — both testified that Sandusky took children to the hotel.
Jessica Dershem, the Children and Youth Services caseworker of the person referred to as “Victim 1,” testified about meeting with Sandusky to discuss claims made by the Clinton County boy.
Mike McQueary recounted an incident in 2001 where he claims he saw Sandusky and a young boy showering in the Lasch Football Building at Penn State, saying he thought Sandusky was raping the boy.
His father, John, also took the stand, telling the court how Mike McQueary came to him first after the incident in the football building.
Joe Miller, the wrestling coach of the person referred to as “Victim 1,” testified about how he walked in on the boy and Sandusky wrestling in the weight room. The person referred to as “Victim 10″‘s foster mother told the court that the boy never told her about his interactions with Sandusky. Ronald Petrosky, a janitor who worked at the Lasch Football Building, said a coworker told him he saw Sandusky having oral sex with the person referred to as “Victim 8.”
The fellow janitor, Jim Calhoun, was deemed unfit to testify because he has dementia.
Ronald Schreffler, a Penn State University police officer who took the person referred to as “Victim 6″‘s statement, testified about the 1998 investigation into Sandusky.
Anthony Sassano, the lead investigator from the Office of the Attorney General, spoke about the grand jury investigation.
The prosecution called a total of 21 witnesses throughout the first five days of the trial. Senior Judge John Cleland said the defense could rest as early as Wednesday.