Jerry and Dottie Sandusky have adopted six children, and one of them reportedly was prepared to testify that he was a victim of his adoptive father’s abuse.
Matt Sandusky, 33, reportedly met with prosecutors this week to say for the first time that he was a victim of abuse by Jerry Sandusky.
The news came via a statement from the lawyers representing two of the alleged victims.
“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 statement reads. “At Matt’s request, we immediately arranged a meeting between him and the prosecutors and investigators.”
The statement continued: “This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy.”
Matt met Jerry at the Second Mile charity when he was 10 years old and he later went to live with the family. It was recently revealed that Matt’s former wife wanted a restraining order last year to keep Jerry Sandusky from hosting sleepovers with the couple’s three children. Matt Sandusky also reportedly attempted suicide in 1995, and his biological mother says her son was upset about staying with the Sanduskys.
What’s interesting is that Matt started off being supportive of Jerry, visiting him at his home after the charges came out and sitting with the family last week during the trial. He decided he was willing to testify against Jerry after the trial began.
His name was actually mentioned during the trial when the man known as “Victim 4” testified.
“Victim 4” — testified that Matt Sandusky seemed “nervous” when, after they played racketball with Jerry Sandusky, the three showered together and Jerry Sandusky then began throwing soap at him, “Victim 4” testified.
“At that point, Matt got up and left,” he testified. “Well, not got up, but turned off the shower, went out and into another shower.”
If you’re wondering why he suddenly would have switched positions, you have to examine what kind of situation he was in. He was probably conditioned to support his family and do the right thing. Maybe he was in denial about being abused and didn’t feel empowered to speak out against it until now. Maybe he also feared losing his family if he did, and that’s why he kept quiet.
Based on what we know of Jerry Sandusky’s alleged serial sexual abuse, I feel horribly for any child who came in contact with him, and even worse for those who had to stay at his home.
