At his 2012 criminal trial, seven men testified Jerry Sandusky had abused them when they were boys.
A Pennsylvania jury found Sandusky guilty of 45 counts of abuse. Judge John Cleland sentenced Sandusky to 30-60 years in prison. He has served 12 years, the first six in the Special Housing Unit. Sandusky is 80.
Sandusky was a coach for the Penn State football team. The accusers said they had met him on campus or that Sandusky abused them in the Penn State locker room. The university paid the men from $1.5 million to $20 million, totaling $62 million.
An additional 29 men came forward after the trial. Penn State paid them another $56 million. The average settlement was $3.3 million.
Millions Handed Over Without Questioning
To be eligible for a Penn State payment, a man must have been a member of Sandusky’s charity for at-risk children, the Second Mile, during his childhood.
To file a claim, the claimant, assisted by their attorney, completed an intake form detailing their abuse and the impact it had on their life.
Dr. Barbara Ziv, a forensic psychiatrist hired by Penn State, reviewed the forms and made recommendations to Penn State’s law firm, Feinberg Rozen LLP of Washington, D.C.
Dr. Ziv relied on the intake forms to guide the university in how much they should pay.
Gullible on Steroids
Dr Ziv could tell whether a claim was true or false by just reading the lawyer’s words. She did not need to interview anyone, no matter how outlandish their story or how much it changed.
Penn State decided against using private investigators, or to depose anyone. No polygraph tests were used.
In 2016, attorney Kenneth Feinberg explained why Penn State did not challenge the veracity of the men.
“Preventing years of expensive, protracted, and certain litigation will save Penn State millions of dollars, while sparing the victims who brought their cases forward the agony of an extended legal battle,” Feinberg wrote.
Keyed in on Date
The individuals who received the highest amount of money from Penn State were those who reported Sandusky had abused them after February 2001 – the date on which a graduate assistant coach reportedly informed Penn State officials that Sandusky had abused a boy in the showers.
Mike McQueary thought he saw something, or heard something in 2022, then changed it to 2021.
Kajak Tuned in on Date and Picks Up Extra Millions
Michal Kajak had no qualms about changing dates of alleged abuse.
Michal Kajak said Sandusky had abused him in the sauna of the locker room in the late 1990s. When it became known that Penn State would pay more to men who were abused after 2001, Kajak claimed his abuse took place after 2001.
Kajak and his attorneys probably did not know that Penn State changed its locker room facilities between 1998 and 2001, and no longer had a sauna.
Penn State, seeking to spare Kajak the agony of being challenged as an opportunistic liar, never questioned his revised story and paid Kajak $8.1 million.
No Outcry at the Time
The men who claimed Sandusky abused them provided various times when they were abused, spanning over 40 years. None of the 36 men had reported the abuse to the police, their parents, a friend, or their school when it was happening.
All but the one waited to tell their tale of abuse until after it was widely known that generous Penn State would pay victims money. The seven who testified at the trial were the critical ones. It was not easy to find victims at first.
Fisher Paved the Way to Gravy for All Who Cared to Slurp It
The case started when 15-year-old Aaron Fisher told his mother he wondered if Sandusky might be a sex offender.
Fisher took a lot of persuading to get up the gumption to remember Sandusky abused him.
Fisher insisted Sandusky never engaged in any sexual behavior with him. However, according to her neighbor, his mother believed there was an excellent opportunity to sue Sandusky and take ownership of his home.
The Sandusky home.
A youth services counselor advised Fisher’s mother to take her son to therapist Michael Gillum. Starting from the first session, Gillum was convinced Sandusky had abused Fisher and he set out to convince Fisher.
Fresh off bankruptcy, Gillum charged the county $64 per hour for therapy for Fisher, and began to see Fisher weekly and sometimes daily.
During the sessions, Fisher initially denied being abused. However, Gillum finally convinced the teen that he was mistaken and claimed he could “peel away the layers of the mind like an onion” to reveal repressed memories of abuse.
Jerry Sandusky
Fisher did not verbally express the abuse, so Gillum would infer how Sandusky had abused Fisher. Fisher simply had to indicate “yes” or nod to confirm the sex crime.
Mike Gillum would never let you forget you were abused. He would remember it for you.
Gillum, working with the police and prosecutors, helped Fisher remember instances of Sandusky forcing him to participate in oral sex. Pennsylvania State troopers talked about how it had taken months to coax Fisher.
“First, it was, ‘Yeah, (Sandusky) would rub my shoulders;’ then it took repetition and repetition and finally, we got to the point where he [Fisher] would tell us what happened,” State Trooper Joseph Leiter said on a tape.
After two years of therapy, Fisher stated Sandusky had abused him more than 100 times between 2005 and 2008 at Sandusky’s home, car, hotel rooms, Fisher’s school, and on the Penn State campus.
Fisher appeared before a grand jury three times. He cried during the first two appearances. When asked if Sandusky had forced him to have oral sex, Fisher denied it. During his third appearance before the grand jury, Fisher testified by reading a written statement about his alleged abuse.
Penn State paid Fisher $7.5 million.
Aaron Fisher, victim #1, provided a photograph as an answer to his detractors, that speaks a million words.
Need More Victims
It was difficult to find victims.
When the police arrived at the doors of former Second Mile members in search of victims, everyone stated Sandusky did not abuse them.
Prosecutors caught a break when Mike McQueary said he witnessed Sandusky abusing a boy in the Penn State showers about a decade earlier.
The media reported the investigation, and in no uncertain language said Penn State would pay victims. Fast and furious.
Attorney Andrew Shubin
Sandusky victim when testifying
Sandusky victim when collecting his Penn State unvetted largesse
Civil lawyers such as Andrew Shubin and Ben Andreozzi approached potential victims of Sandusky and provided assistance in crafting their testimonies to maximize settlements from Penn State. All of this occurred before Sandusky was charged with a crime.
Several young men who initially denied being abused by Sandusky hired lawyers.
To explain the changed stories, the lawyers got the accusers into repressed memory therapy, to help them recover memories of abuse they had forgotten.
Penn State Helped Make Poor Men Into Millionaires
Penn State, an institute of lower learning.
Penn State generously offered to cover the cost of therapy for anyone who said Sandusky abused them, even before Sandusky went to trial. This helped create a presumption of guilt against Sandusky, while also highlighting potential issues with the university’s flawed law school.
Struble Didn’t Doodle
Dustin Struble used his noodle and changed his story plenty fast.
When the police first interviewed him, Dustin Struble denied that Sandusky abused him. Later, he underwent recovered memory therapy. During Sandusky’s trial, Struble testified that Sandusky put his hands down his pants when they were riding in Sandusky’s car. Struble also testified that Sandusky grabbed him, pushed his naked front against his backside, then touched the boy’s nipples and blew on his stomach.
When asked why his story had changed, Struble testified, “That doorway that I had closed has since been reopening more. More things have been coming back and things have changed since that grand jury testimony. Through counseling and different things, I can remember a lot more detail that I had pushed aside than I did at that point.”
Penn State paid Struble $3.25 million.
Struble when he testi-lied
Struble when he picked up his multi-million dollar check
Swisher-Houtz Got Raped and Didn’t Feel a Thing
Brett Swisher-Houtz testified at Sandusky’s trial. Mike Gillum provided therapy to Swisher Houtz so he could remember ever-increasing abuse he had never told anyone and seemed to have forgotten.
On Dec. 4, 2012, lawyers Benjamin D. Andreozzi and Jeffrey Fritz, filed a three-and-a-half-page intake on behalf of the Swisher-Houtz
Swisher-Houtz’s lawyers wrote, “The instances of abuse were so frequent that Mr. Swisher-Houtz cannot be expected to list them here. In summary, Mr. Sandusky forced Mr. Swisher to engage in oral sex on countless occasions and attempted to penetrate his anus.”
Penn State paid him $7.25 million.
Ritmeyer’s Testimony Inconsistencies
Rittmeyer had a ball with his end of the money.
One accuser did not require repressed memory therapy. Ryan Ritmeyer responded to a hotline in search of Sandusky victims.
Rittmeyer initially told the police that Jerry Sandusky had done nothing more than grope him in a swimming pool.
Then he changed his story to include attempted oral sex while driving in a silver convertible. He alleged Sandusky threatened him that if he didn’t comply, he would never see his family again.
During his testimony before the grand jury on December 5, 2011, Ritmeyer revised his account. He stated he had seen Sandusky once or twice a month between 1997 and 1999 and alleged that sexual acts, primarily involving oral sex, occurred almost every time they met.
Penn State paid Ritmeyer $5.5 million.
Simciscko Told Whoppers and Knelt in the Green
Jason Simple Simcisko may not have much gray matter, but how much do you need to listen to your attorney, change your stories as the audience changes, and collect $7.25 million?
Jason Michael Simcisko initially denied any inappropriate behavior by Sandusky when interviewed by the PA State Police on July 19, 2011. However, after meeting with lawyer Andrew Shubin, Simcisko’s story changed.
In his grand jury testimony on August 18, 2011, he said Sandusky bear-hugged him in the shower with an erection and touched his genitals on two occasions while staying overnight.
At the trial, Simcisko expanded his story, claiming Sandusky washed his buttocks in the shower, and described Sandusky kissing his shoulders and causing him to have an erection. He testified his new memories came after six coaching sessions with his lawyer.
During his trial testimony, Simcisko stated no oral sex or penetrative acts occurred.
After Sandusky’s conviction, Simcisko’s story changed again. In his “confidential intake form” filed with Penn State, he said
“Sandusky required Mr. Simcisko to shower naked with him in Penn State athletic facilities. In the shower, Sandusky would… press his erect penis against Mr. Simcisko from behind in what Sandusky called a ‘bear hug.’
“Then Sandusky penetrated Mr. Simcisko’s anus with his penis and forced Mr. Simcisko to engage in oral sex with him.”
Penn State paid Simcisko $7.25 million.
Artist rendering of Simciscko with his attorney
When it comes to generosity, combined with gullibility, cowardice, lack of respect for due process and general stupidity, Penn State ranks with the best. Or is it the worst?
To be continued…
