On the first day of jury selection in the child molestation trial of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, a bombshell dropped when it was revealed that Sandusky allegedly wrote “creepy” love letters to his victims, eight of whom are set to testify against him.
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According to ABC News, Sandusky wrote intimate love letters to the accuser – known as Victim 4 – which will be read into testimony when the trial begins on Monday.
Victim 4, who is expected to be the first witness called to testify against Sandusky, will also show the gifts, including a set of golf clubs, that Sandusky allegedly gave him during their relationship.
As Reported By ABC News:
The letters, which were allegedly written in Sandusky’s own handwriting, are expected to corroborate the testimony of the man known as Victim 4, now 28 years old, who met the coach through Sandusky’s charity, the Second Mile. The victim’s attorney won’t talk about the letter, but sources describe the letters as “creepy” and note that one was a story written in the third person.
Ben Andreozzi, the alleged victim’s attorney, did say-
“They have evidence to support his allegations, and there’s other evidence that has not been released to the public yet that I think will really resonate with the jury.”
The revelations come on the first day of jury selection in the trial in which Sandusky faces 52 counts of child molestation charges. In addition to Victim 4, seven other alleged victims are expected to testify against the former defensive coordinator during the three-week trial beginning Monday.
When Sandusky was arrested, the grand jury presentment stated that Victim 4 was the victim of sexual abuse by Sandusky, which included rape and oral sex in the hotels where the Penn State football team stayed.
Victim 4 was allegedly molested while on trips with Sandusky and the football team to bowl games in Arizona and Texas, crimes that may result in federal prosecution.
Victim 4 was one of five alleged victims who petitioned Judge John Cleland to keep their identities anonymous during the trial, continuing a practice put in place by the state attorney general’s office to protect their identities during the investigation. But Cleland denied their request, saying that all of the victims who were willing to testify must be willing to be revealed to the public.
Lawyers for the prosecution and the defense, as well as Cleland, interviewed dozens of Centre County, Pa., residents today to whittle the juror selection pool down and agree on a jury; by the end of the day, they had selected six jurors for the trial.
Defense attorneys also disclosed that they had a potential witness list of more than 100 people, while the prosecution had a list of more than 50 potential witnesses including Penn State head coach Joe Paterno’s wife and son.
