Investigation and charges An investigation was initiated by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office into sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky in 2008. The charges were initiated at
Central Mountain High School, where a student made allegations of abuse against Sandusky. On November 4, 2011, a
grand jury that had been convened in September 2009, or earlier, The grand jury identified eight boys who had been singled out for sexual advances or sexual assaults by Sandusky, taking place from 1994 through 2009. According to the first indictment, in 2002 assistant coach
Mike McQueary, then a Penn State graduate assistant, said he walked in on Sandusky
anally raping a 10-year-old boy. The next day, McQueary reported the incident to head coach
Joe Paterno. (Later while testifying during the Sandusky trial, McQueary spoke about what he had relayed to Paterno: "I told him and I want to make sure I'm clear. I made sure he knew it was sexual and wrong. There was no doubt.") At the preliminary hearing for Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, McQueary testified that Paterno was "shocked and saddened, kind of slumped back on his chair." He said that Paterno told him: "'I'm sorry you had to see that. It's terrible.' And he said, 'I need to think and tell some people about what you saw and I'll let you know what ... what we'll do next.'" Paterno then informed Penn State athletic director
Tim Curley. At the preliminary hearing, McQueary also testified that he "believed" Sandusky was having "some type of intercourse" with the boy. He said that this was based on "the positioning" of Sandusky and the boy, but that he never saw "insertion" or "penetration" and is not "100 percent sure" that intercourse was occurring. Curley and senior vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz (who oversaw the Penn State police department) called McQueary to a meeting a week-and-a-half later. In McQueary's testimony he stated that during the meeting he relayed in "graphic detail" what he had witnessed in the locker room showers at the Lasch Building. At the preliminary hearing of Curley and Schultz, McQueary testified that he would have given Curley and Schultz a "rough idea" of the body positions of the individuals in the shower, and would have described the activity as "extremely sexual and I thought some kind of intercourse was going on." The indictment accused Curley and Schultz not only of failing to tell the police, but also of falsely telling the grand jury that McQueary never informed them of the alleged sexual activity. On November 5, 2011, Sandusky was arrested and charged with seven counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, eight counts of corruption of minors, eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child, seven counts of
indecent assault, and other offenses. The prosecution charged Curley and Schultz with perjury and failure to report suspected child abuse by Sandusky. On November 6, 2011, Penn State banned Sandusky from campus. His bail conditions did not include restrictions on his travel. In December 2011, Sandusky was charged with an additional 12 counts of sexual crimes against children. The grand jury's second presentment charged Sandusky with an additional count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two additional counts of unlawful contact with a minor. The additional victims, known only as "Victim 9" and "Victim 10," were participants in Sandusky's youth program and were between the ages of 10 and 12 at the time of the sexual assaults.
Pre-trial interviews On November 14, in a televised phone interview on NBC's
Rock Center with Brian Williams, Sandusky admitted to correspondent
Bob Costas to having showered with underage boys and touching their bodies, as he described it "without intent of sexual contact." Sandusky denied being a
pedophile. The interview received substantial coverage in the media, particularly regarding the manner in which Sandusky answered Costas when asked if he is sexually attracted to young boys: In the days following the interview, several potential victims contacted State College lawyer Andy Shubin to tell their stories, with one claiming Sandusky had abused him in the 1970s. In a taped interview with
Jo Becker of
The New York Times on December 3, 2011, Sandusky and his lawyer, Joe Amendola, attempted to clarify the remarks he made in the November 14 interview:
Trial The trial, for 52 charges of sexual crimes against children, started on June 11, 2012, at the
Centre County Courthouse in
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. State Deputy Attorney General and former homicide prosecutor Joseph E. McGettigan III, led the
prosecution team for the
Commonwealth; defense attorney Joseph Amendola was Sandusky's lead
attorney for the defense team; and Senior
Judge John Cleland presided. Over the course of the trial that lasted eight days,
jurors heard from eight witnesses who testified that Sandusky sexually abused them. The witnesses testified to similar stories of being abused in the football locker room showers or in the basement of Sandusky's home. Mike McQueary, former Penn State graduate assistant football coach, testified that in 2001 in a Penn State locker room, he heard "skin on skin" slapping sounds coming from the showers. McQueary testified that he then saw Sandusky naked behind a 10- to 12-year-old boy propped against a shower wall, with "Sandusky's arms wrapped around the boy's midsection in the closest proximity that I think you could be in." On June 14, "Victim 9" alleged that he spent almost every weekend at Sandusky's house, between 100 and 150 times, and that rape happened "often" between the ages of 13 and 16. He testified that Sandusky would come downstairs to his basement and force him to perform oral sex and anal sex. He testified that he would scream, hoping that Sandusky's wife would hear him upstairs, but said "I think the basement is soundproof". Sandusky's defense attorneys argued that the accusers were driven by financial motives. On June 18, 2012, it was reported that during the full-day court recess the previous Friday, prosecutors had contacted
NBC "asking the network to
re-authenticate a full unedited
transcript" of the Bob Costas interview from November. An unaired portion of the Costas interview featured Sandusky saying, "I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped". Legal analysts explained that this could be used by the prosecution to
cross-examine Sandusky if he were to take the
stand. Later, Amendola said that Jerry Sandusky had every intention of testifying in his own defense, but decided against it because he claimed that the prosecution would have called Matt to the stand.
Verdict and sentencing The
jury, consisting of seven women and five men, many with direct ties to Penn State,
deliberated for 21 hours over two days. Specifically, Sandusky was convicted of the following charges and counts: eight counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, seven counts of indecent assault, one count of criminal intent to commit indecent assault, nine counts of unlawful contact with minors, 10 counts of corruption of minors and 10 counts of endangering the welfare of children. Cleland immediately revoked Sandusky's bail and remanded him to the Centre County Correctional Facility to await
sentencing. Sandusky faced a maximum sentence of 442 years in prison. According to
NBC News'
Michael Isikoff, Sandusky faced a minimum sentence of 60 years under Pennsylvania sentencing guidelines — at his age, effectively a life sentence. A sentencing hearing was expected 90 days from the date of conviction. On the evening before his sentencing hearing, Sandusky released an audio statement maintaining his innocence. The next day, Cleland sentenced Sandusky to 60 years in prison–as mentioned above, the minimum possible sentence under Pennsylvania law. He will not be eligible for parole until he serves at least 30 years. Sandusky's earliest possible release date will be October 9, 2042, when he will be 98 years old. In pronouncing the sentence, Cleland said that Sandusky was a particularly dangerous breed of child molester because he masked his manipulation and abuse of children behind a respectable facade. "It is the remarkable ability to conceal that makes these crimes so heinous," he said. While acknowledging Sandusky's "positive work," Cleland called him a "dangerous" child molester who should never be allowed to be free again. At the same hearing, Cleland granted prosecutors' request to have Sandusky declared a "
sexually violent predator" under Pennsylvania's version of
Megan's Law. This would subject him to stringent reporting requirements if he is released. Sandusky would not only have to report his address to police every three months for the rest of his life, but would also have to participate in a court-approved counseling program; however, this designation will likely be academic since as mentioned above, Sandusky will almost certainly die in prison. Earlier, on August 30, the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board had recommended that Sandusky be declared a sexually violent predator. He was fined costs and fees of $5,675.44 in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Sandusky (CP-14-CR-0002421-2011) and costs, fees, and restitution of $194,078.06 in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Sandusky (CP-14-CR-0002422-2011).
Reaction Penn State became the subject of significant media criticism because several members of its staff allegedly covered up Sandusky's assaults.
Maureen Dowd wrote of the scandal: "Like the
Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Penn State hierarchy appears to have covered up
pedophile crimes to protect its brand." In June 2012, Penn State University implemented a policy to require mandatory reporting of child abuse by any Penn State employee working with children. The policy also requires all Penn State employees working with children to go through a background check and training related to child abuse and reporting requirements.
Freeh report The Penn State Board of Trustees commissioned a report by a special investigative group headed by former
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Louis Freeh. After interviewing over 400 people and reviewing over 3.5 million documents, the crux of the report's findings, which were released July 12, 2012, state: The Freeh Report states that although the "avoidance of the consequences of bad publicity" was the main driver in failing to protect child abuse victims and report to authorities, the report outlines other causes as well, among which were: "A striking lack of empathy for child abuse victims by the most senior leaders of the University"; a failure of oversight by the board of trustees; a University President "who discouraged discussion and dissent"; "a lack of awareness of child abuse issues"; and "a culture of reverence for the football program that is ingrained at all levels of the campus community". The report outlines how all four men were aware of the 1998 abuse incident in the locker-room shower, and had followed its investigation at the time. Freeh's investigation uncovered a file kept by Schultz in which he wrote notes about Sandusky's 1998 incident. For instance, Schultz wrote: "Is this opening of
Pandora's box?" He also wondered, "other children?" The evidentiary weight of Freeh's report draws heavily upon retrieved emails from 1998 and 2001, which Freeh referred to as "the most important evidence" in the report. and suggest that it was Paterno, "long regarded as the single most powerful official at the university," who persuaded Spanier, Curley, and Schultz not to formally report Sandusky to law enforcement or child welfare authorities. According to
The New York Times, the university's handling of the 2001 report of Sandusky raping a young boy is "one of the most damning episodes laid out by Mr. Freeh's investigation ..." The report states that nobody took any "responsible action after February 2001 other than Curley informing the Second Mile that Mr. Sandusky had showered with a boy" and then telling Sandusky not to bring his "guests" into the Penn State facilities; but the topic of sexual abuse was not broached with Sandusky. The report criticizes Paterno for his failure to "alert the entire football staff, in order to prevent Sandusky from bringing another child into the Lasch Building". Consequently, out of the 10 young boys that Sandusky would be convicted of sexually assaulting, most of them were abused after he was investigated in 1998 — at least five of them were assaulted "at Penn State's football facilities and other places on campus after May 1998". After his retirement in 1999, the report notes that Sandusky continued to have "unrestricted and unsupervised access to the University's facilities and affiliation with the university's prominent football program. Indeed, the continued access provided Sandusky with the very currency that enabled him to attract his victims". Beyond the question of building access, the report details that as part of Sandusky's retirement agreement he could "continue to work with young people through Penn State" for more than a decade, including Second Mile events on campus, youth football camps, etc. At the July 12 press conference announcing the report's findings, Freeh stated in his prepared remarks: "The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children Sandusky victimized." He said they "never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky's victims" until after he was arrested in 2011.
Further allegations and investigations In 2011, ABC News reported that officials in San Antonio were conducting a probe of allegations that Sandusky engaged in child sex abuse while in San Antonio for the 1999 Alamo Bowl. The report indicated that Sandusky could face criminal charges in Texas. In 2012,
The Patriot-News reported that Sandusky could face federal charges for allegedly molesting boys in San Antonio and in
Tampa in 1999. Although these allegations were spelled out in the state indictment, federal authorities have jurisdiction over any crime that crosses a state line. In July 2012, PennLive.com reported that three men had told police that they were abused by Sandusky in the 1970s or 1980s. They were the first alleged victims to claim that Sandusky had engaged in sex abuse before the 1990s. In August 2012,
CBS News also reported that the
United States Postal Inspection Service was leading an investigation to see whether Sandusky sent
child pornography through the mail across state lines. According to one source, child pornography was found on at least one of Sandusky's computers. On August 24, 2012, as reported by the
Associated Press, the individual known as "Victim 1" who testified at the trial of Sandusky brought suit against
Pennsylvania State University. They reported that the suit charged the university's conduct with regard to the complaints that Sandusky had acted towards boys with sexual impropriety was "deliberate and shameful", saying that Penn State engaged in "purposeful, deliberate and shameful subordination of the safety of children to its economic self-interests, and to its interest in maintaining and perpetuating its reputation." In September 2012, former
Philadelphia child prostitute Greg Bucceroni alleged that in 1979 and 1980 Philadelphia philanthropist
Ed Savitz brought him from his New Jersey residence to a State College Second Mile fund raiser for the purpose of
child trafficking. In October 2012, KDKA-TV reported that individuals had claimed that Sandusky had assaulted them during the 1960s while he was living at the
Brownson House in
Washington, Pennsylvania.
Imprisonment and post-trial motions On October 18, 2012, Sandusky's lawyers moved for a new trial in
Centre County Court in
Pennsylvania. They argued that they did not have enough time to prepare for their client's case. On October 23, 2012, Sandusky was transferred to
Camp Hill state prison in
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, for pre-imprisonment evaluation. He was then moved to
Greene state prison in
Franklin Township, where most of the state's
life and
capital inmates are housed, on October 31, 2012, to serve his sentence. He was housed in
protective custody. On January 30, 2013, Pennsylvania Judge John Cleland denied Sandusky's motion for a new trial. Sandusky was transferred to
SCI Somerset, a medium-security prison outside
Somerset, Pennsylvania, in March 2017. As of May 2017, he was serving his sentence at
SCI Laurel Highlands, a minimum security facility near Pittsburgh that primarily serves ill or elderly inmates. The motion was denied. On September 26, 2025, Sandusky filed his third Petition for Post Conviction Collateral Relief in both criminal cases against him (CP-14-CR-0002421-2011 and CP-14-CR-0002422-2011). Both petitions were dismissed on March 5, 2026 by the Hon. Maureen A. Skerda, Judge of the 37th Judicial District and its 26th President Judge. ==Publications and interviews==