Meanwhile, his attorney said he expects some alleged victims to come forward to deny that they were abused.

Jerry Sandusky, 67, said on NBC News’ “Rock Center” Monday night that he was not a pedophile, and that any activities in a campus shower with a boy were just horseplay, not molestation.

Sandusky, once considered veteran coach Joe Paterno’s heir apparent, was arrested more than a week ago and is charged with sexually abusing eight boys, some on Penn State property, over a 15-year span.

The New York Times reported on its website late Monday that close to 10 additional suspected victims have come forward to authorities since Sandusky’s arrest, according to people close to the investigation. The paper said police were working to confirm the new allegations.

American football is hugely popular and Penn State has one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in college football, drawing more than 100,000 people to its home games. The team’s success has brought in millions of dollars in television broadcast rights, merchandising and more.

The scandal has led to the departure of university President Graham Spanier and the dismissal of the legendary Paterno after law enforcement officials said they didn’t do enough to stop suspected abuse after Sandusky was accused of assaulting a young boy in the showers of the campus football complex in 2002.

The Associated Press has made several efforts to reach Sandusky by phone and through his attorney, but messages haven’t been returned.

A spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly declined to comment on the interview, citing the active investigation.

Asked if there was anything he did do wrong, Sandusky said, “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”

When Sandusky retired in 1999, at just 55, he cited his desire to devote more time to The Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk kids. According to a grand jury report, however, Sandusky was a sexual predator who used the charity and his Penn State connections to prey on young boys.

Though he was not particularly close with Paterno, he remained a familiar sight around the Penn State football complex. He was given an office across the street from the football building, as part of his retirement package, and would bring Second Mile kids around the football facilities.

“I am innocent of those charges,” Sandusky said. .”.. I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact.”

Asked whether he was sexually attracted to underage boys, he said “sexually attracted, no. I enjoy young people, I love to be around them, but, no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”

Asked if there was anything he had done wrong, Sandusky said, “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”

Sandusky said Paterno never asked him about his behavior or what he might have done. Paterno is not the target of any legal investigation, but he has conceded he should have done more. Spanier, who remains a tenured member of the faculty, has said he would have reported a crime if he’d suspected one had been committed.

The interview with Bob Costas was Sandusky’s first public comment on the charges. He had previously maintained his innocence through his attorney, Joe Amendola.

“We anticipate we’re going to have at least several of those kids come forward and say ‘This never happened. This is me. This is the allegation. It never occurred,’” Amendola said on the NBC broadcast.

A spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly declined to comment on the interview, citing the active investigation.

Amendola earlier told CNN that his client was just behaving like “a jock.”

“Jerry Sandusky is a big overgrown kid,” Amendola said. “He’s a jock, and for anybody who’s ever played sports, you get showers after you work out.”

A coach, Mike McQueary, told a grand jury that in March 2001 when he was a graduate assistant, he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy about 10 years old in a shower at the Nittany Lions’ practice center. McQueary did not go to police but instead told Paterno, Curley and Schultz, although it is unclear how detailed a description he gave. Schultz, in turn, notified Spanier.

Sandusky told NBC that only “horseplay” was involved.

“We were showering and horsing around, and he actually turned all the showers on and was actually sliding across the floor, and we were, as I recall, possibly like snapping a towel — horseplay,” he said.