BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania: US defense lawyers yesterday rested their case in the pedophilia trial of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, without calling him to the stand.
Closing arguments are now expected in the trial of Sandusky, 68, once a well-respected assistant coach at Penn State, one of the nation’s top college American football teams.
Sandusky, who stands accused of molesting nine boys over a 15-year period, allegedly recruited his young victims under the guise of a program he ran for abused and neglected youth. Charges relating to a 10th boy were dropped because his testimony showed it was barred by the statute of limitations.
Prosecutors have dubbed Sandusky a “systematic serial predator” with adult witnesses coming forward to allege that as teenagers they were sexually abused and raped by him.
But Sandusky’s defense team has sought to cast doubt on the credibility of the alleged victims, implying at times they were fabricating stories hoping for a large payout from a lawsuit.
The case has shocked the United States, where many are obsessed by college sports and adore their American football team’s coaches.
Speaking publicly for the first time of his ordeal, one of the alleged victims, now in his 20s, last week told how Sandusky would initiate sexual activity in a locked shower room reserved for Penn State coaches by starting a soap battle.
“A lot of this started as playfighting, slapping. Once I’d pull away, you could tell that he could get angry,” said the man.
Prosecutors said Sandusky recruited his victims through his Second Mile charity, which went bankrupt last month after donations dried up in the wake of the scandal.
Defense rests in pedophile trial of US coach
