“Another Nigger fried. No big deal.”
-- April 16, 2011, Statement by New York City Police Officer Michael Daragjati, boasting of his false arrest of another African-American male.
Top News Stories!
LAUSD: Another One!
PUBLISHED: Friday, February 03, 2012 - MODIFIED: Monday, February 06, 2012 03:02 PM PST
Mark Berndt, 61 (right) faces 23 counts of lewd conduct for allegedly feeding his semen to blindfolded children in "tasting games." Martin Bernard Springer, 49 (left) is suspected of fondling two children in his second-grade class in the last three years.Los Angeles, CA -- Authorities acknowledged that 18 years ago a 10-year-old girl claimed that Mark Berndt, 61, tried to fondle her. Prosecutors declined to file to charges against Berndt in the 1993 report, saying they didn't have enough evidence. Berndt denied the allegation at the time.
The details of that case and other claims by two former students about strange behavior by Berndt surfaced just three days after his arrest. Earlier, two women who said they were former students of Berndt told the media sources that complaints were made about his odd behavior as far back as 1990. The most recent allegations also raised further questions as to why he wasn't disciplined by school officials, who have been lambasted by some parents for waiting a year to reveal Berndt was suspected of taking bondage-style photographs of children in his class. Only parents of children identified as victims were told by authorities about the most recent investigation.
School officials and investigators said proper procedures were followed to investigate and build a case against the teacher. Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney spokeswoman, said in a statement the case was rejected because there was insufficient evidence to prove a crime had occurred.The incident involving the 10-year-old girl occurred in September 1993 but wasn't reported by her mother to officials at Miramonte until the following January, after her daughter had seen an "Oprah" show about inappropriate touching, sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott said Thursday. The girl claimed Berndt reached toward her genitals during class and she pushed his hand away, Scott said. School officials notified the Sheriff's Department, which submitted evidence to prosecutors. They opted not to file a charge of committing a lewd act on a minor under the age of 14. Berndt was never arrested. "Based on what I read, it was a thorough and complete investigation," said Scott, who noted the investigator who handled the case has retired.
Using a cheap camera, Berndt is suspected of snapping nearly 400 photographs of Miramonte students, some with a giant Madagascar cockroach from a classroom terrarium on their faces. Others were blindfolded or had clear tape over their mouths, and some were given sperm-laced cookies to eat as treats in the photo sessions that were treated like games, Scott said.
Some of Berndt's students defended him, saying he was a kind and generous teacher. Angelica Zuniga, a 16-year-old high school junior, was in third grade in 2003 when she had Berndt as a teacher. She said he never asked her or others to do anything strange or to play any inappropriate games. "They're calling him `monster.' He's just not that kind of person," Angelica said. "He was one of the most amazing teachers out there. He's dedicated his life to us, and I want to stick up for him."
The latest investigation of Berndt began last fall when a film processor became suspicious about the photographs and turned them over to Redondo Beach police, who on Dec. 2 handed them over to the sheriff's department, Scott said. Berndt, who taught at Miramonte for more than 30 years ago, was removed from classwork in January and fired within the month.
The case also prompted Deasy to fire a high school teacher who is being sued over allegations he had sex with students. The media reported Friday that Vance Miller, 59, was pulled from his Hamilton High School classroom in 2010, before Deasy became superintendent. A police investigation didn't result in criminal charges. But two former students, now adults, said the music teacher had sex with them while they were students at Hamilton. Deasy reviewed the case this week and decided there was enough information to fire Miller, who has been paid since his removal.
PUBLISHED: Friday, February 03, 2012 - MODIFIED: Monday, February 06, 2012 03:02 PM PST
Aldo Scamardella, a former Hamilton High student, said Friday that he once showered naked with the music teacher who is being sued for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy. However, Scamardella, 21, believes his former teacher, Vance Miller (pictured left) did nothing wrong. Miller, the 2010 Southern California Outstanding Music Educator of the Year, was a Hamilton music magnet teacher for 17 years. Recently he was accused of sexually abusing at least four students in the mid-1990s through 2010.Scamardella played violin in the orchestra from 2005 to 2009 and spent many occasions alone with Miller after class and at the teacher's home, even going to the gym and showering naked with him once. He said the incidents were never sexual and the teacher was "fatherly" to him. "It was a complete shock to me, because he was just a very caring teacher. I didn't really believe it," Scamardella said. Scamardella learned about allegations against Miller nearly a year ago when Los Angeles Police Department detectives were interviewing students and faculty on campus during the spring of 2011.
Miller, 59, taught for more than 35 years in the LAUSD school system. He was removed from the classroom by the district in September 2010, the same year he won the music educator of the year award. No explanations were given to parents and students, and rumors ran rampant. Miller is scheduled to go to the board for dismissal proceedings on Feb. 7, said LAUSD spokesman Tom Waldman.
Scamardella said Friday he was upset by the details of the allegations against Miller, but believes Miller is innocent. The two met when Scamardella was in eight grade and Miller was a conductor for the L.A. Unified Middle School Honors orchestra. "From the very beginning he was always just very kind, caring," Scamardella said. "And honestly, I probably, I can understand maybe why people might take some of his mannerisms in a wrong way. I mean, I'm not going to lie, he would hug us, and give us a kiss on the cheek. And I'm sure that's strange, because you're not used to teachers doing that. You're not used to building that kind of relationship, so to say, with a teacher, they're sort of becoming a friend...but after a while it was 'whatever' to me."
A lawsuit against Miller and the district states that the teacher regularly kissed other students on the lips in class, rubbed up against them, took students individually with him to a local gym and showered naked with them.
Scamardella said Miller was more friendly with male students than females. Scamardella said he would hang out at Miller's home and help select songs for the orchestra or go to the library with him to pick up music. When he was 17-year-old high school junior he went to the gym with Miller and a couple other students once and showered naked with the teacher and classmates after a swim. "I'll go to the gym on my own, and there's a bunch of naked guys around me," Scamardella said. "Yes, it was a bit uncomfortable, in a sense, because it was two of my classmates and my teacher."
Scamardella said he has met with Miller twice since the allegations surfaced, most recently a couple months ago and prior to that had lunch with the teacher in March or April. Miller asked Scamardella if he had heard anything about him from other students. Scamardella said he knew Miller wasn't teaching at Hamilton any more.
"That's when he told me that it was something we'll discuss when I was older," Scamardella said. "He told me there were some allegations made toward him, but didn't specify what type of allegations those where, and [he said] that there were investigations, that basically he was asked to leave the school." Miller seemed sad and said his wife and son were being supportive, Scamardella explained. "I told him, 'I have your back. I support you. And if you need anything I'm here as a friend,'" Scamardella said.
Miller has helped Scamardella and other former students gain professional performance experience. Scamardella got a job playing violin in two episodes of "Glee" because of Miller. "He would always strive to give us the best opportunitites in what we did," Scamardella said.
"...I can honestly tell you that nothing ever happened," Scamardella said. "He had the moments if he wanted to...but never once did he lay a finger on me. In a way, I almost saw it as just a fatherly type of manner. The way he treated me. I don't think it was any different than the way he would treat a son."
PUBLISHED TUES., JAN 31, 2012 01:25 PM PST - MODIFIED: TUES., JAN 31, 2012 09:02 AM PST
Mark Berndt, 61 (pictured left) a Miramonte Elementary School teacher who taught for three decades in South L.A., told his elementary school students they would be playing "a game" before tying them up and feeding them from a spoon possibly containing semen, sources said. Berndt, who is charged with lewd acts on 23 children and was taken into custody Monday, told the children the spoon contained something sugary and sweet, but authorities said they believed the substance was his semen, said the sources, who declined to comment on the record because the investigation is ongoing.
A spoon recovered from a trash bin in Berndt's classroom is a key piece of evidence, said Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "Early in the investigation, special victims bureau detectives recovered a blue plastic spoon and an empty container from the trash within the suspect’s classroom," Parker said. "The recovered items tested positive for semen." Through further investigation, the suspect’s DNA was obtained and tested, and officials said it matched that of the DNA found on the spoon and container.The 23 alleged victims are both boys and girls and ranged in age from 7 to 10. The crimes occurred between 2008 and 2010, Parker said. Some girls were allegedly photographed with a blue spoon holding a white substance near their mouths, Parker said.
Berndt's arrest capped a nearly yearlong investigation by the L.A. County sheriff's special victims unit. Berndt was fired in March and was being held Tuesday on $2.3-million bail. The investigation began when a photo processor turned over to authorities, pictured of some alleged acts of bondage and the spoon-feeding, officials said. Investigators recovered photos from the processor and Berndt's home that allegedly showed the students bound and blindfolded and some with large Madagascar cockroaches crawling on them inside the school setting, Parker said. Parker also said that, so far, 10 children in the photos recovered have not been identified. More than 80 children and staff have been in interviewed. Miramonte Elementary is in the Florence Firestone unincorporated area of Los Angeles County and is within the Los Angeles Unified School District.
See:
•» Corrupt Justice™ (Jan. 24, 2012): Schoolyard Predators! - Part XI - 2012
Clayton Diablo!
Posted: 7:25 p.m. PST - Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 - Updated: 3:25 p.m. PST - Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — A Clayton middle school teacher was arrested Friday on suspicion of having sex with a former female student, a Walnut Creek Police Department sergeant said. At about noon, Walnut Creek detectives and Clayton police served a search warrant and an arrest warrant at Diablo View Middle School and arrested Andrew Bruce Cottrell (pictured above, center) who was a math and science teacher there. The 41-year-old Walnut Creek resident allegedly gave police a full confession. He was booked into Martinez Detention Facility on six counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, two counts of lewd acts with a victim who is 15-years or 14-years-old, and nine counts of oral copulation with a victim under 16-years-old.
Walnut Creek police said Cottrell carried on a year-long sexual relationship with a former student, a girl between 14- and 15-years-old. Earlier this week the girl's parents got suspicious. “The parents did discover some information that led them to believe there was a relationship between the two and at that time they contacted the police department,” said Walnut Creek police detective Tom Cashion. Investigators said Cottrell and the underage girl had sex numerous times at his house in Walnut Creek, and possibly even at the school.
Steve Sherman has a daughter who goes to Diablo View Middle School, but she wasn't in Cottrell's class. “I'm thankful that my daughter didn't have him,” he said Friday. “Just heard about it and it’s awful.” Cottrell’s longtime neighbors were stunned to find out about the arrest. “He's a lovely guy,” said Janet Abrams, a neighbor. ”I've always thought he was a lovely guy and I’m shocked, absolutely shocked.” Abrams said Cottrell is married and the couple has two little boys. “I'm mad at Bruce, but I’m sorry for Kelly and the boys,” Abrams added.
After the arrest on campus, the school district sent out a phone message to parents explaining that children's safety is of paramount concern to the district. Police said they believe Cottrell only had a relationship with the one underage girl, but they would like parents to come forward if they think their child was victimized. Cottrell was being held in jail on just under a million dollars bail. Media sources spoke with someone at Cottrell's home Friday night and she declined to give her name but said the situation was horrible.
Stereotypes!
Posted: November 23, 2011
Updated: November 29, 2011 | 12:38 PM PST
NEW YORK (WCJB) - A Brooklyn teacher was arrested Tuesday night on charges she raped a sixth grader and gave him drugs and alcohol. According to the New York Daily News, Claudia Tillery, 42, was a humanities teacher at the middle school the boy attended. Police sources reportedly told the paper that Tillery and the boy, who is now 14, had been having a sexual relationship since 2009. The sources said the boy had recently ended the relationship and decided to come forward.Pervasive Perversion
@Penn State!
@Penn State!
Predator Visits!
Posted: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 9:52 am PST
Harrisburg, PA -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (pictured above, center) plans to attend a memorial service for former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno (pictured left) at a church in Harrisburg. Corbett's office says the governor doesn't plan to make remarks at the Wednesday afternoon tribute, organized by Harrisburg-area alumni. The late coach's son Scott is scheduled to speak on behalf of the family, and former Penn State players are expected to attend. It's being held at the Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick, a Roman Catholic church in downtown Harrisburg. Paterno died last month after a brief battle with lung cancer. He had been fired as coach in November following child-sex abuse charges filed against former assistant Jerry Sandusky. Thousands attended a public memorial for the 85-year-old coach at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center following his burial.Posted: 02/13/2012 - Updated: 02/14/2012 12:20:09 PM PST
Happy Valley, PA -- The former Penn State assistant football coach currently awaiting trial on child sex assault charges can visit with some of his grandchildren, a judge ruled Monday. The decision by Judge John Cleland eases some conditions of Jerry Sandusky's house arrest, which had forbidden contact with his 11 grandchildren. Sandusky (pictured left) has been under house arrest since December, when he was charged with sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Sandusky's attorney, said the former assistant coach and his family are happy about the ruling. "Jerry, Dottie, and their entire family are very relieved by and pleased with the court's decision," the attorney said in a written statement. Sandusky will be allowed to visit with eight of his grandchildren under parental supervision, Cleland ruled. But another judge in a custody case involving the other three grandchildren should decide whether Sandusky can visit with them, Cleland (pictured above, center) ruled. The mother of those children has strongly objected to them having contact with Sandusky.
State Attorney General Linda Kelly had blasted Sandusky's request to see his grandchildren, saying in a motion earlier this month that Sandusky was fortunate to be granted house arrest when "he is alleged to have committed 52 sexual offenses." Kelly also argued that Sandusky should be required to stay indoors during his house arrest because of fears among neighbors and teachers at a nearby elementary school. Cleland denied that request Monday, ruling that prosecutors did not present any evidence showing that Sandusky had tried to contact children at the school. The state "failed to present any evidence whatsoever that (Sandusky) presents a clearly defined threat to any student at the adjoining elementary school simply by being on his deck," Monday's the ruling says.
Cleland also ruled Monday that Sandusky would be allowed to have visits from adult friends and to leave his home for meetings with attorneys and private investigators aiding in his defense, provided that a probation coordinator approves. "Jerry is also happy he can now have visitation with long-time friends with the prior approval of the Probation Department and will be able to continue to use the deck to his home to exercise, care for and supervise his dog, Bo, when Bo is in the yard," his attorney said in his statement issued after Monday's ruling.
On Monday, the judge denied a prosecution request that jurors be selected from outside the county where the former coach is being prosecuted. Cleland has said he is aiming for a May 14 trial for Sandusky.
Tim Curley, Penn State's former athletic director, and Gary Schultz, a former university vice president who oversaw campus police, have been charged with perjury and failing to report an alleged 2002 sexual assault of a child. Both of them have pleaded not guilty.
The allegations against Sandusky led to the firing of Penn State's heralded head football coach Joe Paterno only months before he died of complications from lung cancer. On Monday an attorney requested that the perjury charge against Curley be dropped, arguing that Paterno's death means prosecutors no longer have a required second witness to support the charge.
Penn State
Doesn't Get It!
Doesn't Get It!
Posted: January 26, 2012 - Updated: January 27, 2012 3:28 PM PST
"'I wish I knew!'"
Posted: January 14, 2012 5:22 PM EST - Updated: January 14, 2012 3:46 PM PST
Happy Valley, PA -- Jerry Sandusky, 67, a longtime Penn State assistant football coach, has since been accused of more than 50 counts involving sexual acts with 10 boys since 1994. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, while denying any sexual activity with his accusers. What Penn State officials knew about Sandusky and when is the subject of no fewer than five formal investigations. They range from state Attorney General Linda Kelly's criminal investigation of Sandusky, to an NCAA inquiry, to Penn State's in-house inquiry led by former FBI director Louis J. Freeh. The best-case scenario is that the institutional leaders were guilty of blindness, and an unfeeling self-absorption. The worst case is a criminal cover-up to protect a wealthy university's reputation.How Sandusky allegedly evaded detection by state child services, university administrators, teachers, parents, donors and Joe Paterno himself, remains an open question. "I wish I knew," Paterno said. "I don't know the answer to that. It's hard." Almost as difficult for Paterno to answer is the question of why, after receiving a report in 2002 that Sandusky had abused a boy in the shower of Penn State's Lasch Football Building, and forwarding it to his superiors, he didn't follow up more aggressively.
On a Saturday morning in 2002, an upset young assistant coach named Mike McQueary knocked on Paterno's door to tell him he had witnessed a shocking scene in the Penn State football building showers. Until that moment, Paterno said, he had "no inkling" that Sandusky might be a sexual deviant. McQueary, sitting at Paterno's kitchen table, told him that he had been at the football building late the evening before when he heard noises coming from the shower.
(Penn State University head football coach Joe Paterno leaves the team's football building on Nov. 8, 2011 in University Park, Penn.) "He was very upset and I said why, and he was very reluctant to get into it," Paterno said. "He told me what he saw, and I said, what? He said it, well, looked like inappropriate, or fondling, I'm not quite sure exactly how he put it. I said you did what you had to do. It's my job now to figure out what we want to do. So I sat around. It was a Saturday. Waited till Sunday because I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. And then I called my superiors and I said, 'Hey, we got a problem, I think. Would you guys look into it?' Cause I didn't know, you know. We never had, until that point, 58 years I think, I had never had to deal with something like that. And I didn't feel adequate." "I didn't know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was," he said. "So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn't work out that way." Paterno insists he was completely unaware of a 1998 police investigation into a report from a Second Mile mother that Sandusky had inappropriately touched her son in a shower. The inquiry ended when the local prosecutor declined to bring charges. "You know it wasn't like it was something everybody in the building knew about," Paterno said. "Nobody knew about it."
Paterno declined to judge Sandusky, or his other Penn State colleagues. "I think we got to wait and see what happens," he said. "The courts are taking care of it, the legal system is taking care of it."
Sandusky maintains his innocence. Former athletic director Tim Curley and school vice president Gary Schultz face charges of perjury and failing to report suspected child abuse, based on their inaction. They have pleaded innocent. Though he is not charged with a crime, Penn State president Graham Spanier was fired on Nov. 9, along with Paterno.
Paterno is accused of no wrongdoing, and in fact authorities have said he fulfilled his legal obligations by reporting to his superiors. Nevertheless, the university Board of Trustees summarily dismissed him with a late-night phone call four days after Sandusky's arrest. At about 10 p.m., Paterno and Sue were getting ready for bed when the doorbell rang. An assistant athletic director was at the door, and wordlessly handed Sue a slip of paper. There was nothing on it but the name of the vice chairman of trustees, John Surma, with a phone number. They stood frozen by the bedside in their nightclothes. Sue in a robe and Paterno in pajamas and a Penn State sweatshirt. Paterno dialed the number.
Surma told Paterno, "In the best interests of the university, you are terminated." Paterno hung up and repeated the words to his wife. She grabbed the phone and redialed. "After 61 years he deserved better," she snapped. "He deserved better."
The firing provoked a riot on campus that night.
'We got a problem'!
Posted: Fri December 16, 2011 - Updated: Mon Dec 19, 2011 - 1:03pm PST
"I didn't want to interfere with their weekends, (so) either Saturday or Monday, I talked to my boss, Tim Curley, by phone, saying, 'Hey we got a problem' and I explained the problem to him."
-- Former Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno in his grand jury testimony regarding his rationale for not contacting police after being informed of sex abuse allegations against Asst. Coach Jerry Sandusky.
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno (pictured above, center) was in no hurry to forward to authorities a witness' report of a sexual abuse of a young boy because he didn't want to "interfere with their weekends," according to a deposition read in court today. The man Paterno told about the abuse, former athletic director Tim Curley, testified in a deposition today that he didn't think it was a crime, so he didn't call the police. Their testimony was among a series of accounts by Penn State officials who displayed a remarkable lack of urgency after a boy was allegedly sexually assaulted in a Penn State locker room shower in 2002 by former coach Jerry Sandusky (pictured below, center).
Magisterial District Judge William Wenner in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Friday, ruled that Athletic Director Timothy Curley and Gary Schultz, the former vice president, will face trial for perjury and failing to report that a member of the football program told them he saw Sandusky molesting a boy. “The task that was at hand yesterday was to present enough evidence to show the court that the charges should be held,” Senior Deputy Attorney General Marc Costanzo said after the ruling. “We’re not surprised by that.” Curley and Schultz, who remain free on $75,000 unsecured bail, denied the charges, which stem from their grand jury testimony. They face formal arraignment on Jan. 19, according to court records. They face as long as seven years in prison if convicted of perjury.
In a hearing at Dauphin County District Court on Friday, Paterno's deposition was read in which he recounts being told by assistant coach Mike McQueary that he saw Sandusky fondling a boy. Paterno, who is 84 and battling cancer, did not appear in court. His deposition was entered into the record. "He (McQueary) had seen a person, an older person, fondling a young boy," Paterno testified. "I don't know what you would call it, but it was of a sexual nature. I didn't push Mike to describe it because he was already upset, but it was something inappropriate to a youngster."
"I thought that Jerry was molesting him, having intercourse with him. I didn't see insertion or hear protest. Jerry having some type of intercourse with him, that's what I believe I saw. I heard rhythmic slapping sounds, two or three slapping sounds, like skin on skin. I looked into the mirror and shockingly and surprisingly saw Jerry in the shower with a young boy, with Jerry behind the boy. The boy was up against the wall, his hands up, Jerry behind him in a close position, with his hands wrapped around the boy. I thought to myself this is a sexual position."
-- December 16, 2011, Former Penn State Asst. Coach Mike McQueary in his preliminary hearing testimony describing what he believed to be sex abuse by ex-Asst. Coach Jerry Sandusky against a child in the Penn State Showers.
McQueary (pictured left) testified that he told Paterno the next morning that he saw an incident that was extremely sexual in nature, but did not describe specifics or use the words "rape" or "anal sex." Paterno, he said, was shocked and saddened. "I told Paterno I saw Jerry with a young boy in the showers. It was way over the lines, extremely sexual in nature and I thought I needed to tell him," McQueary said. "You don't go to Coach Paterno and describe in detail those kinds of sexual acts. I wouldn't do that. I told him it was extremely sexual." McQueary was adamant that he told the same story, emphasizing that he witnessed something sexual, to Curley and Schultz when they had him come in for a meeting in the Bryce Jordan center the next day."I didn't want to interfere with their weekends, (so) either Saturday or Monday, I talked to my boss, Tim Curley, by phone, saying, 'Hey we got a problem' and I explained the problem to him," Paterno said.
Curley (pictured left) in his deposition, said he did not think the incident constituted a crime worthy of calling the police, despite admitting to the grand jury that he knew Sandusky had been seen showering naked with a boy and inappropriately horsing around and wrestling with him. "I never reported it to University Police. I didn't think that it was a crime at the time," Curley testified. "I said it was an extremely sexual act, and I think it was intercourse," McQueary said. "I told them I heard slapping sounds, I did say that." Curley and Schultz told him they would look into the allegations, and then contacted him four or five days later to say they had put in place some restrictions on Sandusky's access to campus. McQueary said he believed he was talking to the head of campus police when he talked to Schultz, and therefore never contacted police on his own or suggested to the officials that they should contact police. McQueary said he was troubled when he saw Sandusky on campus after the incident.One of Sandusky's attorneys said that there was a simple explanation for why Sandusky would have been in a shower with the boy that night, and it was not sexual. "Some of these kids don't have basic hygiene skills, teaching a person to shower at the age of 12 or 14 sounds strange to some people, but people who work with troubled youth will tell you there are a lot of juvenile delinquents and people who are dependent who have to be taught basic life skills like how to put soap on their body," the attorney told media affiliates.
The reactions by Paterno and Curley follow a pattern of lax responses by university and Second Mile officials to sex abuse allegations against Sandusky. McQueary, who witnessed the 2002 incident in the locker room, said that rather than physically stopping the assault, or even saying anything to Sandusky while he was in the shower with the boy, he merely slammed his locker and walked out of the building. Instead of calling the police, McQueary talked about it to his father and didn't call Paterno until the next day.
Schultz (pictured left) the vice president of finance, was informed of two such allegations against Sandusky, once in 1998 and again in 2002, but did not think that he should investigate the claims further, according to testimony given today. John McQueary, Mike McQueary's father, testified that following the 2002 incident he spoke to Schultz during a routine business meeting, and Schultz said he was aware of multiple allegations against Sandusky but had not been able to do anything about it. "I was expecting something to be done," John McQueary testified today. "(Schultz said) 'John, there had been other allegations and we looked into them before and we have never been able to unearth or sink teeth into something that was substantial.' But I got the sense that he was going to investigate what Mike saw."The former head of university police, Thomas Harmon, testified that in 1998, a mother reported to campus police that Sandusky had hugged her son in the shower. Harmon notified Schultz and the district attorney, who launched an investigation. Harmon said he kept Schultz closely updated on the investigation until it was closed by the DA. He also said he was never told by Schultz of the 2002 incident, despite being head of campus police until 2005. University president Graham Spanier was notified of the 2002 incident by Schultz and Curley but also did not report the incident to police.
Read the Grand Jury Presentment
Sandusky:
Shower Scene Testimony!
Shower Scene Testimony!
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:16pm PST - Updated:
"I looked in the mirror and shockingly and surprisingly saw Jerry with a boy in the shower."
-- December 16, 2011, Court testimony by Former Penn State star quarterback and now star witness Mike McQueary regarding his witnessing Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the Penn State Locker room showers.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (WCJB) -- District Judge William Wenner ruled that prosecutors had probable cause to send the case against Tim Curley and Gary Schultz to trial. Wenner heard testimony against Curley and Schultz on charges they lied to a grand jury and didn't properly report an allegation that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a boy in a locker room shower in 2002. Their lawyers maintain the men are innocent, and contest testimony that they were told about the seriousness of the matter. Former Penn State vice president Gary Schultz, left, and former athletic director Tim Curley are charged with perjury and failing to properly report suspected child abuse. The hearing Friday centered on two hours of testimony by Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary who said he believes he saw Sandusky molesting a boy and that he fully conveyed what he had seen to former athletic director Curley and former senior vice president Schultz.
Former Penn State star quarterback and now star witness Mike McQueary (pictured below, right) testified Friday that he told university officials he saw Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy in a locker-room shower in 2002, saying it was "extremely sexual in nature." McQueary said he met with Curley, then Penn State's athletic director, and Schultz, a university vice president who oversaw campus police, to inform them about the alleged incident about nine days after first alerting head coach Joe Paterno. Curley and Schultz are charged with lying about what McQueary described to them. McQueary was the first witness in a hearing Friday to decide if there's enough evidence to warrant putting Curley and Schultz on trial on charges of perjury and failing to report suspected child sexual abuse. Their fate may hinge on what McQueary, now 38, saw on March 1, 2002 -- as well as what he told others about it. 
McQueary testified Friday that he walked into a locker room and heard someone in the shower. He said he heard rhythmic, slapping sounds, like that of skin on skin. "I looked in the mirror and shockingly and surprisingly saw Jerry with a boy in the shower," McQueary told the court. He said Sandusky was behind the boy and the boy was up against a wall. He said he believes Sandusky was sexually molesting the boy but he did not see insertion and did not hear protests. He said he believes the two were engaged in intercourse but he cannot be sure. "They were as close as they could be," he said. McQueary said he looked away for a few moments, and when he took a closer look, the two were standing apart. "They had turned so their bodies were both facing me. ... They looked directly in my eyes," he said. "Seeing that they were separated, I thought it was best that I leave the locker room." He added that he felt "shocked" and "horrified" afterward. "I was not thinking straight," he said, adding that he was "sure (the incident) was over" when he left. But McQueary acknowledged he doesn't know what happened after leaving. He testified that he also never tried to find the boy.
McQueary (pictured above, center-left) then a graduate assistant, said he called Paterno (pictured above, center-right) -- who was later fired in the wake of the scandal -- the morning after, telling him that he "saw Jerry with a young boy in the shower and it was extremely sexual in nature and I thought I needed to tell him about it." At Paterno's house the next day, sitting at his kitchen table, McQueary said he described what he saw and that he told Paterno that Sandusky was in a "sexual" act with the child and described it as "extremely sexual." In court he testified that he estimated the boy he saw was about 10 or 12 years old, caucasian and had wet hair, facing the wall. "I believe they were having some kind of intercourse," McQueary said as his mother sat in the courtroom on the verge of tears. McQueary said he moved toward the shower and Sandusky separated from the boy. "I know they saw me," he said. "They looked directly in my eye, both of them." McQueary said he then left. "I was distraught and horrified," he said.
Graphic language contained in video
McQueary testified that the former head coach was "shocked" and "saddened" upon hearing the allegation. "He said, 'I need to think and tell some people about it.' " But McQueary didn't meet with university officials to explain what he saw until more than a week after first informing Paterno, he testified. Paterno also allegedly never tried to find the boy, said McQueary, who he added he can't be certain if he ever used the word "intercourse" when describing the alleged incident to the former head coach. But McQueary added, "There's no question in my mind that I conveyed to (university officials) that I saw Jerry with a boy in the shower and that it was severe sexual acts going on and that it was wrong and over the line." He further testified he did not alert police, saying that he instead told Curley (pictured above, right) Schultz (pictured above, center-left). "In my mind, that is the police," McQueary said. "I want to make that clear." When pressed about why he went to university officials and not police, McQueary said it was "because it was delicate in nature and I tried to use my best judgment."McQueary said Friday that Schultz never followed up with him but that neither Schultz or Curley told him not to talk to anyone. McQueary said he was left with the impression both men took his report seriously. When asked why he didn't go to police, he referenced Schultz's position as a vice president at the university who had overseen the campus police. "I thought I was talking to the head of the police, to be frank with you," he said. "In my mind it was like speaking to a (district attorney). It was someone who police reported to and would know what to do with it." "Joe Paterno did ask me … two or three months after that … if I was OK in relation to what I saw and if I was handling it OK," McQueary said.
Curley testified to the grand jury that McQueary told him that he saw Sandusky "horsing around" with a child in the showers and that "they were playful," according the transcript of his grand jury testimony. Asked whether the activity involved anal intercourse, Curley told the grand jury: "Absolutely not." He said he didn't report it to police because he didn't believe it was a crime. Schultz told the grand jury, according to the transcript, that McQueary and Paterno related their concerns 'in a general way' that did not involve specific allegations. Schultz said he believed the incident had been referred to the state child protection authorities. Both administrators told the grand jury they did not attempt to find the boy involved in the 2002 incident. Schultz said there was 'no basis' to believe Sandusky was involved sexual activity with a child based on McQueary's account.
McQueary's father, John McQueary, also testified and said he related to Schultz what his son had witnessed in the shower room involving Sandusky. He said he described Sandusky's behavior, as related by his son, as "sexual in nature … and that something should be done about it."
"I told him enough that I feel like he got the picture," John McQueary told the courtroom. "I never used the word 'crime.' "
Sandusky, a longtime Penn State assistant football coach, has since been accused of more than 50 counts involving sexual acts with 10 boys since 1994. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, while denying any sexual activity with his accusers. Regarding the 2002 incident in the showers, he has said that he and the boy were just "horsing around." Sandusky, who was Penn State's defensive coordinator when he retired in 1998, met his accusers through a youth charity he founded, the Second Mile. According to prosecutors, he would hug, tickle and wrestle with the boys before allegedly crossing the line and sexually abusing them. In November, the summary of a grand jury report was released contending that Sandusky sexually abused the boys in the basement of his home, hotel rooms, a high school wrestling room and -- based on McQueary's account -- the locker room for Penn State's football team.Former Penn State police chief Tom Harmon testified that he alerted Schultz to a 1998 investigation of abuse allegations involving Sandusky. Harmon said he spoke to Schultz four times during the course of that inquiry. Harmon eventually referred that investigation to the local district attorney, who did not pursue criminal charges. Harmon said Schultz never alerted him to the 2002 allegations.
Sandusky:
Waives Preliminary!
Waives Preliminary!
Posted: Tues Dec 13, 2011 9:38am PST - Updated:
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (WCJB) -- Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky (pictured above, center) who is accused of sexually abusing boys, remains "totally prepared and committed to proving his innocence" after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday, his attorney said. The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to allow the presiding judge the opportunity to decide whether the prosecution has enough evidence to take the case to trial. Mr. Sandusky, 67 years old, has denied all of the charges against him and entered a not-guilty plea Tuesday. The developments mean the case is set to go to trial unless there is a plea agreement. Prosecutors had prepared to put 11 witnesses on the stand Tuesday, including some of the young men who accuse Sandusky of sexually abusing them while they were children and teenagers."We're ready to defend. We've always been ready to defend," Sandusky's attorney told reporters outside the Centre County Courthouse after the brief court hearing. "Today's waiver has nothing to do with conceding anything. There have been no plea negotiations. There will be no plea negotiations. This is a fight to the death. This is the fight of Jerry Sandusky's life." The former coach faces more than 50 counts related to allegations of sexual molestation revealed in a grand jury report last month. He is accused of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, among other charges. Sandusky also will waive a scheduled January 11 arraignment after entering a not guilty plea Tuesday and requesting a jury trial, his attorney said. It was unclear whether the plea applied to all of the charges or just some.
Reader Pageviews by Country
United States
Russia
Germany
Canada
United Kingdom
France
Netherlands
Austria
Ukraine
Sweden
Movie Intermission!
Dahmer (2002)
Description: Based on the true crime story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, this movie tells the emotionally riveting story of a man who turned his darkest fantasies into a horrifying reality.
More Below
0 comments:
Post a Comment