Convicted sex offender and former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky made his first public appearance in more than seven years as he seeks a new trial.
“He’s got heart issues. He’s delayed a heart surgery. He’s 82 years of age, you saw him if you were in the courtroom,” Sandusky’s attorney, Jerry Russo, told reporters outside a Pennsylvania courthouse after the former coach’s hearing on Tuesday, September 8. “He’s feeble and frail.”
Sandusky appeared via Zoom for the evidentiary hearing concerning the testimony of one of his accusers in the 2012 trial that resulted in him being convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse. The accuser, referred to as Victim 10, now claims prosecutors tried to steer his testimony at the time, according to a sworn affidavit obtained by ABC News in August.
Sandusky was an assistant coach for the Nittany Lions under head coach Joe Paterno from 1969 to 1999, and he continued to host his summer camps and was around the program well after his retirement. He was ultimately sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison after being accused of sexually abusing 10 boys from 1994 to 2009, though more than 30 alleged victims have come forward.
Asked about Sandusky’s demeanor during his hearing, Russo told reporters he was, “Prayerful.”
Sandusky wore a brown button-down shirt and often slouched during the hearing, according to The Athletic. He sounded “shaky and diffident” and appeared “visibly gaunt” with less hair than he had in his last public appearance, which came in 2019.
Victim 10 swore in the affidavit that he did not have a clear memory of being molested but that prosecutors “repeatedly encouraged me to believe that Mr. Sandusky had molested me — despite my lack of clear or certain memory of any such conduct.”
Sandusky, who has been serving his sentence at Laurel Highlands State Correctional Institute in Somerset, Pennsylvania, has maintained his innocence.
“If you believe Jerry Sandusky was fairly treated by the court, then you’re not going to hear what I have to say,” Russo? said.
Russo also told ESPN, “Read the record and you will understand why I believe he’s innocent. That’s why I took this case.”
Sandusky did not speak publicly about the case on Tuesday, but told the Daily Mail in 2024 that he has “never ever in my life ever thought about molesting anybody.”
“I was accused of heinous crimes, which I’ve never committed,” he said. “My wife was my only partner in sex, and that was after marriage.”
Sandusky also said he believes he was “wrongfully convicted by inconsistent, perjured testimony,” and that his alleged victims were “incentivized by money” and “coached and led” to lie.
