Jerry Sandusky found ‘perfect victims’ at the Second Mile

Matt Sandusky spoke to a group about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Jerry Sandusky:

Matthew Sandusky walked the crowd at the Pinnacle Center through the subtle and gradual grooming process of building trust with children through attention and activities before the sexual abuse actually takes place. He told them of a dysfunctional and abusive childhood that made him easy prey when steered to Sandusky’s Second Mile nonprofit for disadvantaged youth when he was 7.

“The Second Mile was feeding this man the perfect victims,” said Sandusky, 36, who said he was age 8 when the abuse began at the nonprofit’s summer camp and 17 when it ended.

He said Jerry Sandusky had all their backgrounds, knew who didn’t have a father in their lives, so all he had to do was choose who to target. He said the kids were taken to football games with seats on the 50-yard-line and the coach began spending more time with the boy’s family.

There are people who abuse children who do so merely because they are sexually attracted to children. There is no intent hurt the child or just to use them. Many of these people do genuinely care about their victims despite their actions.

Then there are people like Sandusky. The true predator.

In the mind of Dottie Sandusky

Matt Lauer interviewed Dottie Sandusky Wednesday on the TODAY show. Dottie maintained that her husband Jerry Sandusky is innocent. A jury convicted Sandusky on 45 counts of sexual abuse in 2012. Dottie testified at trial that she never witnessed or heard any abuse occurring in her home, and held to that position during the interview:

“Do I believe him?’’ she told Matt Lauer. “I definitely believe him. Because if I didn’t believe him, when I testified at trial, I could have not said what I said. I would have had to tell the truth.”

She believes the victims’ financial gain was at play.

“I think it was, they were manipulated, and they saw money,’’ she said. “Once lawyers came into the case, they said there was money.”

She also challenged the notion that she was a complicit, weak spouse manipulated by a strong-willed pedophile:

“I’m not a weak spouse,” she replied. “As you know…they call me ‘Sarge’ because Jerry said I kept everybody in line. If they want to say that, let them say that. I know who I am. And I know who Jerry is. And I know he did not do the horrible crimes that he’s convicted of.”