The prosecution presented its last witness today in the trial against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The New York Times reports the witness was the mother of one of the eight boys who accused Sandusky of sexually abusing him.
“Despite the boy’s objections, the mother said, she urged her son to spend time with Sandusky because the boy had no father at home and she was working two jobs at the time,” the Times reports. “During the time the boy, then in his early teens, was with Sandusky, he developed a host of problems, including stomach pains and sleep deprivation.”
ABC News reports the defense offered its first two witnesses and the judge indicated attorneys may be ready to give closing arguments on Thursday.
Reuters reports:
“One of the defense witnesses called on Monday, political campaign strategist David Pasquinelli, testified he had worked with Sandusky on a $7 million fundraising campaign for the Second Mile from October 2007 to spring 2009.
“The two had almost daily contact with each other and made 15 to 20 trips by car together throughout Pennsylvania as part of the campaign, he said.
“Asked by Amendola to characterize the interaction he saw between Sandusky and children, he said: ‘I saw a lot of goofing around. Jerry had a very unique way, and many of us were inspired by this, to relate to youth’ on several levels.”
The Los Angeles Times reports that today one charge against Sandusky was dropped, because “the state statute did not apply in the years the witness said he was abused.”
Sandusky is now facing 51 counts — down from 52 — related to the abuse of 10 boys over 15 years. Sandusky has denied all the charges.
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