Penn State police were warned Jerry Sandusky fit the profile of a pedophile in 1998, an internal memo has revealed.
The memo, published by NBC News, was written by Alycia Chambers, who was a psychologist for an 11-year-old boy who knew Sandusky through his charity for troubled boys, Second Mile Program.
The boy is not named in the report, but is now known as Victim 6. He is one of 10 boys allegedly molested by the former Penn State coach over a 15-year period. Sandusky denies the allegations against him.
The boy's mother contacted Chambers after he returned home from a night of weightlifting with Sandusky, the memo says. He had wet hair, and explained to his mother that Sandusky asked him to take a shower with him. When they were naked, he came up behind him and tightly squeezed their bodies together, according to the memo.
The mother called Chambers early the next morning on her emergency line, and relayed the story to her, wanting to confirm she was not overreacting by calling the police.
From Chambers' report:
He reported that Jerry played a game, coming up behind him, saying he would "squeeze his guts out" and hugging REDACTED from behind. REDACTED wanted his mother not to say anything because Mr. Sandusky had promised to take him to the movies and to let him sit on the bench with him at Penn State football games.
Chambers met with the boy, who reported being worried about what to do next, the memo says. He also spilled a detail that he hadn't told his mom: Sandusky had kissed him on the head and said "I love you."
The memo adds that Sandusky promised the boy he could come to his house and play on his "cool computer" while sitting on his lap.
Chambers reported the incident to the Pennsylvania child abuse line and wrote a detailed report for the Penn State police. In it, she concludes that Sandusky's actions matched those of a "likely pedophile":
My consultants agree that the incidents meet all of our definitions, based on experience and education, of a likely pedophile's pattern of building trust and gradual introduction of physical touch, within a context of a "loving," "special" relationship. One colleague who has contact with the Second Mile confirms that Mr. Sandusky is reasonably intelligent and thus, could hardly have failed to understand the way his behavior would be interpreted, if known. His position at the Second Mile and his interest in abused boys would suggest that he was likely to have had knowledge with regard to child abuse and might even recognize this behavior as typical pedophile "overture."
But prosecutors decided not to charge Sandusky. The case was closed for 13 years, until last November, when Sandusky was arrested. He is currently awaiting trial on 52 criminal counts.
In an interview with NBC News, Chambers says she was distraught when police contacted her last year. “I was horrified to know that there were so many other innocent boys who had their hearts and minds confused, their bodies violated,” she said. “It’s unspeakable.”
Here's a timeline of key dates in the abuse scandal.
Read the memo below: