Penn State's Sandusky arrested on new sex abuse charges

Jerry Sandusky
This Dec. 28, 1999 photo shows Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on the sideline during the first quarter of the Alamo Bowl game against Texas A&M, in San Antonio, Texas.
AP Photo/Harry Cabluck

By MARYCLAIRE DALE and GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP)-- Ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested and arraigned Wednesday on new sex abuse charges brought by two new accusers, the state attorney general's office said.

The charges were brought after new accusers were questioned by a grand jury following Sandusky's arrest last month. One alleged victim claims he was assaulted after meeting Sandusky in 1997 and the other claims he was assaulted in 2004.

A call seeking comment from Sandusky's lawyer, Joseph Amendola, was not immediately returned.

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Sandusky was already charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse involving eight young boys over a 15-year span. He has denied being a pedophile and has vowed to fight the case. In interviews with NBC and The New York Times, he has said he showered and horsed around with boys but never sexually abused them.

The new charges include four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, all of them first-degree felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.

Sandusky also was charged with a count of indecent assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of children. Those are third-degree felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 in fines.

Like some of the other victims, the two new ones, dubbed Victims 9 and 10 by prosecutors, allegedly met Sandusky through The Second Mile charity, which he founded in 1977.

"As in many of the other cases identified to date, the contact with Sandusky allegedly fit a pattern of `grooming' victims," Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement. "Beginning with outings to football games and gifts; they later included physical contact that escalated to sexual assaults."

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)