Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky Wants His $5,000 A Month Pension

The former Penn State coach and convicted child abuser Jerry Sandusky, is upset over the fact that his $5,000 a month pension has been cut off. So much so that he is trying to win it back by suing the state.

A hearing took place on Tuesday, in which Sandusky maintained his innocence, testifying that he was accused of crimes against “alleged victims.”

The hearing was at the State Employees’ retirement System in Harrisburg, where Sandusky appeared shackled and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit. His generous pension was revoked following his sentencing in 2012, and it also ended any stipend to Sandusky’s wife Dottie.

Most of Jerry Sandusky’s testimony focused on his long and illustrious career as Penn State coach, which began in 1969.

When he was asked by lawyers for the pension system if he had met any of the sex abuse victims during his time volunteering at Central Mountain High School, he corrected the lawyer by saying: “Alleged victims, I would call them.”

He was then asked if he disputed that some of the crimes he was convicted of took place after 2004, to which he affirmed in the positive.

Sandusky spoke about the time he enjoyed working with head coach Joe Paterno who was ultimately fired following the scandal: “It was my dream to become a head football coach,” he said.

He testified further that in the late 1990s he began looking into retirement options, one of which was forming a football program at the Penn State campus in Pennsylvania. Paterno also considered bringing Sandusky to the pros with him: “He talked to me the evening he was faced with that decision. He ultimately decided he should not go,” Sandusky said.

The question ultimately depends on whether or not Sandusky is entitled to the pension as a de facto Penn state employee. As such, the Pennsylvania Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act comes into play due to the fact Jerry Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing boys.