Sandusky Shower Abuse Victim To Sue Penn State

The man who claims to be the unknown Jerry Sandusky shower abuse victim intends to sue Penn State for its “egregious and reckless conduct,” his lawyers said Thursday.

The lawyers issued a statement saying they have gathered “overwhelming evidence” regarding the details of the abuse. The statement also said,

“Our client has to live the rest of his life not only dealing with the effects of Sandusky’s childhood sexual abuse, but also with the knowledge that many powerful adults, including those at the highest levels of Penn State, put their own interests and the interests of a child predator above their legal obligations to protect him.”

The university would not comment on the pending lawsuit, but said they are taking the case seriously.

The news of the lawsuit comes three days after the NCAA hit the university with a $60 million fine and other sanctions due to the abuse. In a statement regarding the university’s consent to the sanctions President Erickson said,

“The tragedy of child sexual abuse that occurred at our University altered the lives of innocent children. Today, as every day, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the victims of Mr. Sandusky and all other victims of child abuse.”

A spokesman for the school said President Erickson and the board of trustees “have publicly emphasized that their goal is to find solutions that rest on the principle of justice for the victims.”

The identity of Victim 2, as he’s been called, has been a mystery in the case so far, but Sandusky was convicted on charges relating to his abuse last month largely due to the testimony of Mike McQueary, who was the team’s graduate assistant at the time and witnessed the attack. In December 2011, McQueary said he saw Sandusky and a boy naked in the shower after hearing skin-on-skin slapping sounds.

“I would have described that it was extremely sexual and I thought that some kind of intercourse was going on,” he said.

McQueary then reported the abuse to school officials, including Joe Paterno, but they did not tell the police. Paterno was then fired because he failed to do anything about the claims.

The shower abuse victim is not named in the lawyers’ statement, but Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer Joe Amendola said he met with a man he believed to be Victim 2 before his client’s trial.