Late yesterday, Penn State got slapped with another in what will likely be a growing avalanche of lawsuits related to its mishandling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. "Victim 1," the 19-year-old whose report sparked the investigation that brought down Sandusky and ultimately ended the coaching career of Joe Paterno, is suing Penn State.
The lawsuit filed by the person known as Victim 1 at Sandusky's trial said university officials made deliberate decisions not to report Sandusky to authorities.
Those decisions were "a function of (Penn State's) purposeful, deliberate and shameful subordination of the safety of children to its economic self-interests, and to its interest in maintaining and perpetuating its reputation," the suit said. It was filed electronically in Philadelphia state court Friday night, Slade McLaughlin, a lawyer for Victim 1, said.
For those who don't remember, Sandusky met Victim 1 back in 2004, when he was 11 years old at the time and a participant in a camp sponsored by Sandusky's Second Mile. By 2005, the boy was visiting Sandusky's house and going to Penn State football games as Sandusky's guest. Over the next five years, the suit alleges, Sandusky assaulted Victim 1 over 100 times. Victim 1 finally reported the incident to Clinton County authorities in November 2009, triggering the investigation that led to Sandusky's arrest in 2011.
Victim 1 is suing Penn State for negligence, fraudulent concealment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. He claims to have suffered years of physical and emotional trauma as a result of what Sandusky did to him, and believes he will need medical and psychological help for several years to come. The suit also claims that Sandusky assaulted dozens of boys over a 30-year period, though the criminal case only covered 15 years.
At this point, the only question is how soon Penn State will settle. The powers that be in Old Main would have to be delusional to let this go to trial.