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Previously sealed court documents from the Jerry Sandusky trial were released Tuesday morning. The documents reveal incriminating evidence that Joe Paterno, the head coach at Penn State at the time, was well aware of the abuse that was taking place, but chose to ignore it. This can be found in the details given in some of the victim’s testimonies. One of those victims was John Doe 102, who was allegedly told to write Sandusky an apology after he accused him of assault.
John Doe 102 was 16-year-old at the time and living at the Nittany House, a home for troubled boys and alternative to the Centre County Youth Detention. The home was just a 10-minute drive from the Penn State football facilities.
While the details of the sexual assault are not covered in the documents, Doe told a female student working at the home what had happened, only to be told that he would be in trouble for leaving the house without permission. Afraid of repercussions, Doe went to a female assistant working at the house—whose name has been redacted—who eventually called in the house director, Clifford Gordon. According to Doe, instead of helping him, Gordon attempted to discredit his story.
“…At first, I guess I was being yelled at for, like I said, breaking the rules and then presenting this story to him,” said Doe in his deposition, “and then I got the impression he thought I was lying to him; and then at some point they stopped questioning me and talked amongst themselves.”
At some point, Doe remembers that Sandusky himself, along with another man he couldn’t identify, came to the house and talked to the director. After they left, Gordon told Doe was he would have to pen an apology letter to Sandusky, saying sorry for “telling lies.” there was a shouting match, which ended with Doe getting up and leaving the house. Gordon notified the police, who eventually caught up to him.
Doe placed in another facility soon after. He never did write that apology letter.
