Motivated By Costas Interview, Alleged Sandusky Victim Will Testify He Was "Severely Sexually Assaulted"

On Monday night, Jerry Sandusky and his lawyer, Joe Amendola, granted a phone interview to Bob Costas on Rock Center. During the taped segment, Amendola suggested that some of the alleged victims referenced in the grand jury report—particularly the one who, according to the report, Mike McQueary witnessed being anally raped by Sandusky in the Penn State locker room showers—"would not hold up" in court. Specifically, Amendola told Costas, Sandusky's defense anticipates that "at least several of those kids [will] come forward and say, 'This never happened.'"

Today, however, Bill Pennington of the New York Times suggests that the interview might also have had the opposite effect: Ben Andreozzi, a lawyer for one of the alleged eight victims in the case, said that Sandusky's and Amendola's comments have "emboldened" his client—who met Sandusky through the Second Mile and was allegedly assaulted "multiple times"—to testify to "severe" sexual abuse by the former assistant coach. Here's more from Pennington's report:

"Mr. Sandusky suggested in some of his comments about the victims that maybe people were backing off," Andreozzi said in a telephone interview from his office in Harrisburg, Pa. "My client heard that and has dug in his heels. He is feeling more comfortable about going through with this. The comments maybe backfired. They have caused victims to be more motivated to testify against him."

[...]

"They have other people who are saying they saw something, but they don't have actual people saying, ‘This is what Jerry did to me,' " Amendola said. "We're working to find those people, and when the time comes, and if we are able to do that, we think this whole case will change dramatically."

Andreozzi, who also issued a statement Wednesday, said his client would testify that he was "severely sexually assaulted" by Sandusky.

Andreozzi said that Sandusky's public proclamation of innocence in the Costas interview effectively "revictimizes" the alleged victims, and said he hadn't heard "of any existing assault victims changing their story or refusing to testify."

He added, "To the contrary, others are actually coming forward."

That certainly seems to be the case: the Times reported just yesterday that since the grand jury report was made public, "close to 10" additional victims have come forward with accusations against Sandusky.

Lawyer Says Alleged Sandusky Victim Will Testify to Severe Sexual Assault [NY Times]