There Appears To Be A Reason Why That Now-Dead DA Did Not Prosecute Jerry Sandusky In 1998

One of the great mysteries surrounding the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse case stretches back 14 years, to when Penn State police put together a 100-page police report that included details of Sandusky admitting he had showered with and touched a boy. For reasons that have never been made clear, the Centre County (Pa.) District Attorney at the time decided not to prosecute the case. And that DA, Ray Gricar, literally disappeared in 2005 before being declared legally dead last summer, only adding to the intrigue.

But Sara Ganim (who else?) of the Patriot-News of Harrisburg has a source who has read that police report. And that source says the document includes an evaluation by a psychologist who concluded that what happened to the child—identified as Victim 6 in the grand jury presentment—did not amount to sexual abuse. The psychologist's name is John Seasock, which is now known because Sandusky's attorney, Lawyerin' Joe Amendola, identified him in court documents. Amendola did so when he requested that a judge force the prosecution to fork over the evaluation.

Ganim's source believes Seasock's evaluation explains why Gricar did not prosecute that 1998 case. But...

However, the source said, Seasock was not the only psychologist to make an evaluation.

The day after Victim 6 came home from a tour of the football building with then-defensive coordinator and charity founder Jerry Sandusky and told his mom Sandusky had showered with him and a friend, the mother called police. She also called a psychologist.

"And that psychologist concluded that this incident, what the boy described, and I'm paraphrasing ... the psychologist concluded that what the boy described was a classic example of how a sexual abuser grooms his victim," the source said.

Ganim goes on to quote the source as saying the police report is "lengthy," but that it is also "repetitious." The report does not say why Seasock's expertise was consulted, or whether Seasock even interviewed Victim 6.

Investigators have nothing to link the Sandusky case to Gricar's disappearance, so Lawyerin' Joe has let it be known he plans to use Gricar's otherwise exemplary record as part of his defense strategy. That strategy is also expected to include an admission from Victim 6's mother that her son was included in the grand jury presentment over the objections of prosecutors and at the insistence of state police, who argued that Victim 6 helped investigators track down other alleged victims. And now that a judge has compelled prosecutors to hand over current and past phone numbers and addresses for the victims, along with their juvenile records, it looks like Lawyerin' Joe will try to call the victims' characters into question while also attempting to prove they conspired against Sandusky.

Patriot-News exclusive: Psychologist's report might be reason Ray Gricar declined to bring charges against Jerry Sandusky in 1998 [Patriot-News]