PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) ? A new accuser said former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused him "over 100 times" as a child, and the unidentified man filed the first lawsuit in a scandal that has rocked U.S. college sports.
The handwritten statement by the 29-year-old man identified only as "John Doe A," accompanied a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against Sandusky, Penn State University and The Second Mile, a charity founded by Sandusky to help troubled children.
Although the accuser is the ninth man to accuse Sandusky of abuse, the lawsuit is the first to be filed in the scandal. Legal experts said it may trigger a cascade of lawsuits and may encourage other unknown victims to contact police.
Sandusky said in a recent television interview that he is innocent and is not a pedophile.
The lawsuit said that the abuse took place from 1992 to 1996 "in the facilities of Penn State, particularly the football coach's locker room, at times within Philadelphia County, at facilities out of state connected with a Penn State bowl game and at the Sandusky home."
It began when the man was 10 years old and met Sandusky through a program at The Second Mile, said his attorney Jeff Anderson, from St. Paul, Minnesota, who also represents sex abuse victims suing the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Sandusky "recruited, groomed and coerced plaintiff, showering him with gifts, travel and privileges," the lawsuit said.
Threats by Sandusky against the alleged victim and his family bought years of silence, broken only when the alleged victim saw national headlines that Sandusky was charged this month with sexually abusing eight other men when they were juveniles.
"I never told anybody what he did to me over 100 times at all kinds of places until the newspapers reported that he had abused other kids and the people at Penn State and Second Mile didn't do the things they should have to protect me and the other kids," wrote the man, who no longer lives in Pennsylvania.
The secret was further sealed by the self-doubt of a small town boy allegedly victimized by a larger than life sports hero, his attorneys said.
"He blamed himself. How awful is that?" said Anderson.
The abuse that started when the boy was 10 ended when he turned 14, said lawyer Marci Hamilton, who joined Anderson at a press conference to unveil the lawsuit.
"Those are the ages that interested Sandusky," said Hamilton, who declined to elaborate.
The man, in his note, said it was painful to learn of the other alleged victims that came after him.
"I am hurting and have been for a long time because of what happened but feel now even more tormented that I have learned so many other kids were abused after me," the man wrote.
The alleged victim feels Sandusky, who is free on $100,000 bail, should be confined immediately, Anderson said.
"I have no doubt, and John Doe has no doubt, as long as he is out on the street he can hurt other kids. He belongs behind bars," Anderson told reporters.
In the wake of the Penn State scandal, allegations of sexual abuse have been made against an assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University, Bernie Fine, who was fired from his job on Sunday.
Fine has been named by three men who say he sexually fondled ball boys working with the top-ranked team. Unlike Penn State, no charges have been filed against the former Syracuse assistant coach, and a grand jury has just begun looking into the accusations.
The Penn State lawsuit seeks over $50,000 in damages, a standard amount in Pennsylvania courts to trigger a jury trial. It seeks compensation for the victim's suffering including "great pain of mind and body, shock, emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress, embarrassment, loss of self esteem, disgrace, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life."
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)
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