Gerald Arthur Sandusky (born January 26, 1944) is an American convicted serial child molester and retired college football coach.
Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State University under Joe Paterno. Sandusky was an assistant coach at Penn State from 1969 to 1999, where he served as defensive coordinator for the final 22 years of his career. He received "Assistant Coach of the Year" awards in 1986 and 1999. Sandusky authored several books related to his football coaching experiences.
In 1977, Sandusky founded The Second Mile, a non-profit charity serving Pennsylvania's underprivileged and at-risk youth. Following his 1999 retirement from Penn State, he continued working with the Second Mile at Penn State and maintained an office at the university until 2011.
In 2011, following a two-year grand jury investigation, Sandusky was arrested and charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period from 1994 to 2009. Sandusky met his molestation victims through the Second Mile. Several of his victims later testified against Sandusky in his sexual abuse trial. Four of the charges were subsequently dropped.
On June 22, 2012, Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of the 48 remaining charges. Sandusky was sentenced on October 9, 2012, to 30 to 60 years in prison. He has been incarcerated in the Pennsylvania prison system since October 31, 2012.
Sandusky was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, on January 26, 1944, the only son of Evelyn Mae (née Lee), an Irish Catholic homemaker who came from a small Pennsylvania coal mining town, and Arthur Sandusky, whose parents, Edward and Josephine Sendecki, were immigrants from Poland who moved to East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.
Sandusky's father Arthur worked with youth service programs for over 30 years, mostly as director of the Brownson House in Washington, Pennsylvania, a community recreation center for children. His father founded the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling program, and created junior basketball, volleyball, boxing, and football programs for Brownson House. He improved its facilities, adding a new playground, gym, outdoor basketball court, and a renovated football field. He managed the 1955 Washington, Pennsylvania baseball team that won the Pony League World Series championship, the only team from Washington to win that championship. Arthur was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.
At home, Jerry Sandusky adopted his own personal code called "Jer's Law", which he observed for many years. The rules adopted were that Sandusky could be mischievous but not to the point where someone could be intentionally hurt. He also vowed to not be disrespectful to his teachers, and he swore to himself that he would tell the truth if he was caught breaking any rules. Sandusky is a fan of the 1994 film Forrest Gump. He confided to one of his victims that he identifies with the title character. Sandusky signed off at least one of his letters to his victim as "Forrest Jer."
Sandusky attended Washington High School, where he was a good student and standout athlete, playing baseball, basketball, and football. He was a leader on his junior high basketball team that went undefeated through the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League playoffs in his final season there. Sandusky's classmates during this period describe him as a studious "loner" who "never dated in high school" but was a popular and handsome athlete.
Sandusky attended Penn State, where played college football under Rip Engle for the Nittany Lions, starting at defensive end from 1963 to 1965. In 1966, Sandusky graduated first in his class with a B.S. in health in 1966 and obtained a second degree in physical education in 1970.
In 1966, Sandusky married Dorothy "Dottie" (née Gross), and together they adopted six children. Sandusky and his wife also served as foster parents. One of Sandusky's sons, Jon Sandusky, was director of player personnel for the Cleveland Browns from 2010 to 2014. Another son, E. J. Sandusky, was an assistant football coach at West Chester University. Sandusky described his family as "old fashioned", and his wife Dottie as the family's leader.
Matt Sandusky, one of Sandusky's children and a former foster child of Sandusky's, released a statement through his attorney, Andrew Shubin, that stated that Sandusky had sexually molested Matt as a child. The statement was released on the day the jury began deliberations in the sex abuse trial against Sandusky.
On February 13, 2017, another of Sandusky's adopted children, his son Jeffrey (Jeff), was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child and possession of child pornography, and entered a plea deal while awaiting trial in September 2017, with sentencing scheduled for December 2017. On December 8, 2017, he was given a sentence of three-and-a-half to six years in prison after "pleading guilty to pressuring a teenage girl to send him naked photos and asking her teen sister to perform a sex act."
Jerry Sandusky was a member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in State College.
Sandusky served as a graduate assistant under Paterno at Penn State in 1966. He was the assistant basketball and track coach at Juniata College in 1967 and the offensive line coach at Boston University in 1968.
He returned to Penn State in 1969 and remained there as an assistant coach until his retirement at the end of the 1999 season. Sandusky served as defensive line coach in 1969, became linebacker coach in 1970, and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1977, holding that position until his retirement. In his years as a linebacker coach and defensive coordinator, he coached many defensive squads, and Penn State gained a reputation for outstanding linebacker play, producing 10 first-team All-Americans at that position, and acquiring the nickname "Linebacker U". Jack Ham and LaVar Arrington were two of the noted pro football greats to emerge from his teams.
Upon his retirement, Sandusky was awarded "both an unusual compensation package and a special designation of 'emeritus' rank that carried special privileges, including access to the university's recreational facilities." Spanier approved a lump-sum payment to Sandusky of $168,000.
His final game coaching at Penn State was a notable game for Sandusky. Penn State faced Texas A&M in the 1999 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. The Nittany Lions' defense shut out Texas A&M, 24–0, the only bowl game shutout victory for Penn State under Paterno.