Drinkin’ Bros Spotlight: How Sandusky’s Accusers Struck Gold with Repressed Memories

Ross: (consulting a timeline)

1994. We’ll start with this. The boy was identified as victim number seven, who told the grand jury about a “blurry memory” of improper contact when he and Sandusky were showering together in the football locker room at Penn State.

Frank:

Victim number seven was Dustin Struble, who told police nothing happened to him. Then he got a civil attorney in the area, who had been advertising for Sandusky victims. He took him to a repressed recovered memory therapist, Cindy McNabb.

He went to the grand jury and said nothing happened. Then he realized he could be a millionaire. Then he remembered, with the help of his therapist and attorney, that he was abused.

He didn’t remember when police approached him, when they were scouring the area looking for victims. Struble changed his story, and he was rewarded. He got $3.25 million.

Ross:

… Next up was in 1996 or ’97. Victim number four, 27 years old when he testified, said he began a relationship with Sandusky when he was a boy. It resulted in repeated sexual violations.

Frank:

Brett Swisher Houtz was another repressed memory patient enlisted by police. None of these accusers came forward on their own.  It’s a curious thing; the police decided not to record any of the interviewees. They believe that that could be helpful to the defense.

In targeting Sandusky, they interviewed possibly 600 young men. The police accidentally left a tape recorder on during part of their interview of Houtz, who was with his civil attorney. This was before the indictment. They were already planning to make money.

Houtz would not say Sandusky abused him. So the police and the lawyer consulted outside Houtz’s presence, and this was caught on tape. They said, “We have to lie to him. The only way we’ll get him to say this is that we have to tell him that there are already nine or 10 other people who have accused Sandusky, and then he’ll feel comfortable.”

Brett Swisher-Houtz collected $7.25 million.

Dan:

Was it true that nine or 10 others had already accused them?

Frank:

All they had was McQueary’s hazy testimony about seeing some boy in the shower 10 years earlier, and victim number one. Aaron Fisher, who at first said Sandusky did not abuse him. He changed his story after six months of repressed memory therapy.

Dan:

McQueary’s testimony: there are emails between him and a government official that showed he didn’t actually say what the media reports said. He said, he’s like, yeah, “I never said any of that. What I said was, I heard slapping in the shower, and then I saw what appeared to be a 10-year-old, and then I saw somebody grab him from behind a wall.”

Ross:

Frank, was it true that Sandusky was actually in the shower with this boy at any point?

Frank:

Yes, in the public locker room, at Penn State. The man’s name is Allan Myers,. He was not 10 years old. at the time. He was 14 and they had worked out, which they used to do, and they took a shower. They weren’t in the same stall. This is an open, big public area, susceptible to having anybody come in at any time. That was not so uncommon years ago.

Allan Myers signed a sworn affidavit that Sandusky never molested him, and all they were doing was a little horseplay in the showers. They were slapping towels in a joking way. He was clear he had not been molested. The prosecution put him in hiding during the trial, and they told the jury they didn’t know who the “shower boy” was.

Ross:

In 1998, Sandusky showered with another boy identified as victim number five, who was 22 at that time he testified. He said Sandusky pinned him in a corner, rubbing him and placing the boy’s hand on his genitals. Did that happen?

Frank:

Number five is Michal Kajak, who got $8.2 million for his ever evolving story. I don’t believe his story is true. One of the proofs is that Kajak describes he was in the sauna room with Sandusky as part of his testimony. There was no sauna room.

Ross:

So then we’ll go on to the next victim. Allegedly, in ’98, a boy identified as victim number six told the grand jury that Sandusky asked to shower with him when he was 11, and that Sandusky lathered him with soap on his back and gave him a bear hug.

The boy told his mother, who reported the incident to university police, leading to a lengthy investigation. Is that true? One would imagine university police would keep a record of that.

Frank:

It’s partially true. Zach Konstas never said Jerry molested him. When he was a boy, he came home from an outing with Sandusky and his hair was wet. His mother asked, how come your hair is wet? He said, “we worked out, and then we took a shower.”

She reported it to the police. It was not a lengthy investigation. The boy said nothing happened. They talked to Sandusky. He said nothing happened.

Ross:

No criminal charges were pursued.  In 1998, university police interviewed Sandusky, who admitted showering naked with victim number six and hugging him in the shower, and conceding it was wrong. University police detectives told Sandusky never to shower with children again, according to a grand jury report. Is that true? And was that in the grand jury report?

Frank:

It may have been in the grand jury report. But I don’t think it is true.

Ross:

In 2000, another boy identified as victim number three. He was 24 when he testified Sandusky would bear hug him in the shower after workouts, and touch his genitals while sleeping at Sandusky’s house. Was that true?

Frank:

Jason Simcisko testified initially to the police that Jerry never abused him, and he said he hoped Jerry would be acquitted of all charges. They put a lot of pressure on him. His civil attorney got him a recovered memory therapist, and they helped him remember two things: One is that Jerry abused him, and two is, if he testified correctly, he would get millions. He ultimately got $7.25 million.

Every one of the accusers got between $1.5 million and $20 million for perjury.

To be continued….