BELLEFONTE, Pa. -
A former Penn State assistant coach who was a central figure in Joe Paterno's downfall testified Tuesday that he heard a "skin-on-skin smacking sound" in a campus locker room one night in 2001 and saw something that was "more than my brain could handle."
Jerry Sandusky was standing naked in the showers behind a boy, slowly moving his hips, Mike McQueary told the jury.
McQueary, one of the star witnesses in the child sexual abuse case against Sandusky, said he had no doubt he was witnessing anal sex. He testified that he slammed his locker shut loudly as if to say, "Someone's here! Break it up!"
Then, he said, he went upstairs to his office to try to make sense of what he had seen.
Sandusky, 68, is on trial on charges he molested 10 boys over a 15-year period. Authorities say he abused them in hotels, at his home and inside the football team's quarters. The former assistant coach and founder of an acclaimed youth charity has denied the allegations.
Paterno was fired last fall, shortly after Sandusky's arrest, when it became known that McQueary had told the head football coach about the shower episode a decade ago. Two months after his dismissal, Paterno died of lung cancer at 85.
McQueary was composed during his testimony, and when asked if he knew Sandusky, he looked right at him with a sharp glance that Sandusky returned.
McQueary's account differed little from the one he gave in December at a preliminary hearing for two Penn State administrators charged with failing to report the shower episode to authorities. One difference: He said it took place in 2001 instead of 2002.
Sandusky attorney Karl Rominger pressed McQueary during cross-examination about discrepancies in his estimate of the boy's age.
McQueary replied: "If (you) want to argue about 9, 10, 11, 12 ... the fact is he had sex with a minor, a boy."
Testifying on Day 2 of Sandusky's trial, McQueary said that he went to the football team building one night and walked into the support staff locker room to put away a pair of new sneakers. As he entered the locker room, he said, he heard a noise.
"Very much skin-on-skin smacking sound," he said. "I immediately became alert and was kind of embarrassed that I was walking in on something."
He said that he glanced over his shoulder at a mirror at a 45-degree angle and saw Sandusky "standing behind a boy who was propped up against a wall." He estimated the boy to be 10 to 12 years old. He said that the boy's hands were up on the wall and "the defendant's midsection was moving" subtly.
"The glance would have taken only one or two seconds. I immediately turned back to my locker to make sure I saw what I saw," he said.
He said he wasn't sure whether Sandusky saw him. After slamming his locker to make some noise, he left.
"It was more than my brain could handle," he said. "I was making decisions on the fly. I picked up the phone and called my father to get advice from the person I trusted most in my life, because I just saw something ridiculous."
He said he was extremely vague with his father, who told him to leave immediately.
McQueary said he went to Paterno's house the next morning and relayed what he had seen, but did not describe the act explicitly out of respect for the coach and his own embarrassment.
He said Penn State administrator Tim Curley called him a week later, and McQueary met with him and another school official, Gary Schultz. They "just listened to what I had said," McQueary testified. A week or two later, he said, Curley called him to say they had looked into it.
McQueary, 37, was a graduate coaching assistant at the time and later became an assistant coach. He has been on paid leave since the scandal erupted.
The identity of the boy who was said to have been in the showers is a mystery to prosecutors. In fact, two of the 10 alleged victims have yet to be located or even identified.
Earlier Tuesday, the teenager who triggered the grand jury investigation that rocked Penn State became the second of the alleged victims to take the stand.
Choking back tears, he said that Sandusky kissed him, fondled him and engaged in oral sex with him during numerous sleepovers in the basement of Sandusky's home while the coach's wife was upstairs.
The accuser, labeled Victim No. 1 by a grand jury, said he eventually confided in a school district guidance counselor that Sandusky was molesting him, only to be told by school officials: "He has a heart of gold, and he wouldn't do something like that."
"So they didn't believe me," the teenager said.
School officials ultimately referred the case to the county's child-welfare agency, which found his account credible.
Now 18, he told the jury about an early encounter with Sandusky that escalated to oral sex.
"I spaced," he said. "I didn't know what to do with all the thoughts running through my head, I just kind of blacked out and didn't want it to happen. I froze."
He said he stayed quiet about the abuse, in part because his mother thought Sandusky was a positive influence, but he began trying to distance himself from Sandusky.
Sandusky got angry with him because they had drifted apart, and things escalated into an argument between the boy's mother and Sandusky, the teenager said.
"I got extremely, extremely scared," he said.
Eventually the teen asked his mother if there was a website used to track sex offenders because he wanted to see if Sandusky was on it. That led to a meeting with the guidance counselor.
Jessica Dershem, a child-welfare caseworker who spoke to Sandusky, testified that the coach denied having sexual contact with the boy but did acknowledge lying on top of him and blowing "raspberries" on the boy's belly. Dershem said Sandusky told her he couldn't recall whether he had ever touched the boy below the waist.
During cross-examination, Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola asked the teen whether he had financial motives for bringing his accusations.
"All I know is I'm here to tell the truth about what happened to me, just like everybody else," he replied.
Amendola pressed the accuser about his initial statements to a counselor and later the grand jury that were less detailed than later testimony. The teen, who graduated from high school last week, responded that it was an embarrassing subject.
"I don't believe anybody would want to talk about it," he said.
Sandusky didn't visibly react to the teen's account and looked straight ahead during his testimony.
By MARK SCOLFORO and GENARO C. ARMAS Associated Press
Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary told jurors in Jerry Sandusky's sex abuse trial Tuesday that he saw his ex-colleague with a prepubescent boy in an on-campus shower and that he that he heard "skin-on-skin smacking sound."
His account of the night differed little from his appearance in December at a preliminary hearing for Penn State administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz. The one difference: He said the shower encounter took place in 2001 instead of 2002.
But effect of what he saw, and heard, was unchanged, he said, responding to questions from Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan.
Sandusky is on trial on 52 criminal counts related to the alleged assaults of 10 boys during a 15-year period. Authorities alleged Sandusky abused boys at his home and inside the football team's on-campus facilities among other places.
McQueary told the jury that he was at home, in bed, watching the film "Rudy," when he decided to go to the football team building. He said he walked into the support staff locker room to put away a pair of new sneakers and, as he opened the door, he heard the noise.
"Very much skin-on-skin smacking sound," he said. "I immediately became alert and was kind of embarrassed that I was walking in on something."
He said that he turned and glanced over his right shoulder at a mirror that had a 45-dgree angle and saw Sandusky "standing behind a boy who was propped up against a wall." He estimated the boy to be 10 to 12 years old.
He said that the "boy's hands (were) up on the wall. The glance would have taken only one or two seconds. I immediately turned back to my locker to make sure I saw what I saw."
Then he put his shoes in the locker and slammed it shut, hard.
"I made the loud noise in an attempt to say `Someone's here! Break it up!"' McQueary said.
When asked what he saw, McQueary said "the defendant's midsection was moving" subtly.
He said he then went upstairs to his office.
"It was more than my brain could handle," he said. "I was making decisions on the fly. I picked up the phone and called my father to get advice from the person I trusted most in my life, because I just saw something ridiculous."
He said he was very vague with his father on the phone, and that his dad, John, told him to leave immediately and come to the house.
McQueary's testimony came after a teenager told jurors that a school district guidance counselor initially didn't believe his abuse claims because the former Penn State assistant football coach was considered to have "a heart of gold."
The teen, labeled Victim No. 1 by a grand jury, tearfully recounted for jurors repeated instances of abuse, which he said included kissing, fondling and oral sex during sleepovers at the coach's home.
A social worker who spoke to Sandusky about the boy's claims testified that the coach denied having sexual contact with the boy but did acknowledge lying on top of him and blowing "raspberries" on the boy's stomach. The social worker, Jessica Dershem, also said Sandusky told her he couldn't recall whether he had ever touched the boy below his waistline.
The charges against Sandusky -- and two university officials accused of perjury and failing to report suspected child abuse -- touched off a massive scandal that led to the firing of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno and the departure of the university president. Paterno died in January of lung cancer, just over two months after his ouster.
Now 18, the accuser known as Victim 1 recounted an early encounter that escalated to oral sex.
"I spaced," he said. "I didn't know what to do with all the thoughts running through my head, I just kind of blacked out and didn't want it to happen. I froze."
As he choked back tears, the sobbing teen recounted another time Sandusky forced him to perform oral sex, after saying it was his "turn."
"I don't know how to explain it. I froze, like any other time," he said. "My mind is telling me to move but I couldn't do it, I couldn't move."
The witness said he stayed quiet about the abuse, in part because his mother thought Sandusky was a positive influence in his life, but he began trying to distance himself from Sandusky.
At one point Sandusky became angry with him because they'd drifted apart and the teen became involved with his local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, the teen said.
"I got extremely, extremely scared," he said, recounting how it escalated into an argument between Sandusky and his mother.
Eventually the teen asked his mother if there was a website used to track sex offenders because he wanted to see if Sandusky was on it. That ultimately led to a meeting with the guidance counselor, where he reported being abused.
At first, the counselor didn't believe him and questioned the wisdom of going to authorities, the witness said.
"They said we needed to think about it and he has a heart of gold and he wouldn't do something like that. So they didn't believe me," he said.
School officials referred the case to the county's child-welfare agency.
Dershem, a Clinton County Children & Youth Services caseworker, said the teen was initially uncomfortable talking to her but soon began to open up about his encounters with Sandusky.
She told the jury she had enough evidence by the end of her second meeting with the boy to determine that he had been abused by Sandusky.
He denied sexually assaulting the teen, saying he "he viewed (the boy) as an extended family member, kind of like a son," Dershem said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Joe Amendola asked the teen whether he had financial motives for bringing his accusations.
The teen denied that. "All I know is I'm here to tell the truth about what happened to me, just like everybody else," he said.
Amendola pressed the accuser about his initial statements to a counselor and later the grand jury that were less detailed than later testimony.
The teen, who graduated from high school last week, responded that it was an embarrassing subject to talk about.
"I don't believe anybody would want to talk about it," he said.
The teen became upset as Amendola continued to ask about inconsistencies in his statements.
"It's hard enough for me to tell these folks of the jury what happened, let alone the size of a room," he said. "You're asking the same questions over and over again. I'm going to give you the same answers."
Sandusky didn't visibly react to the teen's account and looked straight ahead during his testimony.
Another of Sandusky's alleged victims testified Monday, the trial's opening day, telling jurors that the coach sent him "creepy love letters." The man said he began showering with Sandusky in 1997 and what started out as "soap battles" quickly escalated to sexual abuse, including oral sex.
Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan III has described Sandusky as a "serial predator" who methodically used his youth charity, The Second Mile, to zero in on fatherless children or those with unstable home lives, buy them gifts and take advantage of them sexually.
Amendola has countered that the case is flimsy and that some of the accusers apparently intend to sue and have a financial stake in the case.
