Having been a child abuse investigator for 19 years, I've been exposed to some of the most heinous sociopaths that you could possibly imagine. Yet none have quite measured up to the monster that is Jerry Sandusky.
I've been ruminating on the latest Sandusky happenings. He was sentenced to 30-60 years in prison today for his abuse of 10 boys over 15 years. Not nearly enough in my opinion, but unlike Law and Order SVU people are seldom sentenced to 450 years in prison. Let it suffice that he will die in prison.
What I've been trying to get my mind around was Sandusky's statement on Penn State College Radio. In a rambling diatribe, he tried to exonerate himself by blaming the victims.
He describes the first victim to come forward as "A young man who was dramatic a veteran accuser, and always sought attention, started everything."
A veteran accuser. Let that sink in for a moment. Clearly from that statement alone, Sandusky tries to paint the young man as the boy who cried wolf. He didn't cry wolf, in this instance, the wolf was real.
Perhaps the most telling line in the statement was, "My wife has been my only sex partner". This goes right to the heart of an abuser's mentality. Child rape, ANY rape is not about sexual gratification. It's about power. It's about control. Sandusky controlled the lives of those boys, a haunting, horrible nightmare, until they came forward and told the world what happened.
I've heard people ask why Sandusky won't just shut up. He can't. He won't. He's been the one in control of this for 40 years. No one really knows how many kids he abused. What I really know is that the only way he can continue to be in control is to make statements and blame victims.
From this point forward you can expect appeals, more public statements and grandstanding by Sandusky and his clown college of defense attorneys. An assault on the integrity and voracity of victims.
Don't be surprised if some victims may not be able to stand the process. Despite their courage in testifying, sometimes courage only goes so far. If the appeals court grants a new trial, all bets are off.
It will be drawn out, it will be ugly and it will be scary. Sandusky will do everything in his power to maintain control of these victims.
It's like that with monsters.
Rominger & Amendola are banking on the PA Supremes to grant a new trial because they didn't have time to prepare. That's not a given.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if by chance he gets a new trial on appeal, he either doesn't take the stand again, or he takes the stand and faces the possibility of his own step-son Matt being called as a rebuttal witness.
Either way, he's gone away for good. That scumbag is not walking out of prison.