STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The wife of former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky said Thursday that her husband is innocent of the child-sexual-abuse allegations made against him and that his accusers are making up the stories, including one suggesting she was home while Sandusky attacked a boy who screamed for help.
Dottie Sandusky’s comments defending her husband were the first she has made since he was arrested last month and accused of molesting boys he met through a charity he founded for troubled youth. He faces more than 50 charges and has maintained his innocence.
She released the statement through her husband’s lawyer a day after a grand-jury report detailed claims of two new accusers, among them the testimony of one who said he cried out for her help while Sandusky assaulted him in a basement bedroom.
“I am so sad anyone would make such a terrible accusation which is absolutely untrue,” she said. “We don’t know why these young men have made these false accusations, but we want everyone to know they are untrue.”
Dottie Sandusky, who has raised six adopted children, said she has been “shocked and dismayed” by the claims.
“I have been devastated by these accusations,” she said. “Our children, our extended family and friends know how much Jerry and I love kids and have always tried to help and care for them. We would never do anything to hurt them.”
Earlier Thursday, Jerry Sandusky was released after a night in jail when he posted bail stemming from the latest charges filed against him. Sandusky secured his release using $200,000 in real estate holdings and a $50,000 certified check provided by his wife, according to online court records. A judge has ordered him subject to electronic monitoring.
Sandusky, 67, faces criminal accusations from 10 young men who claim he molested them when they were boys in his home, on Penn State property and elsewhere.
Until her statement, Dottie Sandusky, 68, had kept largely out of sight since the charges were filed. She wasn’t seen or heard during his two interviews, had given no interviews herself and had not accompanied Sandusky to court the two times he was brought in for arraignments.
