Child Allegedly Reported Jerry Sandusky's Abuse To Joe Paterno In 1976

A court order that has to do with the millions of dollars that the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky will receive, alleges that other coaches, including Joe Paterno, were told of the abuse by a child in 1976.

According to PennLive.com, a line in a court order claims one of Penn State’s insurers said a child “allegedly reported” to Joe Paterno in 1976 he was “sexually molested by Sandusky.” Sandusky, who is currently serving 30-60 years in prison for sexual abuse of 45 victims, was an assistant coach under Paterno from 1969-99.

In addition, allegations were also made that officials at Penn State were made aware of incidents from 1987 and 1988.

The order also cites separate references in 1987 and 1988 in which unnamed assistant coaches witnessed inappropriate contact between Sandusky and unidentified children, and a 1988 case that was supposedly referred to Penn State’s athletic director at the time.

All, the opinion states, are described in victims’ depositions taken as part of the still-pending insurance case, but that, according a PennLive review of the case file, are apparently under seal.

“There is no evidence that reports of these incidents ever went further up the chain of command at PSU,” Judge Gary Glazer wrote, in determining that because Penn State’s executive officers – its president and trustees – weren’t aware of the allegations, he would not bar claims from that time frame from insurance coverage.

When reached by PennLive.com, Penn State spokesman Lawrence Lokman would not confirm if the alleged 1976 accuser was a part of the school’s monetary settlements.

Obviously with Paterno passing in 2012, it’s going to be hard to prove if these allegations are true. The Paterno family has been strong in their claims that Joe had no idea what was going on with Sandusky, and they did it once again after this report came to light.

“Over the past four-and-a-half years Joe Paterno’s conduct has been scrutinized by an endless list of investigators and attorneys,” the Paterno family’s attorney, Wick Sollers, said in a statement.

“Through all of this review there has never been any evidence of inappropriate conduct by Coach Paterno. To the contrary, the evidence clearly shows he shared information with his superiors as appropriate. An allegation now about an alleged event 40 years ago, as represented by a single line in a court document regarding an insurance issue, with no corroborating evidence, does not change the facts. Joe Paterno did not, at any time, cover up conduct by Jerry Sandusky.”