Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Penn State: Let the Civil Suits Begin

The Legal Intelligencer is reporting that the first civil law suit in the Penn State sex scandal and cover-up has been filed in Philadelphia.  Zack Needles wrote that the lawsuit against embattled former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, the Second Mile and Penn State Uuniversity itself alleges sex abuse and a conspiracy to cover it up.

The suit, filed on behalf of an alleged victim, identified only as John Doe, was filed by St. Paul, Minn.-based attorney Jeffrey R. Anderson.  He said during a press conference this morning that the suit was filed in Philadelphia because one of the alleged incidents of sex abuse occurred there during a trip Sandusky took with the plaintiff.

Anderson said the victim first reported his allegations to law enforcement on Tuesday.

The complaint is short on specific details — Anderson said several times that he wanted to protect the victim and avoid compromising any ongoing criminal investigations—but alleges that, from 1992 to 1996, Sandusky sexually abused the plaintiff, reported the Intelligencer.According to Marci A. Hamilton, a Washington Crossing, Pa.-based attorney who is of counsel to Anderson's firm, the plaintiff was 10 when the abuse began and 14 when it stopped.

The complaint alleges Sandusky sexually abused the plaintiff "over 100 times" during the course of those four years "within Pennsylvania and outside Pennsylvania; in the facilities of Penn State, Particularly the football coach's locker room; at times within Philadelphia County; at facilities out of state connected with a Penn State bowl game; and at the Sandusky home."

The complaint also alleged counts of civil conspiracy to endanger children, vicarious liability for the sex abuse, negligent supervision, premises liability, negligent misrepresentation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against both Penn State and The Second Mile. Anderson said that the suit is about "institutional recklessness."


The Legal Intellegencer

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