Jerry Sandusky’s Adopted Son Admits Abuse Nearly Drove Him To Suicide

Matt Sandusky, the adopted son of ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, revealed Tuesday that repeated abuse at the hands of his adopted father caused him to contemplate suicide at least once in his life.

Sandusky’s adopted son told law enforcement officials that he suffered abuse at the hands of the man who was supposed to be acting like a father to him on and off since he was 8-years-old. The abuse didn’t stop until Matt was about 15, and it drove him to consider the tragic solution of suicide on one occasion according to an NBC Today report that aired Tuesday.

“I know that I really wanted to die at that point in time,” Matt Sandusky said during the police interview, detailing one of several incidents where he attempted to run away from home, according to NY Daily.

Though Matt was meant to take the stand in Jerry Sandusky’s trial to tell of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Joe Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator, he never got the chance. The audio from the police interview of Matt Sandusky is the only record of the abuse he suffered. In it, he reveals his repeated molestation by Sandusky, which included inappropriate “rubbing and touching.”

“And when you were staying at (Jerry’s) house, then he began to come into your bedroom at night, and he would blow raspberries on your stomach and his hand would run down and rub along or against your genital?” asked one of the detectives. “Correct,” replied Matt.

According to Karl Rominger, a member of Sandusky’s defense team, the former Penn State coach still adamantly professes his innocence. “He’s not a beaten man. He maintains his innocence adamantly,” said Rominger, revealing that during a Monday visit, Sandusky was “pacing a cell, wanting to get his story out and continue to defend himself.”

Matt Sandusky confirmed that Jerry Sandusky never forced him to perform sex acts. Matt lied to the grand jury regarding his molestation, so his testimony afterwards puzzled police, who asked him why he came forward with his accusations. Matt said he simply wanted his family to know the truth, “so that they can really have closure and see what the truth actually is. And just to right the wrong, honestly, of going to the grand jury and lying.”