By Easton L Lawrence
Mike McQueary, the Penn State assistant football coach who is under fire for
his reported lack of action in an alleged 2002 rape of a boy by Jerry Sandusky, may have cost prosecutors the case.
his reported lack of action in an alleged 2002 rape of a boy by Jerry Sandusky, may have cost prosecutors the case.McQueary, who has been out of public view since the gigantic scandal broke, emerge on Tuesday and spoke briefly to a reporter, describing his current state of emotion. However, prior to that appearance McQueary in an email send to a former classmate, admit that he stopped the assault in an athletic facility shower and discussed the matter with police.
In the email dated Nov. 8, McQueary wrote that he “did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police” following the alleged incident between Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant coach, and a boy. McQueary also wrote that he “is getting hammered for handling this the right way or what I thought at the time was right.”
“I had to make tough impacting quick decisions,” McQueary wrote.
However, the account McQueary describe in the email to his friend is significantly different from his sworn testimony given to a grand jury. According to the grand jury report, the graduate assistant (McQueary) said he saw a boy, whose age he estimated at 10 years old, “being subjected to anal intercourse” by a naked Sandusky in a shower at the Penn State football building in March 2002. The graduate assistant left “immediately,” was “distraught” and called his father, according to the presentment. His father told him to leave the building and come to his home, according to the presentment.
In the email obtained by The Morning Call, McQueary said “I did stop it, not physically, but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room.”"No one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30-45 seconds,” McQueary wrote. “Trust me.”
Those two conflicting accounts provide a huge opening for Sandusky’s attorney to go right at the credibility of the prosecutions key witness. It is never a good idea to talk to anyone and deliver two conflicting public statements.
To make matters worst, State College Police Chief, Tom King, says his department didn’t receive reports from a Penn State graduate assistant who testified to a grand jury that he saw a former defensive co-ordinator raping a boy in the team showers in 2002. They are totally disputing what McQueary claim in the email.
Again, this disputing by the police chief, goes right to the heart of McQueary’s credibility. It would be a shame if this blunder by McQueary screw up the trial and victimised the victims all over again.
