Jerry Sandusky's Wife Dottie Testifies She Never Witnessed Any Abuse
Dorothy "Dottie" Sandusky, the wife of former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, testified in court on Tuesday that she never heard or saw any indication that her husband was abusing young boys.
At Tuesday's court hearing Dottie Sandusky, who has been married to Jerry Sandusky for 45 years, discounted the charges made against her husband, including one claim that a boy had been raped by Sandusky in the basement bedroom of their family home and had cried to her for help.
Dottie told the court that she never heard anyone screaming for help from the basement bedroom and also disputed another claim that her husband had threatened to send one of the alleged victims home from a football game for refusing his sexual advances.
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Various other witnesses have been called on to testify on Sandusky's behalf, including family friend Joyce Porter who called Sandusky a "wonderful man" and others who described Sandusky as a community-oriented man and even a "father figure."
Dottie and Jerry Sandusky are parents to six adopted children and she told the court that her husband began taking interest in the welfare of children when they realized they would be unable to have children of their own.
In December, Dottie broke her silence in her husband's highly public child abuse case when she issued a statement supporting the former coach and urging the public to allow him to prove his innocence.
"I have been shocked and dismayed by the allegations made against Jerry, particularly the most recent one that a now young man said he was kept in our basement during visits and screamed for help as Jerry assaulted him while I was in our home and didn't respond to cries for help," she said in her statement.
Sandusky said that she continued to "believe in Jerry's innocence" and asked the public to be patient until Sandusky would have the opportunity to prove his innocence.
Sandusky, 68, is facing 51 charges of child sex abuse involving 10 children over a 15-year period and could face a prison sentence of over 500 years.
The defense is expected to wrap up its portion of the case on Wednesday and jury deliberations could begin as early as Thursday.
