Amendola: Sandusky Defense Has Only ‘a Fraction’ of 1998 Penn State Police Report

The Jerry Sandusky defense team has received “only a small fraction” of the 1998 Penn State police report cited this weekend by NBC News, Sandusky lawyer Joseph Amendola said.

“We now are left to speculate on what other critical information the attorney general has failed to provide to the defense team,” Amendola wrote in a statement to reporters.

NBC News has said it obtained a copy of a university police report about alleged misconduct by Sandusky in 1998, when he was still a university football coach. The report, according to NBC, shows a psychologist — Alycia Chambers — cautioned university authorities at the time that Sandusky’s behavior appeared to match that of a pedophile.

Another psychologist’s analysis differed, however, according to the network’s reporting. That other psychologist is identified as John Seasock.

“We are also troubled and disappointed by NBC’s failure in its article to provide more information about Dr. Seasock’s 1998 report in which he apparently determined Jerry did not abuse” the youth, Amendola wrote in his statement. “Dr. Chambers’ NBC interview … has generated a new series of defense questions which will be formulated into additional discovery requests we will submit to the attorney general in the near-future, hopefully for disposition at the April 5 hearing on Jerry’s motions.”

The full text of Amendola’s statement is pasted below. Earlier coverage is linked at the bottom of this page.

Sandusky, 68, of College Township, was charged late last year with 52 criminal counts in a child sexual abuse case. Jury selection for a trial is tentatively scheduled for May 14.

Amendola’s statement:

We viewed with interest NBC’s article which aired nationally this morning in which Dr. Alycia Chambers stated she concluded Jerry’s conduct with Accuser 6 in 1998 constituted a likely pedophile pattern of “grooming” for sexual abuse purposes. Is it coincidental this information was released to the media for dissemination to the public within several days of the Court’s order directing the Attorney General to provide to us psychological reports in its possession unless it could cite a legal reason not to do so and within two days of the filing of pretrial motions asking the Court to dismiss all charges filed against Jerry including the charges related to Accuser 6?

We are very troubled by the fact we now can confirm the 1998 Penn State police investigation into allegations related to Accuser 6 apparently resulted in a 90 page investigative report which contained psychological reports prepared not only by Dr. Chambers but also by Dr. John Seasock who apparently concluded Jerry did not sexually abuse Accuser 6. The Attorney General has provided us to date with only a small fraction of that police report and has refused to give us copies of Dr. Chambers’ and Dr. Seasock’s reports, both of which we believe are relevant and critical to the preparation of Jerry’s defense. We now are left to speculate on what other critical information the Attorney General has failed to provide to the defense team.

We are also troubled and disappointed by NBC’s failure in its article to provide more information about Dr. Seasock’s 1998 report in which he apparently determined Jerry did not abuse Accuser 6. Dr. Chambers’ NBC interview today has generated a new series of defense questions which will be formulated into additional discovery requests we will submit to the Attorney General in the near future, hopefully, for disposition at the April 5 th hearing on Jerry’s motions. We will continue to seek information from the Attorney General which we believe we have a right to obtain and which is pertinent to Jerry’s defense. We will also continue to work very hard in the preparation of Jerry’s defense.

Earlier coverage

• NBC: Psychologist Cautioned Penn State Police about Sandusky in 1998 (March 24, 2012)

• StateCollege.com’s Penn State-charges coverage