the name you don't hear often in the
news anymore but it's one that's hard to
forget jerry sandusky the former Penn
State assistant football coach is
serving up to sixty years in prison on
child sex abuse charges he still says
he's innocent but one of his sons
insists he is not Janna for Stacey
Spanos recently sat down with Matt
Sandusky about the abuse that he claims
he suffered at the hands of his father
Matt Sandusky now travels the country
talking about what he says Jerry
Sandusky did to him he wants others to
hear his story learn from it and heal
from any abuse they may have experienced
listening to what Matt Sandusky says
happened to him as a child is so awful
you don't want to believe terrible
things like that can actually happen
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that start in life Sandusky says primed
him to be the perfect prey he claims he
fell victim to his predator Jerry
Sandusky whom he met as a troubled youth
Sandusky would go on to be his foster
father and ultimately his adoptive dad
Matt told this group that had gathered
in Jacksonville to hear him speak
recently that the abuse started with a
simple but sinister grooming process
when Sandusky picked him up one day to
watch a football game what kind of
person was Jerry Sandusky everybody
seemed to think he was such a great guy
and a caretaker ninety percent of the
time that I spent with him and the
Sandusky family was
everything that I wish that every single
child would have in their lives because
it was that wonderful and it was that
great it was just that other 10% of the
time that was so destructive to my young
you know child self that's really a hard
thing for people to understand because
you see this outwardly great person and
then behind closed doors there seems to
be that monster yeah and that's the way
that society tries to reckon with this
issue you know is that we want to paint
the people who do these crimes out to be
these heinous monsters it's hard when we
have to actually justify and come to the
realization that they are parents they
aren't coaches they are loved ones in
the child's life typically abuse happens
by someone that a child and their family
knows and trusts Stacy Pendarvis is an
expert in child safety and implement
safety programs in schools across the
country Pendarvis says one statistic
shows 95% of sexual abuse is preventable
through education and that education
needs to start at home so I always tell
parents start today all a parent needs
to do is have a conversation with their
child and say oh I saw a story on the
news today about sexual abuse I want to
have a conversation about this it's a
perfect introduction even if you've
never had a conversation with your child
Matt Sandusky says no one was there to
talk to him about what was acceptable
behavior and subsequently he says Jerry
Sandusky abused him for years
when Sandusky was brought to trial in
2012 on dozens of charges of child
sexual abuse involving ten victims Matt
at least outwardly appeared to support
Sandusky you at first had stuck by Jerry
Sandusky and said that he did not molest
you why did you decide to come forward
after that yeah I mean I get asked that
question a lot and I don't really like
the phrasing of it because I didn't
stick by him
and I need people to understand is that
I was protecting myself this was the
biggest secret that I had in my life I
did not want anybody to ever know what
he had done to me and what he had forced
me to do you know to him for 20 years
every single day all that I could think
about was making sure that no one had
ever found out what had happened to me
Matt says he has no ties with the
Sandusky family and none of his five
adopted siblings support him including
Dottie Sandusky Jerry's wife the woman
he once considered his mother Matt has
since founded the peaceful hearts
foundation dedicated to the healing of
sex abuse survivors and he has this to
say to anyone who is suffering the
trauma of abuse I mean number one I
would say you're not alone and number
two I would say what happened he wasn't
your fault you are not to blame for any
part of it
number three is that you are loved you
are deserving of love and number four is
that you can heal from this you will
heal from this and if you need help
please reach out Matt Sandusky told me
it hurts that Dottie and the rest of the
Sandusky family won't speak to him he
told me he still has love for them but
would never want a relationship with him
because he feels it would not be a
healthy one
Stacy Spanos Channel four the local
station