STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A new report commissioned by Joe Paterno's family challenges the conclusion by former FBI director Louis Freeh that the late Penn State coach conspired to conceal child sex abuse allegations against retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

An executive summary of the critique released Sunday said the "observations" of Paterno by Freeh in July were unfounded. The team reviewing Freeh's work included former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, who called the report fundamentally flawed and incomplete, resulting in a "rush to injustice."

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The family released was what billed as an exhaustive response on Paterno.com.

It called Freeh's report a disservice to Paterno, the university community and Sandusky's victims.

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Freeh's findings were cited by the NCAA when college sports' governing body levied unprecedented sanctions against the football program for the Sandusky scandal.

 

Former Penn State football assistant Mike McQueary on Tuesday filed a whistleblower lawsuit seeking $4 million from the university, claiming he was made a "scapegoat" for the university's failures to rein in a coach accused of sexual assault.

McQueary is the staffer who said he witnessed assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky having sex with a boy in the locker room in 2001, and reported what he saw to head football coach Joe Paterno and other university officials. Other boys were assaulted on campus before Sandusky, 68, was found guilty in 2012 of 45 counts of child sexual abuse.

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Here is a copy of the lawsuit in a PDF file.

The lawsuit says McQueary is seeking $4 million. His base salary in 2011 was $140,400 plus bonuses and benefits, making his anticipated earnings over the next 25 years at least $4 million. McQueary says he was placed on administrative leave a week after a grand jury found that university officials made false statements about what McQueary had told them. Gary Schultz, a former senior vice president at Penn State, and Tim Curley, the former athletic coordinator, are accused of lying to a grand jury about what they knew of sex abuse allegations against Sandusky. The university has been paying the legal fees of other Penn State employees in the case, but not McQueary's.

McQueary was a graduate assistant football coach from 2000 through 2003, and then an assistant football coach until 2011. He said he saw Sandusky engaging in sex with a boy who appeared to be 10 to 12 years old in the staff locker room of the Lasch Football Building. He said he reported the incident to his supervisor, Coach Paterno, the next day, and then was invited to tell the story to Schultz and Curley. He said he relied on their statements that they would take action. Schultz supervised the university police department.

Penn State Communications Director David LaTorre said Tuesday, "We won't have a comment."

McQueary also is seeking compensation for having his automobile privileges revoked, compensation for early withdrawls from his retirement account, bowl game bonuses from the 2011 season, back pay through Sandusky's trial, and his legal expenses.

The university's internal Freeh report described what happened in 2001:

"On Friday, February 9, 2001, University graduate student Michael McQueary observed Sandusky involved in sexual activity  with a boy in the coach's shower room in the University's Leach Building. McQueary met with and reported the incident to Paterno on Saturday, February 10, 2001. Paterno did not immediately report what McQueary told him, explaining that he didn't want to interfere with anyone's weekend."

 "Upon opening the locker room door, McQueary heard 'rhythmic slapping sounds' from the shower. McQueary looked into the shower through a mirror and saw Sandusky with a 'prepubescent' 10- or 12-year-old boy. McQueary saw Sandusky 'directly behind' the boy with his arms around the boy's waist or midsection. The boy had his hands against the wall, and the two were in 'a very sexual position.' McQueary believed Sandusky was 'sexually molesting' the boy and 'having some type of intercourse with him' although he 'did not see insertion nor was there any verbiage or protest, screaming or yelling.'"

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When the NCAA and the Big Ten conference announced punishing sanctions for Penn State on Monday in the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal, the impact for the school’s vaunted football team was tangible and immediate.

What’s harder to calculate is how much damage the scandal will cause to the rest of Penn State. Here’s why: The crisis was unprecedented — striking at the heart of the university’s identity, involving crimes that took place over a long period and implicating figures at the highest levels of university administration.

Penn State commissioned the investigation led by former FBI director Louis Freeh, upon which the NCAA sanctions were based, but crisis management experts suggest that it was just a first step needed to reassure donors, alumni, students and applicants to the school.

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"They will have to do a lot to come clean," said Larry Barton, president and professor of management at the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and author of several books on crisis management. "It’s not going to go away merely by changing the cover of the alumni magazine to show a professor of anthropology."

The NCAA sanctions include a $60 million fine against Penn State’s football program — roughly the amount the team has earned annually — to be applied to fighting child abuse. The college athletic governing association also cut the number of football scholarships Penn State can offer in coming years and erased more than a decade worth of football victories from the official record. That meant the late Joe Paterno is no longer the winningest football coach ever.

The Freeh report "presents an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity leading to a culture in which a football program was held in higher esteem than the values of the institution, the values of the NCAA, the values of higher education, and most disturbingly the values of human decency," according to the NCAA conclusions and sanctions.

The Big Ten conference then barred Penn State from playing in postseason bowl games for four years, forfeiting an expected $13 million in revenue.

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The measures were "staggering" in scope with "potential to impact the program for a decade, if not much, much longer," NBC sports reported.

How much more will the sanctions and scandal scar the university?

Typically, donations to athletic donations take a hit when the crisis’ epicenter is in the athletic department, said Rae Goldsmith, vice president at the nonprofit Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C.

"There is traditionally a pretty specific division between giving to academics and giving to athletics," said Goldsmith. "When a crisis hits athletics you can see a hit to giving for athletics but not to academic programs."

On July 9, the university announced that a record number of individual donors had contributed a total dollar amount that was second highest in university history — $208.7 million — during the 2011-2012 fiscal year. That included money for the Nittany Lions.

The university trumpeted the "steadfast support" by alumni and friends "despite a year that was marked by unprecedented challenges."

However, those results cover the full fiscal year — going back to months before the scandal became public.

They were also announced a few days before the release of the Freeh report, which was a detailed and scathing indictment of key figures at the university who failed to act on eyewitness information of Sandusky apparently raping a child in campus showers and other information.

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The report emphasized the roles what it calls the "four most powerful people" at Penn State — "who failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade." It said they "concealed Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities."

Among them was revered head football coach Paterno, Penn State President Graham Spanier, athletic director Timothy Curley and vice president Gary Shultz. All four were forced out of their jobs over the scandal.

Paterno was fired Nov. 9, and died two months later. Spanier was forced to leave his leadership post, but remains on at Penn as a tenures professor. Curley and Schultz are facing charges of failing to report alleged abuses and of perjury.

Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts on June 11 and is in jail awaiting sentencing.

In the near term, there are some tangible costs to Penn State as a whole.

The $60 million fine puts a dent in football revenue that is normally used to support non-revenue sports.

And NCAA President Mark Emmert said at Monday’s press conference that the money could not "come at the cost of reduced programs in the athletic department and other student scholarships."

In an email response to a query about covering that cost, Penn State spokesman David LaTorre wrote: "The University will use its athletics reserve fund, capital maintenance budget and if necessary, an internal bond issue, to address the fine. We’re pleased the funding will be used toward important programs to help children who are victims of child abuse."

Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday that it may cut its rating on Penn State's credit because of the sanctions and the scandal laid out in the Freeh report, which it said could hurt student enrollment and fundraising for the university, the Associated Press reported. Moody's says Penn State has about $1 billion in debt.

Goldsmith said the scandal may take a toll on student enrollment, though that cost is harder to quantify.

"If students are coming for a specific program, they will still come," said Goldsmith. "For students who were not committed up front and may have several choices, the institution needs to pay special attention."

Ex-Penn State president disputes Freeh report

But she noted: "It’s a challenge for any institution that relies heavily on the reputation of any one program. When there’s trouble in that program, the institution could have a significant branding problem."

Barton said he did not see a risk to the university’s ability to recruit high quality instructors or to its academics winning research grants.

However, he predicted that the scandal could discourage major donations from people who are thinking about their own legacies.

"There’s no way to calculate the untold gifts from potential contributors — especially from baby boomers — who are actively planning their estates. It’s going to be difficult for Penn State to earn the trust of those individuals," he said.

"It is important to know we are entering a new chapter at Penn State and making necessary change," Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a statement after the announcement of NCAA sanctions.

"We must create a culture in which people are not afraid to speak up, management is not compartmentalized, all are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards, and the operating philosophy is open, collegial, and collaborative."

Barton argues that the university should create a comprehensive multiyear program that includes bold initiatives, such as removing most of the Board of Trustees, who the Freeh report noted had failed in their job of oversight.

"I think there should be a national conference on pedophilia that Penn State hosts,” said Barton. "It would say it happened here, it could happen to you."

"Handing the investigation over to Louis Freeh was an extremely smart, savvy first move," said Barton, the crisis management expert.  "But it really should not be the last one. It should be the liftoff to an ongoing series of reviews and disclosures about how do you turn a huge debacle into a better Penn State."

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A mural of the late former football coach Joe Paterno at a Connecticut middle school will be painted over following the release of a report last week that put blame on Penn State officials in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. 

Oxford Board of Education Interim Superintendent Dr. John Reed made the decision to remove the painting from the Great Oak Middle School before classes resume, the Connecticut Post reported. 

The report didn't indicate what painting will replace the Paterno mural. 

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The board first discussed removing the painting last year following allegations Paterno and university leaders failed to report the allegations against Sandusky.

"We decided to wait until all the facts were out and the report was complete before we made a decision," Board of Education Chairwoman Paula Guillet told the station.

The Post reported the painting is part of a "Wall of Heroes" throughout the school that also features Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

The decision follows a 267-page independent report conducted by former FBI Director Louis Freeh on behalf of the university that found officials did little to nothing when confronted with allegations that assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had been sexually abusing young boys. 

Report: Penn State president, Paterno concealed facts about Sandusky sex abuse

The report also found Paterno and university leaders concealed Sandusky's activities for over a decade and showed a lack of empathy for his victims.

Officials hid the allegations against Sandusky to protect the school's reputation, according to the report. 

Most of Sandusky's victims were middle-schoolers when the abuse occurred. 

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In State College, Pa., another painting of the late football coach was altered after the release of the Freeh report.

Artist Michael Pilato had created a large mural of Penn State leaders years ago. He added a halo over Paterno’s image after he died Jan. 22. But on Saturday, Pilato removed the halo over Paterno's head.

Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts for the sexual abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year period. He is in jail awaiting sentencing. 

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On Saturday, muralist Michael Pilato altered his famous Penn State artwork – by removing a halo painted over the head of former head football coach Joe Paterno – because of revelations about Paterno’s role in the child sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the university.

The mural, which adorns the university bookstore at the corner of Heister Streets and College Avenue in State College, Pa., depicts a group of local luminaries, including Paterno, who was head coach of the Penn State football team for nearly 46 years. Pilato had added the halo after Paterno’s death on Jan. 22.

Pilato and his family have been friends with the Paternos for many years so this decision was a tough one, he said. But after considering what was revealed in last week's Freeh report, Pilato said, he "had no choice."

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Former FBI director Louis Freeh released the 267-page report, commissioned by Penn State, into the role of the institution and its employees in the serial sexual abuse of boys by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Penn State to renovate showers in Sandusky case

The report emphasized the roles of the "four most powerful people" at Penn State, including iconic coach Paterno, "who failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade." It said they "concealed Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities."

The other three are former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz and former athletic director Timothy Curley, who both face criminal charges alleging they failed to report the abuse and for perjury in grand jury testimony — and university president Graham Spanier. Spanier was forced out of his position at head of the university, but remains on staff as a tenured professor of sociology.

Expert: Penn State report ups legal risk for former president

"Sue Paterno had been quoted as saying Joe was not a saint. That made this difficult decision easier for me to execute," Pilato told NBC News.

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After removing the halo, Pilato painted a blue ribbon over the chest of the late coach’s image.

"The last time I saw Joe in his home before he died, he said to me, 'I wish there were classes taught on sexual abuse,'" Pilato said. "The blue ribbon signifies awareness of the sexual abuse and knowing where Joe's thoughts were on this, I felt it was appropriate to give him the blue ribbon."

In December, emboldened by the victims in the Penn State scandal, Pilato's 16-year-old daughter, Skye, went public with the story of her own abuse — being raped by two men when she was 12, the local Centre Daily Times reported. The artist has dedicated a recent mural in State College to her and other victims of sexual abuse.

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Pilato removed the image of Jerry Sandusky from the earlier mural after Sandusky's arrest in November, and later replaced him with the image of Dora McQuaid, a Penn State graduate who is an activist on sexual and domestic abuse issues. He plans to have all the handprints of all the victims of Sandusky added to the mural in the near future.

Pilato has not decided what he will do with the image of Spanier, the former Penn State president, on the mural. "In the last two days, people have been throwing eggs on the Spanier section of the mural," adds Pilato. "Maybe they are doing my work for me."

Msnbc.com's Kari Huus contributed to this report.

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The report released Thursday by a special investigative counsel dissects what went wrong at Penn State University when it failed to prevent the serial sexual abuse of young boys by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Here are some of the findings about the roles played by key figures.

Jerry Sandusky: Defensive football coach at Penn State and founder of the children’s charity The Second Mile.
Sandusky, 68, was arrested in November 2011 and found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. He is in jail awaiting sentencing.

The report says five of the boys were assaulted by Sandusky on university property. It focuses on two reported incidents:

In May 1998, police investigated allegations that Sandusky showered with an 11-year old boy in the Lasch Building, which houses the football locker rooms on the Penn State campus. Then, in February 2001, a graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, says he witnessed Sandusky involved in sexual activity with a 10- to 12-year-old boy in the shower and told head coach Joe Paterno, who passed on the information to university officials.

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The report says that despite an investigation of serious charges involving Sandusky, he was allowed to retire in 1999, "not as a suspected child predator but as a valued member of the Penn State football legacy" with the university's blessing to work with young people through Penn State, "essentially granting him license to bring boys to campus facilities for 'grooming' as targets for his assaults through Nov. 2011."

Mike McQueary: Assistant Penn State football coach.

McQueary was a graduate assistant when he says he saw Jerry Sandusky involved in sexual activity with a boy in a team shower on the Penn state campus on a Friday night in February 2001. McQueary took this information to Paterno, and later spoke to Curley and Shultz about it.

The report notes that "no record of communication indicates that McQueary or Paterno made any effort to determine the identity of the child in the shower or whether the child had been harmed." It says that McQueary, among others, was "obligated to report the 2001 Sandusky incident to the University Police Department for inclusion in Clery Act statistics and for determining whether a timely warning should be issued to the University community. No record exists of such a report."

In court testimony this year, McQueary said he had "no doubt" that Sandusky was having intercourse with the boy.

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The report emphasizes the roles of the following four men — what it calls the "four most powerful people" at Penn State — "who failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade." It said they "concealed Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities."

Joe Paterno: Former Penn State football coach with oversight of Sandusky.

In November 2011, after the allegations against Sandusky became public, the legendary coach was removed from his position. He died in January.

Despite knowledge of the sexual abuse investigation in 1998 and McQueary's 2001 eye witness account of apparent sexual abuse, the report says Paterno and other campus officials "failed to control Sandusky’s access to the University’s facilities and campuses, allowing Sandusky access until Nov. 2011."

After McQueary told Paterno what he saw in February 2001, Paterno told campus officials Curley and Schultz, but not campus police. The report says that in subsequent emails the men discussed various measures, including getting professional help for Sandusky and barring him from bringing children to the campus locker rooms, but that no substantive action was taken. It says that Sandusky engaged in further abuse in campus facilities after that.

"Those assaults may well have been prevented if Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley had taken additional actions to safeguard children on University facilities," it said. 

Timothy Curley: Penn State University athletic director.

Curley is facing criminal charges for allegedly failing to report allegations of child abuse against Sandusky to law enforcement or child protection authorities in 2002 and for allegedly committing perjury during testimony about the allegations to a grand jury in January 2011.

The report includes a series of emails that point to Curley’s role in negotiating a retirement package for Sandusky that was reached in June 1999 after campus investigators finished looking into 1998 sexual assault allegations. The deal included an unusual lump sum payment of $168,000, an agreement for continued collaboration with The Second Mile, and free lifetime use of a campus locker room facility, the report said. Curley also requested the emergency re-hire of Sandusky for the 1999 football season, which was approved.

After McQueary’s 2001 eyewitness account reached him, and a subsequent flurry of email and meetings with Shultz and Spanier, Curley met with Sandusky and told him "we were uncomfortable" about the incident and told Sandusky to stop bringing children to athletic facilities. He also informed the leadership of The Second Mile, after which both parties decided it was a "non-incident," and no further action was taken.

“Without ever speaking to McQueary, Schultz and Curley had already decided that not reporting Sandusky’s conduct to authorities may be an option,” the report says.

Click here to read the full investigative report

Gary Schultz: Penn State vice president for business and finance, now retired.

Schultz is facing charges for allegedly failing to report allegations of child abuse to law enforcement or child protection authorities in 2002 and for allegedly committing perjury during testimony to the Grand Jury in January 2011.

The report reveals that in 1998 Schultz communicated extensively with Curley, Spanier and investigators looking into sex abuse allegations against Sandusky. In notes from one meeting he speculates: "Behavior — at best inappropriate @ worst sexual improprieties" and "Is this opening of Pandora’s box?" and "Other children?"

After McQueary’s 2001 eyewitness account, Schultz, Spanier and Curley agreed to offer Sandusky help for his apparent problem, and if he refused, to inform child protective services and The Second Mile. In email, Schultz concludes this is the “more humane and upfront way to handle this.”

At a Board of Trustees meeting in September 2001, neither Schultz nor Spanier disclosed the questions swirling around Sandusky. At the same meeting, the board approved a deal structured by Schultz to sell a University property to The Second Mile.

Before a grand jury in January 2011, Schultz testified that he did not recall that much about the details of the 1998 allegations and later said he "was never aware" of an investigation into inappropriate touching in 1998, according to the report.

Schultz told the grand jury that head coach Joe Paterno and Mike McQueary reported the 2001 shower incident to him "in a very general way" but said the "allegations came across as not that serious. … We had no indication a crime had occurred," the report said.

Graham Spanier: Pennsylvania State University President.

The report says that the university president told the special investigative counsel that "he never heard a report from anyone that Sandusky was engaged in any sexual abuse of children" and said he would have been the first to intervene if he had known or suspected it.

But the report lays out a long email trail showing that Spanier was informed of the 1998 investigation, and told of the 2001 account brought forward by McQueary.

"By not promptly and fully advising the Board of Trustees about the 1998 and 2001 child sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky and the subsequent Grand Jury investigation of him, Spanier failed his duties as President," the report says.

The report said that "the avoidance of the consequences of bad publicity" was the most significant cause for the failure to protect child victims and report abuse to authorities.

It also faulted Spanier, describing him as "a President who discouraged discussion and dissent," and faulted "a striking lack of empathy for child abuse victims by the most senior leaders of the University."

  

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The results of an internal investigation of Pennsylvania State University’s response to child sexual abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky will be made public on Thursday.

An announcement Tuesday indicated a report on the investigation led by former FBI chief Louis Freeh would be posted online Thursday at 9 a.m. ET. It said Freeh would hold a news conference an hour later to discuss its findings and recommendations.

“We look forward to seeing the report on Thursday and reviewing Judge Freeh's recommendations,” said Penn State spokesman David La Torre. “The university will provide a response in Scranton on Thursday at a time and location to be announced.”

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Sandusky, 68, was found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse last month and is currently in prison awaiting sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of more than 400 years in prison.

Freeh was hired by the university in November to review of the university's dealings with Sandusky and its response to a 2001 report that he sexually abused of a boy in a Penn State shower room, an incident witnessed by football assistant Michael McQueary.

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier has come under particular scrutiny in recent weeks amid news reports suggesting that he was made aware of suspicious activity involving Sandusky in 2001 and that no report of the incident was made to authorities.

Citing emails obtained by Freeh’s investigators, CNN reported last week that Spanier and two other university officials — Gary Schultz, the former senior vice president of finance and business, and Tim Curley, the athletic director on administrative leave — agreed to take a "humane" approach in dealing with  Sandusky following his alleged sexual encounter with a boy.

Instead of reporting the incident to police, according to the report, administrators instead planned to ask Sandusky to seek counseling and said they would tell officials at the Second Mile, the charity he founded and where he met many of the children he would later abuse, about their concerns.

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Attorneys for Spanier fired back earlier Tuesday, saying their client was never informed about the shower room incident involving Sandusky.

"At no time in the more than 16 years of his presidency at Penn State was Dr. Spanier told of an incident involving Jerry Sandusky that described child abuse, sexual misconduct or criminality of any kind, and he reiterated that during his interview with Louis Freeh and his colleagues,'' Spanier's attorneys, Peter Vaira and Elizabeth Ainslie, said in a written statement.

In addition, Freeh’s report is expected to include information about the actions of former head football coach Joe Paterno in the wake of McQueary’s allegations. Paterno, a legend in college football, died of lung cancer in January at 85.

In a statement Tuesday, Paterno's family also pushed back against the leak of emails to CNN, including one in which Curley stated, "After giving it more thought, and talking it over with Joe yesterday - I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps."

"The media spin that this is proof of some sort of cover up is completely false," the statment said. "When the facts come out, it will be clear that Joe Paterno never gave Tim Curley any instructions to protect Sandusky or limit any investigation of his actions.

"Joe Paterno did not cover up for Jerry Sandusky.  Joe Paterno did not know that Jerry Sandusky was a pedophile.  Joe Paterno did not act in any way to prevent a proper investigation of Jerry Sandusky.  To claim otherwise is a distortion of the truth.

The Sandusky scandal led to the ouster of Spanier and Paterno and charges against Curley, who is on leave from the university, and Schultz, who has since retired.  The latter two are accused of perjury for their grand jury testimony and failing to properly report suspected child abuse.

Spanier hasn't been charged.

Chip Bell, Tom Winter and Julmary Zambrano of NBC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jerry Sandusky's defense will be allowed to call an expert witness to testify that some of his behavior and letters to young boys are manifestations of a personality disorder and not evidence that he was "grooming" the boys for sex, the judge in his child sexual abuse trial ruled Friday.

Sandusky, 68, the former longtime defensive coordinator for Penn State University's football team, is on trial on 52 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years. Two grand jury reports accused him of having used his connection to one of the nation's premier college football programs to "groom" the boys, whom he met through his Second Mile charity for troubled children, for sexual relationships. He has denied all charges.

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Defense lawyers this week filed a motion seeking permission to introduce expert testimony from a psychologist that Sandusky has "histrionic personality disorder."

Histrionic means "dramatic" or "theatrical." People with the disorder desperately seek the approval of others and behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention, according to the Cleveland Clinic, one of the nation's leading medical centers.

Does it matter if Sandusky has a personality disorder?

Jurors have long weekend to consider graphic evidence against Jerry Sandusky

Analysis: Prosecution presented strong case against Jerry Sandusky

The motion, which was filed Monday in Centre County Court in Bellefonte, Pa., says the testimony would offer a "fair explanation of these letters that is consistent with innocence."

"The jury should not be mislead (sic) into believing these statements and actions are likely grooming when hey (sic) are just as likely or more likely Histrionic in origin," it says.

Read the full defense motion (.pdf)

Judge John Cleland ordered that Sandusky would also have to be available for a psychiatric examination by a prosecution expert. It wasn't immediately clear whether the examination would delay the trial, but as of late Friday afternoon, court was still scheduled to resume Monday at 9 a.m. ET after prosecutors presented their case this week.

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ANALYSIS

While the prosecution didn't rest Thursday, it is very clear that the bulk of the commonwealth's evidence against Jerry Sandusky has been presented. Given the surprisingly fast pace of the prosecution's case, the judge canceled Friday's proceedings, leaving the jury with some disturbing testimony to consider over the Father's Day weekend.

This trial has been difficult to sit through at times. The acts alleged are horrific, and the testimony took an obvious emotional toll on the jury.

Despite the very strong case against Sandusky, the defense had strong moments on cross-examination. It has skillfully pointed out inconsistencies in the witnesses' testimony and has raised substantial questions about why some grown adults would continue to have friendly relationships with the man they now say abused them.

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Nevertheless, the question remains: Why would so many witnesses come forward with similar stories? As Bob Costas stated it in the TV interview the jurors heard: If these witnesses are all lying, Sandusky must be the unluckiest guy any of us has ever known.

Jurors have long weekend to consider graphic evidence against Sandusky

Their stories weren't identical. In fact, had they been, one would suspect collusion. But there was a small detail that ran through all but one of the accounts: All but one alleged victim described Sandusky's first having touched him on the knee or the thigh as they rode in Sandusky's car.

If a group of people were going to concoct a group lie, one would expect them to coordinate the big details, not the small one. They were all, except one, in unison in describing this as Sandusky's first uncomfortable touch. In the case of one alleged victim, the prosecution didn't bring out this fact on direct examination — we learned this unifying fact on cross-examination.

Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial

Legal analysis by Wes Oliver

Almost any witness will be vulnerable to cross-examination that casts some doubt on his or her testimony, and Sandusky's alleged victims were no exception. But given the number of them, their consistency, the independent witnesses who saw Sandusky in the Penn State showers and the defendant's own words in the letters he wrote to one victim, the prosecution has presented a very strong case.

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Jurors now have three full days to consider graphic and at times disturbing testimony against former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky before his lawyers get their chance to answer next week.

Prosecutors in Bellefonte, Pa., concluded their case Thursday in Sandusky's trial on 52 counts alleging that he sexually abused 10 boys over 15 years, and the judge adjourned the trial until Monday.

Two grand jury reports accused Sandusky of having used his connection to one of the nation's premier college football programs to "groom" the boys, whom he met through his Second Mile charity for troubled children, for sexual relationships. 

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Sandusky, 68, who for many years was the presumed heir-apparent to the legendary Joe Paterno as head coach of Penn State's storied football team, has pleaded not guilty. Paterno — a revered figure in the sport — died in January, a few weeks after the university's Board of Trustees dismissed him for not having done enough to stop the alleged abuse.

Eight of the 10 men whose alleged sexual abuse formed the basis of the indictment testified this week, telling stories of sexual assaults, groping and — in one case — forcible rape that led to bleeding.

Jurors also heard from a former colleague of Sandusky, onetime Penn State assistant coach Michael McQueary, who testified that he witnessed Sandusky's having sex with a young boy 11 years ago. McQueary said he personally told Paterno about Sandusky's behavior but that nothing was done.

McQueary's testimony — which was corroborated by his father, who said he also discussed the incident with a senior university official — was just one of several accounts jurors heard that suggested that Penn State administrators and local prosecutors knew about Sandusky's alleged pedophilia for many years but took no action.

Legal analysis: Prosecution presented strong case against Jerry Sandusky

Thursday, the campus police officer who began investigating Sandusky in the late 1990s testified that he and social services officials recommended as early as 1998 that Sandusky should face criminal charges but that Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar declined.

The decision by Gricar — who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 2005 and has been declared dead — remains one of the central riddles of the Sandusky case.

'We know there were reports 10 years ago'
Jurors appeared visibly shaken several times this week during testimony from the eight alleged victims, who met Sandusky through Second Mile.

Although Sandusky's accusers are being identified by name in court, NBC News and msnbc.com do not identify victims of sexual assaults.

Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial

Legal analysis by Wes Oliver

The witnesses — all but one now in their 20s — graphically recounted incidents that they said included oral sex, attempted sexual penetration and repeated sexual groping; the final prosecution witness told of having been forcibly raped more than once. They said they reluctantly tolerated Sandusky's advances because they were scared and because he lavished them with gifts and prized spots on the sidelines for Penn State football games.

One of the young men testified that Sandusky followed his school bus so he could intercept him on the way home to demand an explanation for why the young man was avoiding him.

Another testified that Sandusky treated him "like his girlfriend" for more than two years, showering him with gifts he was afraid he would lose if he told anyone about Sandusky's increasingly sexual behavior.

A third testified that Sandusky threatened that he would be cut off from his family if he told anyone about their sexual relations.

On cross-examination, the defense closely questioned witnesses on details of the alleged incidents and when they occurred, part of a strategy to raise questions about whether the alleged victims — some of whom have hired lawyers or have said they plan to seek civil damages — are making up their stories for financial gain.

Wendy Murphy, a lawyer in Boston and former child sex crimes prosecutor, said that will be a tough case to make.

"If there were a couple of victims and good evidence of financial motive and that they did talk to each other before making a report to law enforcement, that's a good defense tactic in a case like this," Murphy said. "The problem is we know there were reports 10 years ago, and even older than that, that were corroborated and are in writing in some instances."

Defense attorneys also agreed to prosecutors' plans to play the audio of Sandusky's interview last November on the NBC News program "Rock Center," in which Sandusky denied the charges against him and told NBC's Bob Costas that he wasn't sexually attracted to young boys.

Murphy said playing the interview was a way for Sandusky's lead attorney, Joseph Amendola, to let jurors hear Sandusky deny the charges without having to put him on the stand. 

"Amendola is not a dummy. He knows he had to get Sandusky on the record in some form that he could then use at trial denying guilt, because he knew he could never put him on the stand," Murphy said. 

But at other times, Sandusky's attorneys appeared unprepared or flustered by testimony they clearly hadn't expected.

On Tuesday, the defense missed several opportunities to undermine McQueary's testimony, said Wes Oliver, a criminal law professor at Widener University and a legal analyst for NBC News and msnbc.com. 

And on Wednesday, it mischaracterized previous testimony by McQueary's father as having come before a grand jury when it actually had been at a preliminary hearing in a separate but related criminal case. 

When the witness said he couldn't remember that testimony, defense attorney Karl Rominger floundered and kept pressing the point so long that the judge expressed annoyance and cut him off.

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Updated at 6:58 p.m. ET: The final prosecution witness in the child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky testified Thursday that Sandusky forcibly raped him on several occasions.

The testimony came on the fourth day of Sandusky's trial on 52 counts alleging that he sexually abused 10 boys over 15 years. Two grand jury reports accused him of having used his connection to one of the nation's premier college football programs to "groom" the boys, whom he met through his Second Mile charity for troubled children, for sexual relationships. Sandusky has pleaded not guilty.

The 18-year-old man, identified in the indictment as "Victim 9," testified that he cried out for help as Sandusky raped him in the basement of the Sandusky home, but no one came to his assistance. He said he believed that the basement was soundproofed and that Sandusky's wife, Dottie, couldn't hear his pleas.

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It was the most graphic and dramatic testimony so far at the trial in Bellefonte, Pa. Afterward, Judge John Cleland announced that the prosecution had concluded its case and that the defense would begin Monday after a three-day break.

Wednesday: Alleged victim testifies Sandusky threatened him unless he kept quiet

Legal analysis: Sandusky lawyer flummoxed by witness' memory lapse

The man said he stayed overnight at Sandusky's house between 50 and 100 times. He said Sandusky began forcibly raping him beginning when he was "maybe 13."

On some occasions, he said, the assaults were so forceful that he would bleed from his anus. He said he didn't seek medical attention; instead, "I just dealt with it."

"What was I going to do? I mean, he was a big guy," the man said. "He was bigger than me at the time, way bigger than me."

The man said he told no one about the abuse — even police when they began investigating — because he thought no one would believe him.

"He's an important guy — he's a football coach," he said. "Who would believe kids?"

On cross-examination, the man acknowledged that despite the "horrible" things Sandusky did to him, he continued to accept tickets to Penn State football games from the defendant as recently as last November. He said he did so "because I had a friend with me" who "had my back at the time."

The man's testimony was the most disturbing of that of all eight of the alleged victims who agreed to testify at Sandusky's trial.

Previous witnesses testified that Sandusky engaged in oral sex and groped their genitals, and another witness, former Penn State assistant coach Michael McQueary, testified that he saw Sandusky engaging in sex with a young boy in a Penn State shower. But none of the previous witnesses has described the sexual relation as having occurred under extreme force.

Defense attorney Joseph Amendola, as he has with most of the other alleged victims, closely questioned the man on precise details about what allegedly happened and when, part of a strategy to raise questions about whether the accusers — some of whom have sued the university or have said they plan to sue Sandusky — are making up their stories for financial gain.

Penn State accused of slowing investigation
Earlier Thursday, Anthony Sassano, an investigator with the state attorney general's office, testified that Penn State dragged its heels numerous times on cooperating with the investigation, requiring investigators to seek search warrants and to subpoena the names of university employees.

"Penn State, to be quite frank, was not very fast on getting us the information," he said in the latest of several accounts jurors have heard that suggested that university administrators and local prosecutors knew about Sandusky's alleged pedophilia for many years but chose not to take action.

Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial

Legal analysis by Wes Oliver

Ronald Schreffler, who as a Penn State police investigator began investigating Sandusky in the late 1990s, also testified that he believed Sandusky was allowed to get away with his alleged behavior for far too many years, saying Sandusky should have faced criminal charges as long as 14 years ago.

Schreffler, who now works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, testified that when he and youth services officials recommended that Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar bring criminal charges, Gricar declined. The decision by Gricar — who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 2005 and has been declared dead — remains one of the central mysteries of the Sandusky investigation.

'Jer' needs a 'best friend'
Some of the most bizarre evidence of the entire trial also emerged Thursday, including a "short story" Sandusky wrote that described his relationship with a boy who apparently attended his camps, which was found in one of the boxes at Penn State.

In the story, which was read aloud in court, Sandusky refers to himself in the third person as "Jer" and to the boy by his first name. Although Sandusky's alleged victims are being identified by name in court, NBC News and msnbc.com do not identify alleged victims of sexual assaults and have replaced the young man's name with (X).

"I'm Jerry. (X) is a young man who came into Jer's life," the story reads.

Later, telling how "Jer" was distressed that the boy had broken off the relationship, the story continues:

"'Tell me another story, Jer,' has been replaced with 'I don't care.' This cloud has destroyed soccer and hockey, choked smiles and laughter. There is fear that has reached his inside and killed his feelings. ...

"Jer might not be worthy, but he needs a 'best friend.'"

The trial, which opened Monday in Centre County Court, follows months of intense coverage of the case that led to the firing of Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, a college football legend who won more games than any other major college coach in history. Sandusky, who was at his side for many of those victories, was for many years presumed to be Paterno's heir apparent.

Paterno died in January, a few weeks after the Penn State Board of Trustees dismissed him for not having done enough to stop Sandusky's alleged abuse.

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ANALYSIS

It was an odd moment in court Wednesday when Jerry Sandusky's lawyer was shut down while cross-examining Mike McQueary's father.

Defense counsel Karl Rominger started by asking John McQueary whether he remembered his testimony during a preliminary hearing in the criminal case involving perjury charges against former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and former senior vice president Gary Schultz. John McQueary didn't recall that testimony.

This isn't a terribly rare occurrence. Witnesses who have testified frequently forget appearances. Those new to litigation don't always remember the names the legal system assigns to the proceedings in which they testified.

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When John McQueary testified that he didn't recall the preliminary hearing, Karl Rominger showed him the transcript of his testimony.

Read the full transcript of the December 2011 hearing (.pdf)

This is a common tactic, and it usually works quite well. But McQueary still didn't recall the proceeding.

Lawyers on cross-examination are accustomed to such eventualities. One easy response is to restate the question, vaguely describing the earlier proceeding: "Did you recall testifying in December that ..."

Rominger, however, seemed like a deer in the headlights. He consulted his co-counsel, Joe Amendola. He then tried to ask McQueary again about the preliminary hearing, specifically referring to the proceeding McQueary said he couldn't remember.

It didn't help that Rominger might have confused McQueary by mischaracterizing the hearing when he first asked about it, calling it "this other grand jury in Dauphin County." The December hearing wasn't, in fact, a grand jury session — it was a preliminary hearing before a judge in a separate but related case.

Alleged victim testifies Sandusky threatened him unless he kept quiet

Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial

Judge John Cleland was clearly frustrated with Rominger, who seemed lost as how to proceed. On Tuesday, he had demonstrated similar frustration with Rominger, whose cross-examination seemed to go nowhere.

On Wednesday, Cleland pointedly instructed Rominger that the witness didn't remember this hearing and to move on.

Judges often give counsel some latitude when witnesses are confused, but they have extraordinary discretion to limit the scope of cross-examination. They have not only to ensure that each side gets a fair shake but also to manage the case, to keep the case moving. Lawyers who appear to ask meaningful questions and appear not to waste the court's time are given more leeway when they get caught in a tough spot.

Rominger's performance Tuesday may have come back to haunt him Wednesday.

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