Accuser: Sandusky called himself 'tickle monster'
Alleged victim testified former coach said this to initiate physical contact
BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Two more accusers took the stand at the sex-abuse trial of a former Penn State assistant coach on Thursday, one of whom said Jerry Sandusky called himself the "tickle monster" before embracing him in a shower and another who said he was distraught that the two lost touch.
A state investigator also testified that authorities heard about a key witness, assistant coach Mike McQueary, was through an anonymous email to Centre County prosecutors saying McQueary "had some information." That investigator, Anthony Sassano, said authorities identified some of Jerry Sandusky's alleged abuse victims through pictures and lists seized from his home and office and that Penn State University was "not very quick" in getting investigators information as part of the probe.
The second alleged victim, now 25, said he loved Sandusky and that he viewed him as a father figure, but that he became angry with Sandusky because he never reached out to him after the witness was sent out of the area to live in a group home.
"He just forgot about me, like I was nothing," said the man known in court documents as Victim 3. "I would pray he would call me and maybe find a way to get me out of there ... but it never happened."
The two alleged victims who testified Thursday brought to seven the number of accusers to take the stand over the trial's first four days. Jurors also heard about two other alleged victims who have not been located by investigators.
Judge John Cleland said prosecutors might finish presenting their case Thursday.
The ex-coach faces 52 criminal counts involving alleged assaults of 10 boys over a 15-year span. He denies the charges, which brought disgrace to Penn State and led to the ouster of both the school's president and Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno.
Sassano, the investigator, said authorities obtained lists of children that attended events sponsored by Sandusky's charity, The Second Mile, sending investigators across a wide swath of the State College region to talk to participants. They also poured through Sandusky's biography, "Touched," and other documents found in his home and office.
They brainstormed about who else could have been in university buildings during off hours, including janitors and others. Eventually, the issued subpoenas to Penn State.
They talked to assistants and others who worked in some of the buildings and locker rooms at the school.
Sandusky's attorney questioned both accusers Thursday about connections they had with other alleged victims. The defense has claimed that the accusers have financial motives, but they've all denied that.
One of the men, now a member of the Army National Guard, described frequent sleepovers at Sandusky's home in 1998 and 1999 that included the ex-coach rubbing his body and touching his penis. He also said Sandusky gave him a bear hug in the shower.
The man said he lived with his mother at the time but did not get along with her. He didn't know where his father was.
He testified that he felt uncomfortable when Sandusky touched his genitals in bed, and that he would roll over to prevent anything else from happening, but that he didn't tell Sandusky not to get into bed with him.
Earlier Thursday, the other accuser testified that Sandusky called himself the "tickle monster" and embraced the then-11-year-old boy in a Penn State shower in 1998, an encounter that prompted an investigation but ultimately ended without any charges being filed.
The now-25-year-old alleged victim, known in court records as Victim 6, told jurors Sandusky embraced him in a locker room shower, lathered up his back and shoulders then lifted him chest-to-chest to a shower head to rinse out his hair.
Since the trial began Monday, jurors have heard from young men who claim Sandusky had inappropriate contact with them, sometimes at his State College home or in the showers of a campus locker room.
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