Travis Weaver becomes Jerry Sandusky’s first accuser to step publicly
Travis Weaver became the first alleged Jerry Sandusky victim to reveal himself to the public, saying in an interview that he was sexually abused by former Penn State assistant coach more than 100 times, starting when he was just ten.
Travis Weaver, a 30-year-old Ohio man, said Jerry Sandusky preyed on him after he and his brother went to a summer camp for the Second Mile, a charity the coach founded and through which he is accused of cultivating most of his victims
The revelation comes on the same day as a jury begins to deliberate Jerry Sandusky’s fate on 48 counts of sexual abuse charges.
In closing arguments, his attorney said the accusers were liars who were hoping to cash in on legal settlements from the university.
Travis Weaver is not one of the eight accusers who testified at trial, but he did tell his story to the grand jury that handed down the Sandusky’s indictment, NBC News reported.
An exclusive interview with Travis Weaver will air at 10:00 p.m. Thursday on Rock Center.
When asked what he would do if he ever met Jerry Sandusky again, Travis Weaver doesn’t hesitate: “I’d punch him in his mouth.”
“There would be no reason to say anything. He knows what he did.”
During the sex abuse trial, Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer Joe Amendola said the former coach is being railroaded by overzealous investigators and prosecutors.
He strenuously denied that accusations and Sandusky has maintained his innocence since his arrest last fall.
Joe Amendola said the accusers were greedy and they lied about the abuse in the hopes of winning big payouts from Penn State University so they could drive new cars and buy big houses.
Travis Weaver has also filed a lawsuit and is being represented by a well-known attorney who has specialized in sex abuse cases against the Catholic church.
The abuse began in 1992, Travis Weaver told NBC’s Rock Center, when he met Jerry Sandusky at a swimming pool at a camp sponsored by the Second Miles, which Sandusky founded to help at-risk young boys.
“It was like meeting my hero,” Travis Weaver said of Jerry Sandusky, who was once the top pick to replace legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
The individual attention Jerry Sandusky gave Travis Weaver began innocently, but gradually grew more and more sinister, he said.
It began with a shower in the Penn State football team’s locker room.
“After the shower was over… he’d dry me off with a towel. He’d say he was trying to wrestle with me…” Travis Weaver told NBC.
He always assumed he was the only victim, he said.
He never imagined there have been other boys until Jerry Sandusky was arrested last fall.
Travis Weaver also blasted Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, who testified that she never saw or heard anything that would have made her think her husband was molesting boys.
He said the abuse continued for four years until he moved away to Ohio to flee Jerry Sandusky.