10 years later, Sandusky scandal at Penn State has opened the door to others coming to light, experts say
Few saw it coming.
Even fewer had any idea that a Nov. 5, 2011, grand jury report that unmasked retired Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky as a serial pedophile would trigger a tidal wave worldwide.
“When the scandal at Penn State broke, it was as though it radically changed what people were willing to talk about,” said Marci Hamilton, a legal scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and CEO of Child USA, a nonprofit think tank working to end child abuse and neglect. “It was the case that opened up a whole, dark universe.”
Hamilton has spent decades studying institutional child sexual abuse. She said the investigation that also prompted authorities to charge three top Penn State administrators with covering up early allegations against Sandusky made it clear officials no longer could be dismissive of such complaints.
Since then, thousands of allegations have surfaced. Some of the most notable involved trusted figures at Ohio State University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California accused of preying on students for years.
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