Sandusky Victim No. 1 to reveal his identity in new book
| New York
A key witness in the child sex abuse trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, known in court papers as Victim No. 1, has a book deal and will soon reveal his identity, a publisher announced Thursday.
The case rocked one of the country's most storied college sports programs and led to Sandusky's conviction in June on 45 counts of child sexual abuse of several victims. Sandusky is scheduled to be sentenced next month and is likely to receive a sentence that will keep him in prison for life.
Ballantine Bantam Dell said "Silent No More: Victim No. 1's Fight for Justice Against Jerry Sandusky," will come out Oct. 23.
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The memoir will be co-written by the victim's mother and psychologist and "will share how he survived years of shame and secrecy, harassment and accusation, before reporting Sandusky's actions to the authorities, and will offer a hopeful and inspiring message for victims of abuse," Ballantine said.
Now 18, Victim 1 will reveal his identity on the day of the book's release in an interview with ABC.
Financial terms of the book deal were not disclosed.
Victim 1 first alerted authorities in 2008 and helped launch the investigation leading to Sandusky's conviction.
Victim 1 testified for the prosecution that Sandusky approached him through a summer camp for youth sponsored by a charity for at-risk youth that the former coach had founded.
Sandusky allegedly fondled Victim 1 and performed oral sex on him multiple times. Prosecutors said some of the assaults took place on the Penn State campus.
After Victim 1 began trying to avoid Sandusky, he asked his mother about websites for child molesters, "to see if Jerry was on there," he testified.
His mother set up a meeting with school guidance counselors, a process that led to the opening of a police investigation and produced criminal charges against Sandusky in November.
Messages left Thursday seeking comment from Victim 1's civil lawyers, Slade McLaughlin and Michael Boni, were not immediately returned.
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Associated Press Writer Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
