Jerry Sandusky's Wife Cannot Use Denial as an Excuse
Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky has been accused so many times of abusing children at this point that it's hard to deny he looks guilty. In this country, we have the "innocent until proven guilty" rule and it's in place for a reason. Still, if it looks like a dog and it barks like a dog, then chances are, it's a dog. But not if you ask Dorothy Sandusky.
Dottie Sandusky, the wife of disgraced coach Jerry, is denying all of the accusations made against her and her husband, including claims from the newest accusers that they were abused in his home and screamed for help knowing his wife was upstairs and she never came down to help him.
Now she is calling them all liars. In a statement to CNN, Dottie Sandusky said:
No child who ever visited our home was ever forced to stay in our basement and fed there. We would never do anything to hurt them. We don't know why these young men have made these false accusations, but we want everyone to know they are untrue.
Her husband faces more than 50 charges surrounding a child sex abuse scandal that allegedly spanned more than 15 years, and whether she believes them or not, most of the public does believe them. Would so many people really lie about this? What could possibly be the motive?
What Dottie Sandusky is doing is wrong. She is accusing these young people (and some of Sandusky's colleagues) of being liars. The fact is, many victims of sexual abuse and rape don't come forward precisely for these reasons.
If she feels the need to stand by her man, who could blame her? If she came forward and said he did those things, then she would look just as guilty standing by him all those years. If she knew and did nothing, then she is just as sick. The fact is, the human capacity to deny even the obvious things standing right in front of our faces is really quite astounding.
Personally, I have seen people deny that their marriages are bad (even when it's obvious), deny that they are overweight (even when the scale says otherwise), and generally say things aren't true when the reality is staring them right in the face. This is so much bigger, so much more incomprehensible than those things that it's easy to see how a person could force themselves not to see the truth. The truth is simply impossible to fathom.
Still, I shed no tears for Dottie Sandusky and neither should anyone else. Denial may be human, but it's weak and something that only weak-willed people use as a crutch. She is just as guilty as her husband if she is hiding what she knows to be true and only marginally less so if she is simply in denial.
Do you think Dottie Sandusky is lying or just in denial?
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LadyBugMom09
I think she is just in denial. I can see how her acknowledging these things happened under her nose, she probably wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing she was sleeping with...(and having sex with) a man who would do something like that. It's very similar to wives of serial murderers. Until their husband confesses or their hit right in the face with the facts, they can't wrap their brains around it.
rowan66
I don't think she is in denial. I would probably think that if this had been a one time incident. This has been going on for two decades! Probably longer. She new at some point or had suspicions and the fact that a child screamed for help in her basement and she did nothing to help him is disgusting. It is possible that she could not hear this particular child this time, but she knew. He took these kids on trips, they stayed weekends, he was questioned in the 80's for showering with boys and took an "early retirement" from the university. Come on. She is vile and needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Charges? Aiding and abetting, failing to report abuse of a minor. You bet as soon as he is found guilty, many people will be prosecuted. Starting with, the coaches and Dottie Sandusky. Oh yeah, how does she explain her own children filing restraining orders against Jerry, keeping him away from their own children? She cannot be that stupid. She not only did not protect these children, she is violating them all over again by calling them liars. Dottie, shame on you! You are no better than your husband.
Susie19
I think it's both. However, I have no sympathy for a woman who doesn't help children from abuse, especially sexual abuse. There is no way that she couldn't have suspected this was going on in her own home. But she chose not to do anything about it and ignore the signs. This is very dissapointing. An example from my life is when I was growing up, myself and a few other of my younger cousins would stay at my grandparents house while our parents worked and my grandma's adopted son was a child molester who also lived there. I know in my heart that my grandparents knew that this was going in in their home and to their own grandchildren, but they chose not to help or protect us from that monster, and although I love my grandparents, I do still have some hate towards them and I don't think I can forgive them because of this. So, I don't think that Sandusky's wife is completely in any way, she definitely knew this was going on.
Payton Irwin
She has to be in denial. I love my husband, but if multiple boys came forward to say that they had been abused by him, I'd leave until the he was proven completely innocent. Even then, I'm not sure I'd come back. Who would lie about such things, so many years later? Especially young men -- unfortunately in our society, when people are sexually abused, they're often accused of bringing it on themselves or liking it to some degree. Why would a young man lie about being sexually abused, only to be labeled 'gay' by the people that don't believe him?
John Hurd
Very curious how Dottie Sandusky didn't make any public statement for the 10 days or so that this case has been going on. THEN, as soon as someone says she was home and didn't respond to his screams...then Dottie gets active, talking. I'm expecting Dottie to say "Jerry, a predator? No way. He has less interest in sex than any man I know. In fact, he only got worked up with me one time, when I wore a football helmet to bed. For some reason, he found that really stimulating."
Tonya
Edwin Schrodinger
...
There are so many different angles here. Just because someone says they screamed doesn't mean they did. Doesnt mean they didnt. Just because she says she didn't hear him doesnt mean she didn't. Doesn't mean she did either. Ultimately though, I think she knew or at least suspected. If not she would probably be a lot more shocked and want to separate herself from him. Only someone who has had time to become accustomed to such disgusting behavior could stand it.
John Hurd
She's not in denial. She made the decision years ago to "put up" with his pervsion and engage the cushy life. What the hell, she must have thought, those boys have parents. If their folks aren't smart enough to protect them, then this is what they get.
Liz Abeth