Jerry Sandusky Threatened Alleged Victim and His Family, Civil Lawsuit Claims

The first of what is expected to be many civil lawsuits was filed against Jerry Sandusky, with the alleged victim claiming that Sandusky threatened him and his family to keep secret the abuse that took place in the early 1990s.

Referred to in the lawsuit only as John Doe A, the alleged victim met Sandusky in 1992 at the age of 10 years old. Sandusky "recruited, groomed and coerced" the plaintiff, "showering him with gifts, travel and privileges," according to the suit, which claims abuse took place on multiple occasions and in multiple places. One of those places was the coach's locker room at Penn State, and another was in Sandusky's home.

"Sandusky threatened Plaintiff and threatened to harm Plaintiff's family if Plaintiff told anyone about the abuse," the suit says. "This threat operated to silence Plaintiff and caused him to not be able to take any action until recently."

The lawsuit says that the plaintiff did not know other young boys were harmed by Sandusky, but the recent grand jury report revealed that information to him and caused him to go forward with a case against Sandusky.

The suit was filed by Jeff Anderson and Associates, which states on its website that it "pioneered the use of civil litigation to seek justice for survivors of childhood sex abuse and is recognized as the nation's premier law firm to represent victims of clergy sex abuse."

The firm also has a page dedicated specifically to potential victims of Sandusky on its website.