Longtime Penn State assistant football coach Dick Anderson was the first witness called to testify for Jerry Sandusky's defense after the prosecution rested Monday.
Anderson acted as a character witness for Sandusky, saying he was a longtime friend of Sandusky. He told jurors that prior to the charges last November, Sandusky had a good reputation in the community.
"He had a wonderful reputation in the community. He was well thought of in every regard," testified Anderson.
He was also used by defense attorneys to testify about the amount of time Penn State coaches put into the job. He said there were often 16 to 18 hour days put in by himself and other coaches including Jerry Sandusky when Sandusky was still a coach. It appears to be an attempt by the defense to show that Sandusky didn't have the extensive time to spend with alleged victims. They testified about long periods of time spent with Sandusky.
Anderson testified that there were times that he and other coaches were in a shower with Sandusky and one of The Second Mile kids at the Penn State locker facility. He said he never witnessed anything inappropriate.
On cross-examination, the prosecution asked Anderson if it was strange for a grown man to shower with a boy, and he answered "no". He said "I shower with boys all the time." But, he went on to say that is at the YMCA when he and other grown men are in the shower at the same time as kids. But, prosecutors pressed him to say that he never brought those boys to the shower, they just happened to be there.
Anderson also testified that he didn't think it was wrong for Sandusky to stay in the same hotel room as some of The Second Mile boys. Anderson said he would do the same if the occasion arose that he had to do so.
Prosecutors did ask Anderson during cross-examination if Jerry was someone who should know right from wrong and Anderson said he was. The prosecution also asked Anderson if Sandusky was told not to do something by police that he should understand that he had to stop that behavior. Deputy Attorney General Joe McGettigan was alluding to a former Penn State police officer who testified last week that he told Jerry Sandusky not to shower with anymore boys back in 1998.