STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno says he “didn’t know which way to go” after an assistant coach came to him in 2002 saying he had seen retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing a boy.

In his first public comments since being fired two months ago, Paterno told The Washington Post that assistant Mike McQueary “didn’t want to get specific” about details in his 2002 allegation involving Sandusky, who he claimed was showering with a boy in the Penn State football facility.

The Post reported Saturday that Paterno was hesitant to make follow-up calls because he didn’t want to be seen as trying to exert influence for or against Sandusky.

“I didn’t know which way to go. … And rather than get in there and make a mistake,” he told the Post before trailing off.

A day after he heard McQueary’s allegation, Paterno reported it to his superiors. Before McQueary visited him, Paterno said, he had “no inkling” Sandusky might be a child molester.

Sandusky was criminally charged on Nov. 5 and faces dozens of counts. Paterno was ousted four days later after 46 years as head coach.

Paterno is fighting lung cancer diagnosed after his dismissal. He was re-admitted to the hospital Friday for observation for what his family called a minor complication from treatments. He has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. His condition improved Saturday.

Paterno said he was initially reluctant to speak because “I wanted everybody to settle down,” but the Post reported he was so eager to defend his record that he insisted on continuing the interview from his bedside Friday morning.

 

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