Jerry Sandusky's Wife Faces More Time in Court
Jerry Sandusky's loyal wife, Dottie, visited him in jail on Saturday.
June 25, 2012— -- Dottie Sandusky stood by her man until he was taken away in handcuffs, but her time in a courtroom may not have come to an end with the guilty verdict.
Dottie Sandusky, 69, who has known and loved Jerry Sandusky for 50 years, visited him in jail Saturday the day after his conviction for sex abuse of 10 boys.
Dottie Sandusky's loyalty to a man others are describing as a monster has been a watercooler conversation.
Psychologists say that her willingness to stand by her man is not unusual. It's a coping mechanism.
"I certainly think she knew that there are a lot of things going on, but she just didn't want to face them," says Dr. Jeff Gardere, a psychologist who practices in Manhattan. He suggests Dottie Sandusky was in denial to shield herself.
"This is not unusual at all. Many people use denial as a self defense mechanism because they can't bring themselves to face the fact that the person that they love may also be a monster, and in this case, was in fact a monster," he says.
Mrs. Sandusky was her husband's strongest witness, winking at him affectionately as she took the stand. She denied testimony by the victims that she never went to the basement where they said many of the sexual assaults occurred, saying she routinely went down there to get food out of her freezer.
She also denied testimony from one victim who said he shouted for help from the basement as he was being assaulted. She said any shouts in the basement would be heard upstairs and that her hearing was very good.
While saying that most of the men accusing her husband had been nice boys, she singled out a couple for their behavior, describing one as "conniving."
But Dottie Sandusky's face a new challenge in the days before the verdict when the defense learned that Sandusky's adopted son Matt had stepped forward and said he was willing to testify he was abused as well. Matt had been supporting his father before that admission.
"Now she has to look at herself everyday in the mirror and admit that her own son, her own adopted son was being victimized right under her nose and she did nothing about it," Gardere says.
While the verdicts are in, and even though the defense has suggested it might appeal, Dottie Sandusky may find herself in another courtroom -- a civil court.
"I think criminally she's probably in the clear. Civilly, people are going to be suing Jerry Sandusky," says ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams.
The burden of proof in a civil case is generally considered less than a criminal case. With 45 guilty counts, victims have a lot of proof on their side. "I expect that family will walk away with almost no money after all of this is said and done," Abrams told ABC's "World News."
And it's not just Dottie Sandusky that will be sued. Penn State University is well aware that it will be targeted by victims. The university hoped to preempt some of the legal action by reaching out to victims. In a statement after Friday night's verdict, the university said it "wants to provide a forum where the university can privately, expeditiously and fairly address the victims' concerns and compensate them for claims relating to the university."
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