Jerry Sandusky was arrested by state police and agents of the Attorney General's Office at his home, Dec. 7, 2011. (CBS)
Bellefonte, PA (written by Kevin Johnson/USA Today) -- The first alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky could confront the former Penn State University assistant football coach as early as Monday, following opening statements in the trial of the 68-year-old man accused of sexually abusing 10 boys during a period of 15 years.
The trial opens here, seven months after Sandusky's arrest, following the fast-paced selection of seven women and five men to serve on a jury whose members have strong ties to Penn State.
Sandusky, a revered former coach who helped bring two national championships to Penn State, is alleged to have selected many of the accusers while they participated in a charity program - The Second Mile - the coach founded for at-risk children.
The coach has acknowledged showering with children after physical workouts, but has denied any abusive behavior.
Sandusky's arrest last November triggered a dizzying series of events at a school, including the ouster of university president Graham Spanier and college football legend Joe Paterno.
Long the face of Penn State, Paterno died in January shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Neither Paterno nor Spanier was charged, but former athletic director Tim Curley, on leave from that job, and retired senior vice president Gary Schultz were charged with lying to a Pennsylvania grand jury about what they were told about a 2001 incident in the Penn State locker-room showers involving Sandusky and a boy believed to be about 11 years old.
Michael McQueary, a former football assistant, has said that he told Curley and Schultz that he witnessed Sandusky engaged in sexual conduct with the boy, who has not been identified by authorities. McQueary first told Paterno, who alerted Curley and Schultz. But the administrators told the grand jury that McQueary's account did not include a description of sexual activity. They deny any wrongdoing; a trial date has yet to be set in that case.
As many as eight of Sandusky's alleged victims are expected to testify during Sandusky's trial that is expected to take three weeks.
Penn State trial: Key players
As Jerry Sandusky goes on trial for charges of sexually abusing 10 alleged victims, the number of key players in the Penn State scandal grows. Here's a breakdown:
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Jerry Sandusky
Role: Former Penn State assistant football coach and founder of The Second Mile charity for children, accused of molesting boys over a 15-year period.
Background: Arrested in November after a long investigation by a statewide grand jury. He had been a very successful defensive coach for the Nittany Lions for 30 years, and prosecutors say he used his fame in the community to attract victims.
Charges: Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault of a young child, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children.
By Nabil K. Mark, AP
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Dottie Sandusky
Role: Married to Jerry Sandusky.
Background: Dottie Sandusky has stood by her husband, posting his bail, accompanying him to court proceedings and issuing a statement in December that proclaimed his innocence and said accusers were making up stories. She is not charged.
By Nabil K. Mark, AP
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Tim Curley
Role: Penn State athletic director, on leave while he fights criminal charges for actions related to the Sandusky scandal.
Background: Curley fielded a complaint about Sandusky in a team shower with a boy in early 2001, and told a grand jury he instructed Sandusky not to be inside Penn State athletic facilities with any young people.
Charges: Failure to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury for lying to the grand jury. He's not on trial with Sandusky, denies the allegations and is seeking to have the charges dismissed.
By Matt Rourke, AP
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Gary Schultz
Role: Penn State vice president for business and finance, now retired.
Background: Schultz told the grand jury that head coach Joe Paterno and assistant Mike McQueary reported the 2001 shower incident "in a very general way" but did not provide details.
Charges: Failure to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury for lying to the grand jury. He's not on trial with Sandusky, denies the allegations and is seeking to have the charges dismissed.
By Jason Plotkin, AP
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Mike McQueary
Role: Assistant Penn State football coach. Was a graduate assistant in 2001, when he says he witnessed Jerry Sandusky and a boy naked together in a team shower. McQueary took his complaint to Paterno, who alerted university administrators.
Background: McQueary testified at a court hearing in December that he "believed Jerry was sexually molesting" the boy and "having some type of intercourse with him."
By Gene J. Puskar, AP
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Joe Amendola
Role: Defense attorney for Jerry Sandusky.
Background: Amendola has been second-guessed for allowing Sandusky to go on network television and speak at length with a reporter for The New York Times after his arrest. Has won several legal battles for Sandusky, including getting him released on bail and fighting the prosecution's effort to have the case heard by a jury from outside the State College area. His office is in State College.
By Gene J. Puskar, AP
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Karl Rominger
Role: Another defense attorney for Jerry Sandusky.
Background: Rominger suggested in media interviews that Sandusky might have been teaching "basic hygiene skills" to some of the youths, such as how to put soap on their bodies. His office is in Carlisle.
By Nabil K. Mark, AP
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Joseph McGettigan III
Role: Lead prosecutor.
Background: McGettigan, currently senior deputy attorney general, is a veteran prosecutor with stints in the Philadelphia and Delaware County district attorneys' offices and the U.S. attorney's office. McGettigan prosecuted John du Pont, the chemical fortune heir who killed an Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler at his palatial estate in 1996. He's known as an aggressive, feisty lawyer.
By Nabil K. Mark, AP
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John Cleland
Role: Judge presiding over Sandusky's trial.
Background: Cleland is a semi-retired senior judge from McKean County in western Pennsylvania. Known as courteous and fair-minded, Cleland previously chaired a state panel that investigated a nationally reported scandal in Luzerne County involving the trading of juvenile-detention suspects for cash.
By Gene J. Puskar, AP
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Joe and Sue Paterno
Joe Paterno: The longtime football coach was told by McQueary in 2001 that he saw Sandusky and Victim No. 2 in a shower on the Penn State campus and, in turn, told Curley and Schultz.
Background: The head coach at Penn State from 1966 through 2011, and major college football's winningest, he offered to resign at the end of the 2011 season amid the uproar after Sandusky's arrest Nov. 6. The Penn State Board of Trustees, however, ousted him for what was called his "failure of leadership" surrounding allegations about Sandusky. He died of lung cancer Jan. 22.
Sue Paterno: Raised five children with Paterno and passionately defended her husband during the scandal and after he died. It's unclear whether she might testify.
By Joe Hermitt, The Patriot-News via AP
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Graham Spanier
Role: Penn State University president for more than 15 years. Spanier's presidency ended four days after Sandusky was charged with dozens of sexual assault counts.
Background: Eight of 10 boys Sandusky is accused of abusing were attacked on campus, prosecutors allege. Spanier claims that he offered to resign on Nov. 9 and trustees accepted that offer. Previous reports have said that he was fired or resigned under pressure.
By Gene J. Puskar, AP
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Tom Corbett
Role: Now the governor of Pennsylvania, he was attorney general when the investigation into Sandusky was launched by state prosecutors.
Background: Corbett is an ex-officio member of the Penn State Board of Trustees, although he did not actively participate until after Sandusky was charged in December.
By Matt Rourke, AP
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Linda Kelly
Role: Pennsylvania attorney general, whose office is prosecuting Sandusky.
Background: A career prosecutor in the Pittsburgh area, Kelly inherited the Sandusky probe from Corbett when she was confirmed as his temporary successor as attorney general. She leaves office in January.
By Daniel Shanken, AP
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Frank Noonan
Role: Pennsylvania State Police commissioner.
Background: Noonan garnered national attention two days after Sandusky's arrest when he criticized Paterno, a Penn State and sports icon, for failing his "moral responsibility" to do more when McQueary told him of the 2001 shower incident.
By Christine Baker, AP
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Jack Raykovitz
Role: Former CEO of The Second Mile, the charity Jerry Sandusky founded.
Background: Raykovitz led the charity for almost 30 years and was a longtime friend of Sandusky's. Raykovitz testified before the grand jury that recommended indicting Sandusky on child abuse charges. He resigned from The Second Mile soon after the scandal broke, and board members later complained that Raykovitz hadn't told them enough about earlier allegations against Sandusky.
Centre Daily Times via AP
Associated Press
Emily Brown, USA TODAY