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Sandusky, 68, is charged with sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period, accusations he has denied. His arrest last fall rocked Penn State and led to the firing of football coach Joe Paterno for not taking stronger action against Sandusky after allegations emerged a decade ago. Three of Sandusky’s accusers testified Wednesday, bringing to five the number of them to take the stand. Tom Kline, the lawyer for one of them, told reporters outside the courthouse: “It’s just remarkable how many children one man can shower with.” The 25-year-old man who told jurors about the threat to keep
him away from his biological family when he was younger said he believed Sandusky’s wife was inside the home, on a different floor, at the time. A foster child placed with another family, he occasionally stayed in the Sanduskys’ basement in State College in the late 1990s. Speaking in a calm but sometimes hesitant voice, he said Sandusky later apologized for the threat: “He told me he didn’t mean it and that he loved me.” The man, identified in court papers as Victim 10, said Sandusky also assaulted him on other occasions in 1998 and 1999, including once at a pool and another time in the basement. He said he was about 11 at the time. An expressionless Sandusky sat mostly still at the defense table during his testimony, occasionally turning his head to look the accuser in the eye.
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The accuser is one of two who came forward after Sandusky was initially charged in November with assaulting eight boys. Sandusky’s attorneys have suggested his accusers have financial reasons for coming forward. Under cross-examination, the man testified that he was the roommate of another Sandusky accuser at a camp sponsored by Sandusky’s charity, The Second Mile. He also acknowledged spending nearly two years in prison for a robbery and involvement with drugs and alcohol but said he is doing better now. “I’m married. I’m expecting” a child, he said. Another boy, dubbed Victim 8, has never been located, and his identity is a mystery to prosecutors, but jurors heard about his alleged sexual abuse by Sandusky anyway. Judge John Cleland ruled that
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a co-worker of Penn State janitor Jim Calhoun could testify about what Calhoun told him in November 2000. Calhoun is now suffering from dementia. The co-worker, Ron “Buck” Petrosky, said that when he encountered Calhoun in a football team locker room, the janitor told him he had seen Sandusky — he didn’t realize it was a famous coach — making a boy perform oral sex on him. Also Wednesday, another man, identified as Victim 5, said he met Sandusky at Second Mile Camp in 1999 and began attending Penn State games with Sandusky and others. In 2001, he said, Sandusky asked him to work out at a gym on campus and then groped him in the showers. Afterward, the 23-year-old man said, Sandusky drove him home and made “no eye con-
tact” with him. They had no contact since. Another witness, identified as Victim 7, said he was 10 when he met Sandusky through the charity in 1995. He said Sandusky showered with him repeatedly and embraced him during sleepovers. The man recalled attending Penn State football games with Sandusky’s family and receiving free tickets from Sandusky as recently as 2009. “I was kind of ashamed about it. I didn’t want anybody to know,” he said. “Probably most importantly, I didn’t want my parents to keep me from going to games. I didn’t want them to sort of freak out.” He said he told his parents of the abuse only last year, after being approached by police, and that many of the details have only come to him in the past year
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or so. He likened blocking out the negative memories to “putting stuff in the attic.” During cross-examination, defense attorney Joseph Amendola noted the man’s testimony was more detailed than what he told a grand jury last year. The witness replied that he had started going to counseling. “Talking about different events and through talking about things in my past, different things have triggered different memories,” he said. Jurors also heard excerpts from a television interview Sandusky did on NBC’s “Rock Center” soon after his arrest in November. In the interview with Bob Costas, Sandusky said he’s not a pedophile but shouldn’t have showered with boys. The judge said the prosecution’s case should wrap up by the end of the day on Friday. Geisinger. A Geisinger spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon that Rubino was listed in critical condition, Cooney was listed in serious condition and Tomascik was in fair condition. A firefighter was in the rear seat of the Lincoln while other firefighters used the jaws-of-life to remove the car’s front door before Tomascik could be freed. West Linden Street has been closed since October 2010 while Layton Construction, a Utahbased construction company, is finishing a $53 million expansion project that will create a new 30,000-square-foot emergency room and a Heart and Vascular Institute Tower. Layton Construction is the general contractor for the project. Jim McGuire, spokesman for Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, said the crash Wednesday morning did not affect the scheduled opening of the new ER set for July 19. McGuire said hospital operations were not affected by the accident. Police remained on scene for most of the day before the Lincoln was towed from the scene. It remained unknown if Tomascik will face any charges.
She struck a passing vehicle, operated by Mary Burns of Kingston, at the intersection before jumping a curb and striking the outside wall of the emergency room under construction before colliding with a concrete-delivery truck in front of the ambulance entrance. Police said the Lincoln struck Joseph Rubino, of West Pittston, and Thomas Cooney, of Dallas, while they were standing next to the truck. Rubino, an employee of Panzitta Enterprises, and Cooney, an employee of Coon Industries in Pittston, were immediately transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township. City firefighters worked for nearly 20 minutes to extricate Tomascik from her vehicle, which stopped after it jumped a high curb. She appeared unconscious when she was removed wearing a neck brace. She was placed on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance before being transported to the trauma unit at Geisinger Wyoming Valley. Fire Chief Jay Delaney said that because of the extent of their injuries, the three people were Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196. transported to the trauma unit at
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U.S. flags adorn the graves of veterans at the Hollenback Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. Today is Flag Day.
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Walsh said. “It must be displayed unashamedly. The flag is the symbol of this blessed nation and its great past, present and future.” Walsh said complacency and indifference are two reasons for the decline in public shows of patriotism. He said some people said they can’t afford to buy a
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the experience Cheshinski brought to the department. “The city is at a great loss,” said District Judge Donald Whittaker. “The years of experience and background that Jimmy brought to the law enforcement community of this town is irreplaceable.” “He served the city for many years,” Nanticoke Mayor Joseph Dougherty said. “He served it with honor and with integrity. He was an asset to the community and
flag. Walsh did a survey on Memorial Day – riding up and down streets to see how many flags were out. He said the results were dismal. He said Leighton wrote a letter to the editor about patriotism, but Walsh said it was “insufficient.” Leighton, who has a flag pole in his front yard, thanked Walsh for his military service, but took exception to his comments. “I have always encouraged resi-
he’ll continue to be an asset to the community because of the policies he put in place as police chief.” After the memorial service, an convoy of police cruisers escorted the chief past the city municipal building where fire trucks stood with raised ladders draping American flags, and past his home in the Hanover section of Nanticoke. Cheshinski is survived by his wife, Mary; sons, Kyle and Ryan; daughter Kelly Felici and her husband, Pete; granddaughters Lexy and Brooke, and several aunts and cousins.
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her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue. “This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients,” said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study’s authors. She and colleagues published
dents to fly the flag with the honor and respect that it deserves, not just on holidays, but year round,” Leighton said. “More residents and Americans in general should display the American flag, but the city of Wilkes-Barre under my leadership has certainly made every effort to encourage them to do so.” Leighton said the public works department maintains the Wilkes-Barre cemetery and the graves of veterans from all American wars, which includes plac-
ing flags on the markers. He said the city lines the Market Street Bridge with American flags, and flags also are displayed on city buildings. The mayor said the city organizes and hosts the region’s largest Fourth of July celebration, participates in homecomings for veterans, VA hospital events, and numerous parades that salute active duty, retired, and fallen soldiers. Haggerty declined comment.
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Officers enter the Earl W. Lohman Funeral Home on Wednesday.
the results of their work online today in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government. The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing “acute pressures” on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.
Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000. Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients. Patients with the girl’s condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.
about the fire. According to the criminal complaint: Gashi told police he left a Wilkes-Barre tavern with a man he knows only as Matt at about 2 a.m. Saturday. They were driving around looking for places to plunder when they came across the Little League field on Wyoming Street. Gashi said he used bolt cutters to cut gate locks and climbed into the concession stand through a window that was forced open. Police said in the criminal complaint that Gashi admitted to helping Matt steal a food fryer, money, electronic scoreboard controls, public address system, food, candy and beverages. Gashi said they were inside the building removing items until daylight. He admitted to pouring gasoline on a wicker basket and igniting the blaze to cover up the burglary, the criminal complaint says. Police said they recovered food and the public address system from a house in Scranton and are attempting to learn who “Matt” is. A preliminary hearing is scheduled on June 19 before District Judge Diana Malast.
Correctional Facility for lack of $100,000 bail. Fox and Gulitus, whose wife, Richette Gulitus, is the league’s president, said it is too early to say if the building can be repaired or if it needs to be razed. There is heavy fire damage to its roof and pressroom and extensive water damage to the concession stand below. Gulitus said four large refrigerators and freezers may have to be thrown out, as well as $10,000 worth of baseballs, softballs, bats and helmets that were all charred. Fox said the concession stand is their main source of income, earning $600 to $1,000 when games are played. “Do you know what we have to deposit in the bank? Thirty dollars we made from last night’s games,” Gulitus said. “You can figure out our losses.” Gulitus said they were cleaning up the concession stand on Sunday when a cellphone was found hanging from a plastic jug near a garage door. When no volunteer claimed ownership, the phone was given to police officer Brian Baranski. Police traced the cellphone to a woman and then to Gashi, who Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff was questioned on Tuesday writer, may be reached at 829-7196.
Luzerne borough to seek bids for trash collection contract By STEVE FONDO For The Times Leader
LUZERNE – Council voted unanimously on Wednesday night to seek bids for the borough’s garbage collection contract. The current three-year refuse collection contract with United Waste Disposal is set to expire in October of this year. Council also voted to adopt a resolution to participate in the newly formed West Side Council of Governments with Coun-
cilman Tony Perzia as borough representative. The COG is a cooperative organization of local municipal governments that can enhance grant funding and group purchasing. In other business, council announced a neighborhood Crime Watch meeting will be held the week of July 23 at a time and place to be determined to discuss participation in the popular crime prevention program.
Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch head Charlotte Raup is scheduled to address the group at that July meeting. Interested residents are asked to contact the borough for further details. Council also announced a family Fun Day at the Charles Street Park on June 23 at 1 p.m. The event will feature refreshments, prizes, games as well as free digital fingerprinting for all Luzerne children.