The judge who freed disgraced former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky last week had had ties to his Second Mile children’s charity, according to multiple sources.
As first reported by Deadspin, Pennsylvania district court Judge Leslie Dutchcot, who presided over Sandusky’s somewhat lenient bail, was also a volunteer for his charity at one point in time.
On November 5, after he had turned himself in to authorities, she ordered accused child rapist Sandusky be freed on $100,000 unsecured bail despite prosecutors requesting $500,000 and a leg monitor. Instead of heeding to their calls for stringency, the judge opted to impose a much lighter total and only enforce its payment if Sandusky failed to show up for a court hearing.
The decision was puzzling, to say the least, given the crimes Sandusky had been accused of committing. Many are now wondering why Dutchcot, no doubt realizing her obvious connection to the alleged perpetrator, wouldn’t recuse herself from the proceedings.
A scandal that already cost former Penn State President Graham Spanier and head football coach Joe Paterno their jobs appears to be spiraling beyond the confines of the school where at least some of the crimes allegedly took place.
The 67-year-old Sandusky has been charged with 21 felony counts for alleged sexual abuse of eight different boys over a 15-year timespan.
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