Mike McQueary, the Penn State assistant football coach under fire for his reported lack of action in an alleged 2002 rape of a boy by Jerry Sandusky, said in an email to a former classmate that he stopped the assault in an athletic facility shower and discussed it with police.
In the email obtained by The Morning Call, McQueary wrote that he “did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police” following the alleged incident between Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant coach, and a boy. McQueary also wrote that he “is getting hammered for handling this the right way or what I thought at the time was right.”
“I had to make tough impacting quick decisions,” McQueary wrote.
He’s expected to appear tonight on CBS Evening News, according to a tweet from CBS.
McQueary has been criticized widely for not going directly to police to report the abuse. A grand jury report stated a graduate assistant, later identified as McQueary, witnessed the abuse in the shower and left.
McQueary was placed on administrative leave last week after Penn State officials said he had received threats.
According to the grand jury report, the graduate assistant said he saw a boy, whose age he estimated at 10 years old, “being subjected to anal intercourse” by a naked Sandusky in a shower at the Penn State football building in March 2002. The graduate assistant left “immediately,” was “distraught” and called his father, according to the presentment. His father told him to leave the building and come to his home, according to the presentment.
In the email obtained by The Morning Call, dated Nov. 8, McQueary said “I did stop it, not physically, but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room.”
“No one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30-45 seconds,” McQueary wrote. “Trust me.”
Asked about McQueary’s statement in the email that he had discussions with police, Penn State police told The Morning Call they were deferring to the university public relations office, which did not return a call Tuesday afternoon.
In a brief interview with CBS News on Tuesday, McQueary said he could not discuss specifics but described his emotions as “all over the place.”
“Just kind of shaken. Crazy,” McQueary said. “Like a snow globe.”
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