Key dates in Sandusky sex abuse case

1969 - Jerry Sandusky starts his coaching career at Penn State University as a defensive line coach.

1977 - Jerry Sandusky founds The Second Mile. It begins as a group foster home dedicated to helping troubled boys and grows into a charity dedicated to helping children with absent or dysfunctional families.

January 1983 - Associated Press voters select Penn State as college football's national champion for the 1982 season.

January 1987 - Associated Press voters select Penn State as college football's national champion for the 1986 season.

1994 - Boy known as Victim 7 in the report allegedly meets Sandusky through The Second Mile program at about the age of 10.

1994-95 - Boy known as Victim 6 allegedly meets Sandusky at a Second Mile picnic at Spring Creek Park when he is 7 or 8 years old.

1995-96 - Boy known as Victim 5 allegedly meets Sandusky through The Second Mile when he is 7 or 8, in second or third grade.

1996-97 - Boy known as Victim 4, at the age of 12 or 13, allegedly meets Sandusky while he is in his second year participating in The Second Mile program.

1996-98 - Victim 5 is allegedly taken to the locker room and shower at Penn State by Sandusky when he is 8 to 10 years old.

Jan. 1, 1998 - Victim 4 is listed, along with Sandusky's wife, as a member of Sandusky's family party for the 1998 Outback Bowl.

1998 - Victim 6 is allegedly taken into the locker rooms and showers when he is 11 years old. When Victim 6 is dropped off at home, his hair is wet, allegedly from showering with Sandusky. His mother reports the incident to the university police, who investigate.

Detective Ronald Schreffler testifies that he and State College Police Department Detective Ralph Ralston, with the consent of the mother of Victim 6, eavesdrop on two conversations the mother of Victim 6 has with Sandusky. Sandusky says he has showered with other boys and Victim 6's mother tries to make Sandusky promise never to shower with a boy again but he will not. At the end of the second conversation, after Sandusky is told he cannot see Victim 6 anymore, Schreffler testifies Sandusky says, "I understand. I was wrong. I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won't get it from you. I wish I were dead."

Jerry Lauro, an investigator with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, testifies he and Schreffler interviewed Sandusky, and that Sandusky admits showering naked with Victim 6, admits to hugging Victim 6 while in the shower and admits that it was wrong.

The case is closed after then-Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar decides there will be no criminal charge.

June 1999 - Sandusky retires from Penn State but still holds emeritus status.

Dec. 28, 1999 - Victim 4 is listed, along with Sandusky's wife, as a member of Sandusky's family party for the 1999 Alamo Bowl.

Summer 2000 - Boy known as Victim 3 allegedly meets Sandusky through The Second Mile when he is between seventh and eighth grade.

Fall 2000 - A janitor named James Calhoun allegedly observes Sandusky in the showers of the Lasch Football Building with a young boy, known as Victim 8, pinned up against the wall, performing oral sex on the boy. He tells other janitorial staff immediately. Fellow Office of Physical Plant employee Ronald Petrosky cleans the showers at Lasch and allegedly sees Sandusky and the boy, who he describes as being between the ages of 11 and 13.

Calhoun tells other physical plant employees what he saw, including Jay Witherite, his immediate supervisor. Witherite tells him to whom he should report the incident. Calhoun was a temporary employee and never makes a report. Victim 8's identity is unknown.

February 2001: Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant, reports seeing Sandusky rape a boy in the shower of a campus football locker room. The boy, later referred to as Victim 2, has not been identified.

After the incident, McQueary called Paterno and went to his home to explain what he had seen. Paterno later testified he called Athletic Director Tim Curley and met with him the next day. More than a week later, McQueary was called to a meeting with Curley and Schultz and told them his story.

Prosecutors say the incident was not reported to any law enforcement agency. Curley told the grand jury he was informed of "inappropriate conduct" and "horsing around" but not of sexual assault. Curley barred Sandusky from bringing minors onto campus.

(Prosecutors originally said this happened in March, 2002, but later changed the date to February, 2001.)

2005-2006 - Boy known as Victim 1 says that he met Sandusky through The Second Mile at age 11 or 12.

Spring 2007 - During the 2007 track season, Sandusky allegedly begins spending time with Victim 1 weekly, having him stay overnight at his residence in College Township, Pa.

Spring 2008 - Termination of contact with Victim 1 occurs when he is a freshman in a Clinton County high school. After the boy's mother calls the school to report sexual assault, Sandusky is barred from the school district attended by Victim 1 from that day forward and the matter is reported to authorities as mandated by law.

Early 2009 - An investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general begins when a Clinton County, Pa., teen boy tells authorities that Sandusky has inappropriately touched him several times over a four-year period.

September 2010 - Sandusky retires from day-to-day involvement with The Second Mile, saying he wants to spend more time with family and handle personal matters.

Nov. 5, 2011 - Sandusky is arrested and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts.

Nov. 7, 2011 - Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly says Paterno is not a target of the investigation into how the school handled the accusations. But she refuses to say the same for university President Graham Spanier. Curley and Schultz, who step down from their positions, surrender on charges that they failed to alert police to complaints against Sandusky.

Schultz and Curley have testified to the grand jury that McQueary never gave them graphic details or told them how serious his allegations were about Sandusky and the boy known as Victim 2.

Nov. 8, 2011 - Possible ninth victim of Sandusky contacts state police as calls for ouster of Paterno and Spanier grow in state and beyond. Penn State abruptly cancels Paterno's regular weekly press conference.

Nov. 9, 2011 - Paterno and Spanier, one of the nation's longest-serving college presidents, are ousted, effective immediately. Earlier in the day, Paterno announced he'd retire at the end of the season. School provost and executive vice president Rodney Erickson is appointed to replace Spanier. Irate students take to the streets.

Nov. 11, 2011 - McQueary placed on administrative leave.

Nov. 14, 2011 - Big Ten Conference announces it will take Paterno's name off championship trophy. Second Mile President Jack Raykovitz resigns from the youth charity.

Nov. 15, 2011 - Sandusky tells NBC's "Rock Center" that he is not a pedophile but realizes that, in retrospect, he should not have showered with boys. He pauses and then rambles when Bob Costas asks whether he is sexually attracted to children.

Nov. 18, 2011 - Son Scott Paterno says in a statement to The Associated Press that Paterno is undergoing treatment for a form of lung cancer.

Nov. 30, 2011 - A lawsuit alleges Sandusky sexually abused a boy more than 100 times after meeting him through The Second Mile.

Dec. 3, 2011 - The New York Times reports that Sandusky told the newspaper that Paterno never spoke with him about any suspected misconduct with minors.

Dec. 7, 2011 - Sandusky is arrested on new sex abuse charges brought by two new accusers, including one who says the abuse took place in the Sandusky home while Sandusky's wife may have been home. Sandusky, facing 52 charges based on allegations involving 10 accusers, spends the night in jail.

Dec. 8, 2011 - Sandusky's wife, Dottie, posts his bail. She issues statement proclaiming her husband's innocence and claims the accusers are making up their stories. Sandusky is ordered to undergo electronic monitoring.

Dec. 13, 2011 - Sandusky waives a preliminary hearing where he could have faced his accusers, moving a step closer to trial.

Dec. 16, 2011 - McQueary testifies during a preliminary hearing for Curley and Schultz and says he believes he saw Sandusky molesting a boy but stops short of saying he was sure Sandusky raped the child. A judge rules there is enough evidence against the men to send the cases to trial. Their lawyers say their clients are innocent and will be acquitted.

Jan. 6, 2012 - New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien agrees to become new Penn State football coach.

Jan. 13, 2012 - Erickson holds the last of three meetings in as many days with alumni as he tries to calm anger about how the university has dealt with the scandal. A crowd in New York issues sustained applause for one woman who asks, "How do you explain the lack of due process for Joe Paterno?"

Jan. 14, 2012 - Paterno tells The Washington Post in his first interview since his ouster that he's "shocked and saddened" by the scandal and "didn't know which way to go" after McQueary went to him in 2002. Paterno says McQueary "didn't want to get specific" about details and Paterno says he was hesitant to make follow-up calls because he didn't want to be seen as trying to exert influence either for or against Sandusky.

Jan. 19, 2012 - Penn State trustees try to counter the alumni uproar in interviews, tell AP they decided to oust Paterno in part because he didn't do more to alert authorities in 2002. Trustees also say Paterno made statements after the scandal broke that they felt challenged trustees' authority.

Jan. 21, 2012 - Paterno's doctors his condition is "serious" after he experienced complications from lung cancer in recent days.

Jan. 22, 2012 - Joe Paterno dies at age 85.

February 13, 2012 - Judge in Sandusky case rules he has permission to visit with most of his grandchildren and that he can have a jury composed of residents of the State College area.

May 8, 2012 - Pennsylvania prosecutors change date of alleged locker-room shower assault of a boy by Jerry Sandusky to around February 9, 2011. Previously filed documents, including a grand jury report issued before Sandusky's arrest in November, dated it March 1, 2002.

June 4, 2012 - Action News learns that Sandusky received a target letter, informing him he is under federal investigation. That investigation stems from the alleged assault of "Victim 4." That boy, investigators said, was assaulted at two bowl games out-of-state.

June 5 - 6, 2012 - Jury selection in Sandusky's state trial.

June 11, 2012 - Opening statements in Sandusky sex abuse trial.

June 22, 2012 - Jerry Sandusky convicted on 45 of 48 counts in his child sex abuse case.

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