Reported to now be a 29 year old man, one John Doe has filed a new lawsuit against former Coach Sandusky. Less than 2 weeks from his trial, the statute of limitations has long passed on this man’s case, leaving some wondering why he stayed silent for so long. Technically, this phenomenon has been explained on various media features, but it never hurts to explain it again.

This particular victim claims to have been molested by Sandusky over 100 times when he was a teenager, and his family claims that their entire family was torn apart by it. Obviously, there is no physical evidence, but none of this is particularly surprising considering everything that has come to light.

Starting in the early 90’s, this man alleges that Sandusky sexually abused him, and because of that, he is filing a lawsuit against Sandusky, Penn State, and the Second Mile for going so far as to cover the problem up. Realistically, it was only a matter of time before a lawsuit like this would emerge.

The Phenomenon Behind the Silence

This particular victim stayed silent for quite a few years allegedly, and we cannot really blame him as much as we would blame other authorities and disgraced coaches and Penn State staff. Yes, he could have prevented multiple victimizations had he come forward, but he has been alleged to be a victim himself.

It has been studied and shown that many victims feel that it is their fault. These survivors feel that they somehow contributed to the problem, feeling a growing sense of shame and remorse, even though they obviously didn’t do anything wrong. Especially with children so young, in this case starting when he was 10, many victims can be easily intimidated with some perpetrators even threatening their families’ safety if they come forward.

In this case, Sandusky was one perpetrator who allegedly threatened the victim’s family. With his position in the community and his position of power, it would be perfectly plausible to a child that this could happen. Obviously, adults thought to protect him or fear the backlash, and with all of the protests, sometimes even leading to threats against those who did come forward, he had valid reason to be afraid. Even though he couldn’t have known how bad the response would be from the community, he feared this older man who was at the time a lot bigger than him.

The victim claims that he was showered with gifts and trips, which only added to his feelings of guilt. After all, this person was treating him well, how could he betray him and report the abuse?

This case may or may not be valid. Many experts in the field of sexual abuse would investigate any allegations closely. There are plenty of people who would come forward in order to get money or attention. Parents have been known to sacrifice their children for just this purpose.

Psychologists will most likely evaluate Sandusky’s “type” before supporting or denying this man’s or any other victim’s allegations. That is actually one of the easiest ways to weed out the fakes. Even perpetrators with hundreds of victims tend to follow a pattern, choosing victims in the same basic age group, with the same hair color, same eye color, or other similar physical characteristics.