Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was labeled a “likely pedophile” in 1998, when campus police investigated an incident in which he bear hugged a young boy in the showers at the university.

In an exclusive report for Today, NBC News National Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff obtained the police file on the investigation. You can read all three files – the police report itself and assessments from two psychologists: Alycia A. Chambers, the therapist for one of Sandusky’s alleged victims, and  John Seasock, who had worked with the local Centre County Child and Youth Services, a local agency that had licensed Sandusky as a foster parent.

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Chambers issued the warning about Sandusky in a detailed report written after she interviewed the boy who was her client.

“My consultants agree that the incidents meet all of our definitions, based on experience and education, of a likely pedophile’s pattern of building trust and gradual introduction of physical touch, within a context of a ‘loving,’ ‘special’ relationship,” Chambers wrote in her report.

But Seasock, after meeting with the boy for an hour, concluded that no sexual offense had taken place nor was there “grooming” or “inappropriate sexual behavior” by Sandusky.

”All the interactions reported by (the boy) can be typically defined as normal between a healthy adult and a young adolescent male,” Seasock wrote in his report.

Read more reporting by Michael Isikoff in 'The Isikoff Files'

While the reports’ conclusions differed, one of the investigators on the 1998 case, Jerry Lauro, said he didn’t know that. Lauro, then with the state Department of Public Welfare and now retired, told NBC News he was never shown a copy of Chambers’ report and was stunned to learn of its conclusions.

“Wow!” he said when he was read Chambers’ conclusions by a NBC News correspondent. “This is the first I’ve heard of this. I had no idea . If I would have seen the report, I would certainly have done some things differently. Boy, this is a shock. “

Click here to watch the Today video piece, read Isikioff’s complete story and review the documents.

While under investigation by a criminal grand jury for allegedly sexually abusing young boys, Jerry Sandusky said he spoke to and even dined with men now identified as his victims. The 67-year-old former Penn State assistant coach accused of sexually abusing young boys for more than a decade holds up these encounters as proof of his innocence, but a lawyer for at least one of the victims believes they could be criminal.

“One of the questions that raised in my mind, ‘Was this an effort on his part to tamper with witnesses?’” said Howard Janet, a Baltimore attorney representing the man known in the grand jury report of Sandusky as Victim 6. “Was it intended as a way to influence the public or the prospective jury pool?”

In early November, Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing boys over a period of about 14 years. But the community knew of the investigation months earlier.

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The story went public on March 31, when the Patriot News newspaper broke the story that a grand jury had been convened to look into allegations that Sandusky abused a 15-year-old Clinton County, Pa., boy, now known as Victim 1. 

The following day, Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, issued a statement saying that his client was prepared to fight.

“Should the allegations, as set forth in today’s newspaper article eventually lead to the institution of criminal charges against Jerry, Jerry fully intends to establish his innocence and put these false allegations to rest forever,” he said.

Interviews with lawyers and the grand jury report show that in the months that followed, Sandusky made several attempts to contact boys who had participated in the charity he founded -- the Second Mile – and who later testified before the grand jury, prompting Janet to question whether Sandusky tried to sway the outcome of the investigation.

Witness tampering in the state of Pennsylvania is defined as any act with the intent to intimidate a witness or victim to “refrain from reporting a crime, withhold or give false or misleading information, or to ignore or evade requests for information or a summons.”

Under state penal codes, witness tampering is considered equal to the most serious offense a defendant is charged with. Among the charges against Sandusky are multiple first-degree felonies, which carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison. 

Sandusky has not been charged with tampering or intimidation of witnesses.

A 'reunion' dinner
In July, Sandusky called Victim 6 and asked him to dinner. Sandusky framed it as a “reunion” of former Second Mile children, Janet said. Police asked the alleged victim to wear a wire, Janet said, but he eventually decided not to because he was nervous.  

Victim 6 testified before the grand jury that Sandusky showered with him on the Penn State campus. Sandusky was investigated in 1998 after the boy’s mother reported the incident to the police. Sandusky at the time admitted that he had showered with the boy – as well as another youth whose name surfaced in the subsequent investigation -- and was advised by a Penn State University detective not to do it again. The district attorney closed the case.

On the night of the July dinner, Victim 6 said he met Sandusky at his home then continued on, along with Sandusky’s wife, to a local restaurant. Janet said his client was “surprised” to find no other former Second Mile children he knew among those at the restaurant, but he finished the dinner and reported back to the police.

In an interview with NBC, Janet said it was “inconceivable” that Sandusky did not know he was under investigation at the time. “It was public knowledge and it was widely reported,” he said.

According to Amendola, Sandusky’s lawyer, Victim 2 was also at the dinner. Victim 2 is the boy who Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary testified to seeing being raped by Sandusky in the showers in Penn State’s Lasch Football Building in 2002. Victim 2, however, has not been identified by prosecutors and did not testify at the grand jury. 

Amendola told reporters in November that a man he believes is Victim 2 had appeared in his office weeks before to say he had no sexual contact with Sandusky. 

Amendola said that both Victims 2 and 6 maintained a relationship with the Sanduskys in recent years, including visiting their home and attending other dinners. The July dinner, he said, was friendly. “Neither of them had any knowledge 2 or 6 had been or were going to be questioned” by the grand jury, and there was no mention of the investigation, Amendola wrote in a statement to NBC.

“Jerry and Dottie have maintained positive contact with 2 and 6 as well as many other kids they helped who have grown into adulthood over the years,” he said. ”They are both deeply saddened and perplexed by the allegations.”

Sandusky and his wife also reached out to at least one other alleged victim prior to his testifying, according to the grand jury report. Victim 7, a former Second Mile participant who Sandusky allegedly met around 1994, told the grand jury that weeks before his testimony, Sandusky, his wife, and an unidentified friend left several messages on his voicemail. It had been nearly two years since he last spoke or had contact with Sandusky. Victim 7 said he did not return their calls.

Sandusky confirmed to the The New York Times that he had contacted at least one of his accusers but did so believing he would serve as a character witness. He said he did not know the prosecution had listed the individual as a victim.  

An unorthodox defense strategy
Sandusky’s defense has so far been unorthodox. He spoke live to NBC’s Bob Costas following his arrest and last week gave an extended interview to the New York Times.

Asked by Costas if he was sexually attracted to young boys, Sandusky said, "Sexually attracted, no --  I enjoy young people, I love to be around them."

The New York Times revisited the comment last week in an extended, four-hour interview in which reporter Jo Becker asked Sandusky about his answer to Costa's question. 

"If I say, no, I'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth because I'm attracted to young people, boys, girls," Sandusky said. 

Amendola, sitting nearby, jumped in. "Yeah, but not sexually, you're attracted because you enjoy spending time..." he said. 

"Right, I enjoy, that's what I was tryin' to say, answer that," Sandusky clarified. "I enjoy spending time with young people. I enjoy spending time with people."

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Pennsylvania state prosecutors filed a secret motion to hold The Second Mile children’s charity in contempt in July after the organization failed to turn over expense records of founder Jerry Sandusky in response to a grand jury subpoena, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The contempt motion, filed under court seal, was withdrawn in October after some of the  missing Sandusky records were found and produced, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the charity’s new lawyers are still looking for the rest of the subpoenaed material and seeking to determine whether the missing records were destroyed or removed in an effort to impede the investigation into Sandusky’s relationships with The Second Mile children, said the source, who has been briefed on some of the details of the investigation.

The move to hold The Second Mile in contempt, which has previously not been reported, is the latest indication that the investigation into the Penn State sex abuse scandal may have widened to include obstruction of justice. Asked Monday if obstruction was a focus of Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly’s investigation, her spokesman, Nils Frederiksen, declined comment, citing rules covering the secrecy of matters before the grand jury. “This is a comprehensive, active and ongoing investigation,” he said.

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The New York Times reported last week that some The Second Mile board members were alarmed to learn that Sandusky’s travel and expense records for the years 2000 and 2003 were missing from an off-site storage facility. The material had been subpoenaed by prosecutors in an effort to piece together which children in The Second Mile programs may have attracted Sandusky’s attention and received gifts or been taken on trips by him, the paper reported. The Times said that the expense reports  for one of those years had apparently been misfiled and were later located, but that the rest of material was still missing -- a development that one unnamed investigator was quoted as calling “suspicious.”

The Second Mile was founded by Sandusky in 1977 to help troubled children in central Pennsylvania. It expanded over the years into a statewide organization that raised millions of dollars from major corporations and attracted high profile honorary board members, such as Arnold Palmer and NFL Hall of Famer Franco Harris. State prosecutors say that Sandusky met each of the eight alleged victims he is accused of abusing through The Second Mile programs. Sandusky has denied the charges.

At the time that Sandusky’s expense records were subpoenaed, the lawyer representing The Second Mile was Wendell Courtney, who for the previous 15 years had been general counsel of Penn State University. Courtney previously told NBC News that he had been retained by The Second Mile in 2009 to represent the organization  in its dealings with state prosecutors after the charity was first notified about the investigation into Sandusky. “I am not commenting further on this matter at this time,” Courtney said in an email Monday when asked about the contempt motion filed against the charity.

Courtney is no longer representing The Second Mile. The charity last week announced that it had hired Lynne M. Abraham, the former Philadelphia district attorney, to conduct an internal investigation into what executives at The Second Mile knew about Sandusky’s activities. The charity also announced that Jack Raykovitz, its longtime executive director, had resigned.

Related story: Second nonprofit sent kids to Sandusky charity

There were other signs Monday that the investigations into the scandal could widen. A New York based charity, A Better Chance, confirmed to NBC News that it  sent about 30 children to a residential program run by The Second Mile between 1988 and 2001.

Founded in 1963, A Better Chance places talented minority students in high performing public and private schools around the country. One of its leading benefactors is Oprah Winfrey, who has donated over $12 million and served as its  national spokesperson.

 

By Hannah Rappleye and Lisa Riordan Seville, NBC News

A New York-based charity sent about 30 children to a residential program run by The Second Mile, the charity founded by Jerry Sandusky.

The nonprofit, A Better Chance, was founded in 1963 to provide better learning opportunities to young people of color. The program places talented minority students in high schools around the country. A Better Chance is a favorite charity of Oprah Winfrey -- she donated over $12 million and has served as its national spokesperson.

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While many Better Chance scholars are placed in private boarding schools, the charity also sends children to communities around the country with high-performing public schools. The Second Mile program was among the organizations that hosted such kids. Sandusky himself has no known connection to A Better Chance.

A Better Chance has not reached out to Pennsylvania authorities regarding the relationship between the two organizations, said A Better Chance spokesman Michael Paluszek.

“The information about the past relationship is public knowledge and A Better Chance has had no involvement with the foundation since 2001,” according to a statement from A Better Chance.

Sandusky, 67, faces 40 grand jury charges of sexually abusing eight young boys over 15 years. He retired as Penn State defensive coordinator in 1999 and is alleged to have met the boys through The Second Mile, which he started in 1977. He has denied the charges.

A Better Chance began sending students to a residence run by The Second Mile in 1988. Palusek said none of the A Better Chance kids lived with the Sadusky family.

However, one A Better Chance student was quoted in a news article as saying he attended a went to a Penn State event that Sandusky was at in 1997. 

The relationship between the two charities continued for about 13 years. Bright young teenagers, many from inner cities, moved from as far away as Philadelphia and New York City to the Second Mile residence near Penn State. They attended local schools in the State College area and received tutoring. Many stayed multiple years.

Paluszek said that approximately 30 kids from A Better Chance lived under The Second Mile’s care over the years.
“A Better Chance did not participate in the operation of oversight of that Community School Program,” he said.

The Second Mile spent between $62,000 and $78,000 a year hosting kids from A Better Chance, according to tax filings from between 1997 and 2001. The money also provided assistance and services to foster families not related to A Better Chance.
A Better Chance stopped sending children to The Second Mile in 2001, when the latter ended funding for the program, Paluszek said.

“We have not had any involvement with the Second Mile Foundation in the past 10 years, nor have we received any complaints or inquiries from any of our students who attended their Community School Program,” he said.

Related story: Sandusky charity weighing options, including closing

A Better Chance is not the only charity associated with the Sandusky family. Last week, NBC reported that the Sanduskys may have hosted up to six children from the Fresh Air Fund program from the 1970s until the mid-1990s. The Fresh Air Fund connects New York City kids from disadvantaged neighborhoods to families in rural and urban communities.

The Fresh Air Fund later confirmed the Sanduskys hosted at least one child from the Fund. Unlike A Better Chance, The Fresh Air Fund alerted Pennsylvania authorities when it learned Sandusky may have hosted children from the program