US college football coach trial opens

AFP

US prosecutors have branded former college football coach Jerry Sandusky a "systematic serial predator" at the start of his pedophilia trial.

The 68-year-old Sandusky, who stands accused of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period, allegedly recruited his young victims under the guise of a program he ran for abused and neglected youth.

The case has shocked the United States, where many are obsessed by college sports and hold up their American football team's coaches as demi-gods.

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The headline-grabbing scandal also has tarnished the legacy of Pennsylvania State University, one of the country's most illustrious college football programs.

Speaking publicly for the first time of his ordeal, one of the alleged victims, now in his 20s, told how Sandusky would initiate sexual activity in a locked shower room reserved for Penn State coaches by starting a soap battle.

"A lot of this started as play fighting, slapping. Once I'd pull away, you could tell that he could get angry," said the man, whose story prosecutors said aligns closely with that of other accusers.

The victim said he met Sandusky when he was about 13 or 14, and was showered with gifts like golf clubs and a snowboard by the coach, who was once revered as a hero by fans.

He said he was promised a coveted spot on Penn State's revered football team as a walk-on but that he had often been teased at school by kids who saw the relationship as improper.

"He was nice to me other than those instances. He was a father figure to me. I didn't want to lose that," the victim said.

"Maybe, I'm getting picked on. But also, I feel cool. I'm hanging out with players. I don't want to lose the nice things I'm getting. I don't want to lose someone paying attention to me."

But he added: "I feel that if I just said something back then, this wouldn't have happened. So I feel responsible for other victims."

Prosecutors said Sandusky recruited his victims through his Second Mile charity, which went bankrupt last month after donations dried up in the wake of the scandal.

Sandusky, who defence lawyers say is expected to testify, faces 52 criminal counts of sexually abusing at least 10 boys between 1994 and 2008, with some of the alleged incidents taking place on campus.

The witness, now 28, named at least four Penn State coaches who walked in while the pair were showering, but said Sandusky immediately stopped abusing him whenever he heard the sound of someone approaching.

Sandusky's defence lawyer Joseph Amendola told the court his client's accusers were fabricating their allegations for a variety of reasons including troubled lives, money and because they mistook friendly overtures for sexual ones.

He said the physical contact Sandusky engaged in is a routine part of the locker room environment, where nakedness and high-spirited horseplay are not unusual.

Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan told jurors Sandusky used post-workout showers as a pretext to get physically close to victims in order to sexually molest them, and that he abused the trust of the university as well as that of the now-defunct Second Mile charity.

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