In his first public statement since the Penn State sexual-abuse scandal broke over a week ago, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky proclaimed his innocence to Bob Costas on the new NBC show, "Rock Center."
In a telephone interview with Costas, Sandusky said he is innocent of the child sex-abuse charges that have led to Joe Paterno's firing and shaken State College.
Asked by Costas if he is a pedophile, Sandusky answered, "No."
Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year span.
"I am innocent of those charges," he said.
"I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact."
Asked if he's denying having any inappropriate sexual contact with any of the under-aged boys, Sandusky said: "Yes I am."
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Costas followed by asking, "Never touched their genitals or ever engaged in oral sex?"
"Right," Sandusky replied.
Costas then asked about the allegations made by Penn State wide receivers coach Mike McQueary, who as a graduate assistant in 2002 claimed to have witnessed Sandusky raping a young boy in the shower.
"I would say that that's false," said Sandusky, who provided his recollection of the incident.
"We were showering and horsing around and he actually turned all the showers on and was sliding across the floor. And we were as I recall possibly snapping a towel and horseplay."
Sandusky also denied a janitor's assertion that he was having oral sex with a young boy in the showers in 2000.
Sandusky previously maintained his innocence through his attorney, Joe Amendola. Amendola appeared on CNN and said Sandusky is a "big, overgrown kid," and "destroyed" by the allegations.
Asked if he did anything wrong, Sandusky said: "I shouldn't have showered with those kids."
Amendola explained to Costas why his client is innocent.
"We anticipate we're going to have at least several of those kids come forward and say, 'This never happened. This is me. This is the allegation. It never occurred,'" Amendola said.
What's more, Amendola believes he will be able to prove McQueary's allegations false.
"We have information that that child says that never happened," Amendola said.
When Costas pointed out that the child has yet to be identified by the Commonwealth, Amendola replied, "We think we have."
Amendola explained the incident on CNN.
"What I'm being told happened is that Jerry was in the shower with this kid, the kid was messing around, having a good time. You had McQueary come in and see that," Amendola said. "He felt uncomfortable."
Last week, Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse and released on 100,000 bond. Initially, the prosecutors had asked for 500,000 bail and for Sandusky to be fitted with a leg monitor, but judge Leslie Dutchcot, a volunteer with Sandusky's charity for at-risk kids, The Second Mile, set bail considerably lower.
CSNPhilly.com confirmed that Sandusky was shopping at Dick's Sporting Goods in State College on Wednesday -- the same day Paterno was fired.
University president Graham Spanier also was forced to resign last Wednesday, while former AD Curley and finance VP Shultz were placed on leave last week. Meanwhile, on Monday, Jack Raykovitz, who replaced Sandusky as the chairman of The Second Mile in 2010, resigned.
Additionally, Wendell V. Courtney resigned as the general counsel for The Second Mile last week. Courtney had served as Penn States counsel before he began representing the charity in 2009.
McQueary: 'I did the right thing'
According to NBC's Peter Alexander, McQueary said in an e-mail to former teammates and players that he "did the right thing" when he said he witnessed Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy in the shower of the Lasch Football Building on Penn State's campus in March, 2002.
According to the grand jury report, McQueary reported the incident to Paterno, who reported to his superiors, athletic director, Tim Curley and vice president of finance, Gary Shultz.
In the e-mail, documented by Alexander via Twitter, McQueary's wrote, "The truth is not out there fully.
"I did the right thing. ... I didn't just turn and run. ... I made sure it stopped. ... I had to make quick, tough decisions."
McQueary remains on paid, indefinite administrative leave from his coaching duties with Penn State. He was set to coach from the press box for Saturday's game against Nebraska at Beaver Stadium until he received "multiple threats."
E-mail John Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com