Sources: Pennsylvania authorities investigating new allegations against Sandusky

CNN Wire Service

Authorities in Pennsylvania are investigating two new cases of alleged child abuse against former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, according to sources close to the investigation.

The investigations were opened by Children and Youth Services in Pennsylvania, the sources said. In Pennsylvania, cases of alleged child abuse reported by an alleged victim who is an adult are strictly police matters, even if the alleged offenses occurred when that person was a child. Children and Youth Services participates in the investigation only if the alleged victim is still under 18.

If the allegations are found to be credible, they would be the first known cases involving current minors to become public since Sandusky’s arrest. All the other publicly known cases have involved alleged victims who are now adults.

The new cases were reported less than 60 days ago, the sources said.

Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, responded to the report of new allegations Tuesday, saying, “We expected copycat allegations … and we are confident we will be able to refute them after we investigate the specific new allegations which are being made.”

Sandusky was arrested on Nov. 5 after the release of a grand jury report detailing crimes that he allegedly committed between 1994 and 2009. He is free on $100,000 bail and he has denied the allegations.

Based on the grand jury report, Pennsylvania’s attorney general has charged Sandusky with 40 counts in what authorities allege was the sexual abuse of eight boys. In addition, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, a university vice president, resigned their posts after being charged with failing to inform police of the allegations. Head football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier also lost their jobs in the wake of the report, when questions were raised about the university’s response.

According to grand jury documents, a graduate assistant told Paterno in 2002 that he had seen Sandusky performing anal sex on a young boy in a football complex shower. Paterno told Curley, who told Schultz, according to the grand jury report.

CNN contributor Sara Ganim reported from Pennsylvania.