New York — June 21, 2012 – The trial has grabbed headlines for the past two weeks. Though graphic details from the testimonies of eight of his accusers have been reported, none of the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky has spoken publicly until now. Tonight on “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” viewers heard from Travis Weaver who spoke to Kate Snow about the sexual abuse he says he endured. Weaver has also testified in front of a grand jury but was not called as a witness in the current trial. He is suing Sandusky and the university.
Following is the transcript from the exclusive interview. Mandatory Credit: NBC News “Rock Center with Brian Williams”
KATE SNOW:
If Jerry Sandusky were sitting right here—
TRAVIS WEAVER:
I’d punch him in his mouth.
KATE SNOW:
Would you say anything first?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
No, there would be no reason to say anything. He knows what he did. I know what he did.
TRACK 1
TRAVIS WEAVER SAYS JERRY SANDUSKY SEXUALLY ABUSED HIM MORE THAN A HUNDRED TIMES OVER A PERIOD OF FOUR YEARS, STARTING IN 1992 WHEN HE WAS JUST 10 YEARS OLD.
HE SAYS HE THOUGHT HE WAS THE ONLY BOY IT HAPPENED TO, UNTIL HE SAW SANDUSKY ON THE NEWS… ARRESTED ON CHARGES HE MOLESTED OTHER BOYS.
WEAVER, NOW 30, HAD NEVER TOLD A SOUL. BUT LAST FALL, HE TOLD HIS FAMILY HIS STORY FOR THE FIRST TIME. HE SAYS HE STILL FEELS NUMB.
KATE SNOW:
You don’t cry about it now?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
No.
KATE SNOW:
When’s the last time you cried about it?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
A long time ago.
TRACK 2
WEAVER’S STORY ECHOES MANY OF SANDUSKY’S ACCUSERS… MOM AND DAD SPLIT UP WHEN HE AND WAS LITTLE. THERE WAS A LOT OF FIGHTING IN THE BROKEN HOME HE SHARED WITH TWO BROTHERS. A COUNSELOR REFERRED 10-YEAR-OLD TRAVIS WEAVER TO A SPECIAL SUMMER CAMP RUN BY A CHARITY CALLED THE SECOND MILE…
KATE SNOW:
So what was it like the very first time you met Jerry Sandusky.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
It was great, it was like meeting my hero.
TRACK 3
ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, HE SAYS, JERRY SANDUSKY TOOK AN INTEREST IN HIM, TAKING HIM TO FOOTBALL GAMES, INVITING HIM TO WORK OUT WITH HIM AT THE GYM ON PENN STATE’S CAMPUS. AND LIKE MANY OF THE YOUNG MEN WHO TESTIFIED IN COURT, WEAVER SAYS FROM THE BEGINNING, SANDUSKY EXPECTED THEM TO SHOWER TOGETHER…
TRAVIS:
Picking me up, trying to give me like bear hugs. He’d wash my hair or my back sometimes.
TRACK 4
HE SAYS THEY’D MOVE TO A COUCH IN THE LOCKER ROOM JUST BEYOND THE SHOWERS
TRAVIS WEAVER:
He’d dry me off with a towel. He’d say he was trying to wrestle with me. And then, he would just have me lay on top of him while we were both still naked.
KATE SNOW:
I know this is really hard stuff to talk about. But what– what would he do when he had you down on top of him?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
He’d rub my backside. Sometimes he’d roll over on top of me and blow on my stomach and– rub my genitals. And– then it progressed into oral sex.
KATE SNOW:
Did it ever escalate to anything else?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
He tried anal sex one time. But it hurt really bad so I– I– I made him stop. That was in– in the locker rooms.
KATE SNOW:
In the shower?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes.
KATE SNOW:
How old were you?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Around 11 or 12.
TRACK 5
WEAVER SAYS SANDUSKY RARELY SPOKE DURING THE ABUSE, OTHER THAN TO SAY “YOU’RE NOT GONNA TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS.
KATE SNOW:
Do you remember what was racing through your head?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
I just couldn’t believe what was happening. I was scared.
TRACK 6
AT THE SAME TIME, WEAVER SAYS SANDUSKY WAS INVITING HIM TO SLEEP OVER AT HIS HOUSE.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
I stayed at his house probably over a hundred times.
KATE SNOW:
A hundred times?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yeah. It was over a few years. Yeah, I stayed there a lot.
TRACK 7
AFTER DOTTIE SANDUSKY COOKED DINNER FOR THEM ALL… WEAVER SAYS HE WOULD GO DOWN TO THE BASEMENT AND WAIT… KNOWING THAT AS SOON AS THE REST OF THE FAMILY WENT TO BED, SANDUSKY WOULD COME DOWN.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
You know, he’d come down and talk to me and, you know, try to play the videogame a little bit or play pool or somethin’. And then, you know, he’d work his way up to it.
KATE SNOW:
And you’d know that he was gonna expect sexual acts?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes.
TRACK 8
WEAVER SAYS WHEN IT WAS OVER, JERRY SANDUSKY WOULD LEAVE HIM AND GO BACK UPSTAIRS TO HIS WIFE.
KATE SNOW:
Why do you think his family thought you were there?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
I don’t know. I never asked.
KATE SNOW:
Did they– did they treat you like– one of the family?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
The rest of the kids did. But Dottie, she didn’t– I don’t think she really liked me too much. She was always like distant. She didn’t well want to talk to me too much. I always thought she was a mean person just because of how she acted towards me. She– she never really wanted to talk to me. When she did talk to me she was– just real stern with– you know, with everything I said to her.
KATE SNOW:
Cold?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Cold, yes.
KATE SNOW:
Did she ever walk in on you, see anything inappropriate?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
No. No, she didn’t.
KATE SNOW:
Do you think she had any idea what was going on, in your opinion?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
I– I can’t say for sure, but I mean, how could you not know something was goin’ on?
TRACK 9
HE DIDN’T ALWAYS STAY IN THE BASEMENT… SOMETIMES, WEAVER SAYS, HE WAS IN THE SECOND FLOOR GUEST ROOM… RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE SANDUSKY’S BEDROOM.
KATE SNOW:
Did he ever engage in any sexual acts with you in the guest room across the hall from Dottie Sandusky?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
A couple times. A couple times he, you know, performed oral sex on me.
KATE SNOW:
And Mrs. Sandusky was across the hall–
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes.
KATE SNOW:
when that happened?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes.
KATE SNOW:
It’s almost an unbelievable story.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yeah. That’s why I was scared to say anything.
KATE SNOW:
‘Cause you thought no one would believe you?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes.
KATE SNOW:
Was this a guy– in your opinion, is this a guy who thought he would never get caught?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes. Yes– I don’t think the thought ever even crossed his mind.
TRACK 10
SANDUSKY GAVE HIM GIFTS… TOOK HIM TO FANCY DINNERS… EVEN BROUGHT HIM TO THE 1995 ROSE BOWL… THINGS HIS OWN FAMILY COULD NEVER HAVE PROVIDED.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
He told me he loved me. He told my father he wanted to adopt me.
KATE SNOW:
So Jerry Sandusky said to your father, “I’d like to adopt your son”?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes.
TRACK 11
WEAVER’S DAD, WHO WORKS AT PENN STATE UNIVERSITY’S TV STATION, CONFIRMS HIS SON HAD YEARS OF CONTACT WITH SANDUSKY AND THAT THERE WAS TALK OF ADOPTION.
FINALLY, AT AGE 14, TRAVIS WEAVER SAYS HE REACHED A BREAKING POINT.
SANDUSKY TOOK HIM TO PHILADELPHIA FOR A SECOND MILE FUNDRAISER, HE SAYS, AND STARTED WRESTLING WITH HIM IN THE HOTEL ROOM.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
And I knew what it was gonna lead up to. And I tried to get him off of me and resisting him. And he kinda pinned me down on the bed. And– I told him if he didn’t get off of me, I was gonna call the police on him. And– he just laughed at me, and– and, you know, forced me on the stay– to stay on the bed. And– told me if– if I ever said anything that nobody was gonna believe me, and he would get my dad fired from Penn State.
TRACK 12
SO HE SAYS HE DID NOT CALL THE POLICE… BUT A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER HE DID MOVE TO CLEVELAND TO LIVE WITH HIS MOTHER.
KATE SNOW:
You wanted to get away from Jerry Sandusky?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes.
TRACK 13
WEAVER’S LIFE TOOK A DOWNWARD SPIRAL. HE SPENT TIME IN JAIL FOR BURGLARY.
SIXTEEN YEARS LATER WEAVER IS NOW WORKING AS A ROOFER IN CLEVELAND. HE AND HIS GIRLFRIEND ALISHA HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS TOGETHER AGES TWO AND FOUR.
HE SAYS HE’S ANGRY AT THE ADULTS WHO COULD HAVE STOPPED SANDUSKY…
…LIKE FORMER PENN STATE ASSISTANT COACH MIKE MCQUEARY. HE TESTIFIED HE SAW JERRY SANDUSKY WITH A YOUNG BOY PINNED AGAINST THE WALL OF THE LOCKER ROOM SHOWER. MCQUEARY SAYS HE REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO THE UNIVERSITY AUTHORITIES, BUT NEVER CALLED THE LOCAL POLICE.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
He’s a coward for not callin’ the police, for not stoppin’ Jerry right there. He said he slammed his locker and walked out. Why would you slam the locker and walk out, and leave that kid standin’ there, and let that keep happenin’? Why not rip open the shower curtain, and say somethin’ to him? You know, stop that from happenin’ to that kid, take the kid outta there, call the police? You know, you don’t just abandon that little, helpless kid.
TRACK 14
HE ALSO BLAMES HIMSELF.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
If I would have somethin’ and that would have stopped him from being around other kids.
KATE SNOW:
That’s a big burden to carry.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
I know it’s not my fault. But it– I can’t help but feel that way.
TRACK 15
WEAVER IS NOW SUING SANDUSKY, SECOND MILE AND PENN STATE UNIVERSITY. HIS LAWYER IS JEFF ANDERSON, WHO SPECIALIZES IN REPRESENTING SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS, INCLUDING MANY CASES INVOLVING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
KATE SNOW:
One of the things Jerry Sandusky’s attorney has said again and again is that he believes people came forward later in order to cash in.
TRAVIS WEAVER:
That’s– that’s ridiculous. Why would– why would all these kids that never even met each other all have the similar if not the exact same story about what he did, and– and go on– in court, and– and go to trial, and testify in front of all these people about all this stuff that happened if it never happened? It’s– it’s absurd.
TRACK 16
WHAT HIS LAWSUIT IS REALLY ABOUT, WEAVER SAYS, IS FINALLY FINDING HIS VOICE.
KATE SNOW:
You’re also speaking out, you said to me, because you want other kids out there to know that it’s okay to speak out?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yes, it is okay to speak out.
KATE SNOW:
This stuff is really uncomfortable to talk about?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
It’s extremely uncomfortable. Feels better though once you start talkin’ about it to some people, lettin’ everybody know what happened.
KATE SNOW:
People are gonna feel for you deeply when they hear your story. They’re gonna wanna know that you’re okay now and that you’re getting help. Can you be okay?
TRAVIS WEAVER:
Yeah. I’ll be okay when he’s in prison.
###
David Corvo is the senior executive producer, Rome Hartman is the executive producer and Brian Williams is the anchor and managing editor of “Rock Center with Brian Williams” (Thursdays at 10p/9c). Follow us at RockCenterNBC.com, facebook.com/RockCenterNBC and @RockCenterNBC.
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