Jerry Sandusky Trial: Opening Statements Outline Future Testimony, Victim Love Letters

Opening statements in the Jerry Sandusky trial got under way on Monday.

The former Penn State assistant football coach, who is being charged with 52 counts of child sex abuse, was reportedly described to jurors as a serial predator and a predatory pedophile, who used fear and shame to keep his victims silent, according to ABC News.

Joseph McGettigan, prosecutor for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, began speaking at about 9:45 a.m. EDT, telling jurors that they would hear about systematic behavior by a serial predator.

McGettigan also projected pictures onto a screen in front of the courtroom of eight young boys whom Sandusky allegedly molested.

The prosecutor suggested that the alleged victims would testify, and that documents, such as photographs, and evidence to support their claims, would be provided.

ABC News reported that McGettigan warned the jurors -- seven women and five men -- that he would ask the victims to describe the sexual abuse they allegedly endured.

I'm going to ask you to forgive me because I'm going to ask (the alleged victims) to back years to when they were children, and I'm going to press them for those details, McGettigan said. I've asked them to forgive me for the graphic answers. But I have to ask and they have to answer to go back in time.

Sandusky, 68, has been confined to house arrest since being charged in 2011 with sexually abusing 10 boys over a period of at least 15 years. Prosecutors allege that he met some of his accusers through Second Mile, a charity he created for underprivileged children. He has pleaded not guilty.

According to CNN, McGettigan detailed the extent of the relationship between each victim and the former Penn State football coach.

One child, who is being identified as Victim 4, allegedly received a multitude of gifts from Sandusky and attended the Alamo Bowl and the Outback Bowl with the coach.

Citing sources close to the case, ABC News is also reporting that Victim 4's testimony will include love letters that Sandusky allegedly wrote him, while another victim is expected to testify about Sandusky's wife, Dottie Sandusky, who has stood by her husband's proclaimed innocence.

The victim was allegedly coerced into performing oral sex on Sandusky while on a trip with him, his wife, and the football team. The act was interrupted when Dottie Sandusky walked into the hotel room, according to McGettigan.

McGettigan's opening statement reportedly followed about 20 minutes of jury instructions from Judge John Cleland. You are the conscience of the community, he told the panel.

While Sandusky has entered a not guilty plea, he did, in interviews after his arrest, acknowledge showering and horsing around with boys but denied being sexually attracted to them.

A jury consisting of five men and seven women, along with four alternates, was selected last week, with half of the 16 jurors and alternates having ties to Penn State.

Included in the group are one retired professor and one current professor, three graduates, two employees and one current student.

The investigation into Jerry Sandusky started back in 2008 when a high school student in Centre County, Pa., told his mother and school administrators that Sandusky had molested him.

The information launched a secret investigation consisting of interviews with dozens of boys Sandusky mentored through his charity, The Second Mile, as well as Penn State officials who may have seen or heard about inappropriate actions.

The case hit the headline when charges of child sex abuse were brought against Sandusky on Nov. 4, 2011.

The case -- which led to the dismissal of the university's president, Graham Spanier, and head football coach, Joseph Paterno, as well as criminal charges against two other school officials -- has since brought a dark shadow over the Penn State football program.