Sandusky, 67, was recognized by Congress. His charity was named one of President George H.W. Bush's Points of Light. He is a longtime parishioner at St. Paul's Methodist Church and is believed to be an usher, though privacy concerns preclude the Rev. Edwin Zeiders from confirming that.
Zeiders said he's known Sandusky's family for five years.
"Like anybody else in the parish, I was finding names and stories about people and then learned to rejoice in their good work," he said. "So I guess for all of us, this would be saddening and disappointing."
Maybe nobody really knew Sandusky. Former NFL coach Dick Vermeil wrote the forward in Sandusky's book. He called him "a man who has risen to the upper echelon of the coaching profession, both as a football coach and a humanitarian."
Vermeil got to know Sandusky through charity work. He did speaking engagements for him and golfed with him. He hasn't spoken to him since the scandal broke.
"It's a blindside," Vermeil said. "That's all I can say.
"If it's true, he's a sick man. He had an illness none of us knew about. That's all."
Richeal wishes it would all go away. He says his dad, who's in his 80s, is sick and distraught over it. Richeal remembers a time, in the late 1990s, when he believes Paterno lost some of his faith in Sandusky. In the old days, Paterno trusted that Sandusky's defense would close out games. But toward the end, Paterno sometimes changed up Sandusky's plans.
"I think toward the end, their relationship wasn't as good," Richeal said. "I don't know the reasons, and I didn't pry into it and ask why. But I don't think it was as good as it was."
In 1998, the first allegations against Sandusky were investigated but weren't prosecuted. Richeal refuses to speculate on whether that had any impact on the coaches' relationship or on whether it caused Sandusky to retire in 1999 at the age of 55.
Richeal was up late Wednesday night watching the events unfold on TV as Paterno was fired and students protested in the streets of State College. He can't believe what is going on at the school, his school. He can't believe much of anything anymore.
No one seems to really know former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky - ESPN