Dottie Sandusky Defends Jerry

Jerry and Dottie Sandusky

It is astounding how far a woman will go to stand by her husband and protect him, even when evidence is overwhelmingly against him, as in the case of convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky, the jailed and disgraced former Penn State assistant football coach. Jerry was indicted in 2011 on 52 counts of child molestation dating from 1994 to 2009, though the abuse may have dated as far back as the 1970s. Dottie Sandusky wrote a letter to the court in defense of her husband, even though he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

However, she didn't just defend her husband and his upstanding reputation in the community, but ripped the credibility and backgrounds of all of the victims who came forward in this case, including her own son. In Dottie's letter to the court, she said that 'Jerry was a wonderful father to our six children. We thank God each day for bringing them into our life. He treated each one as if they were our biological children. Our house was a fun house with lots of games, picnics, laughs and caring. There were always lots of people around whether it was friends of our kids, Second Mile kids or neighbors.' She goes on to say that 'I never saw him doing anything inappropriate to any child, if I had, as a Mother and Grandmother I would have taken action. Jerry is not the monster everyone is making him out to be.'

When it comes to her son Matt, Dottie states that '… people need to know what kind of person he is. We have forgiven him many times for all he has done to our family thinking that he was changing his life, but he would always go back to his stealing and lies. He has been diagnosed with bipolar, but he refuses to take his medicine. He has had many run-ins with the law and stolen money and items from our family. We still love him and want the best for him, but because of his actions we cannot express this to him.' It isn't Jerry to blame for his actions, but according to Dottie, everyone else.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair

Another disturbing case last year was against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former Managing Director of the International Monetary fund who was charged with falsely imprisoning, attempting to rape and sexually abusing a hotel maid in a New York City hotel suite, going so far as to chase her down a hallway when she tried to escape. Evidence that was collected and preserved from the scene proved beyond a doubt his guilt. As a person who was considered a flight risk, he was held in solitary confinement at Riker’s Island and had been refused bail; however, he managed to duck the charges and is now safely back in France.

Anne Sinclair, Kahn’s wife, is an American-born journalist living in France, and before the ink was dry on the rap sheet she declared that all charges against her French husband were patently false. ‘I do not believe for a single second the accusations leveled against my husband,’ she said. This is a remarkable denial from a woman who has published several books and hosted a political chat show on French television for 13 years. She is a well-known and highly esteemed public figure in France in her own right. Kahn was in contention to be France’s next President through the Socialist Party, a promotion which would have elevated Sinclair to the position of First Lady of France. Since then, Anne has come to her senses and dumped him as his career continues to flounder.

Elizabeth Edwards, Maria Shriver, Gayle Haggard, Hillary Clinton – each of these women has stood by while embarrassing revelation after embarrassing revelation was unearthed about her philandering husband. To make matters worse all of them, except Hillary Clinton, stood on the podia beside their husbands while they made their apologies. Presidential hopeful John Edwards had a love child with his mistress; Arnold Schwarzenegger had a child with the housekeeper; Ted Haggard was having gay sex and taking drugs while leading one of the largest churches in America; and Bill Clinton was involved with Monica Lewinsky, a scandal that almost ruined his presidency. Why do women stay with these men who have so much difficulty keeping it in their pants and continue to lie right up to the last moment? When they suspect, or out rightly know, that their husband is unfaithful, what makes them stay?

John and Elizabeth Edwards

In the case of John Edwards, Rielle Hunter was a videographer who was hired to work for his presidential campaign. She was with him everyday as he flew around the country, which gave them the time and the opportunity to start an affair which, ultimately, produced a child. Elizabeth Edwards, when asked by Matt Lauer on NBC’s The Today Show why she didn’t leave him, replied, ‘You know, I guess there are all sorts of reasons, but the big reason is that,…I promised I was with him for better or for worse. This was a lot worse than I had ever expected, but I thought that meant something when I said it.’ By this time, she had also put in over 35 years and 4 children (one of whom died) into the marriage.

Ian Halperin, author of ‘The Governator: From Muscle Beach to His Quest for the White House, the Improbable Rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger,’ says that Arnold ‘has been a notorious sex addict, and finding women who’ll come out and admit to sleeping with him is like finding snow in Toronto in February.’ Rumors of his sexual groping, his barnyard gestures and obscene insinuations to women have dogged Schwarzenegger for years, and after 34 years together, Maria has finally dumped him, but not before being thoroughly humiliated by his behavior.

Arnie and Maria Shriver

Diane Kirshchner, a psychologist and author of ‘Sealing the Deal: The Love Mentor’s Guide to Lasting Love,’ says that ‘there may be considerable denial…so they quite often don’t believe the allegations, especially when they first come out. There are women who will maintain their denial in the face of facts that are thrown in their face.’ As is true for the other long-suffering wives, so with Maria, because this had been going on with Schwarzenegger for years. When Arnold was faced with accusations of groping and sexually harassing 16 women in 2003, his wife was instrumental in helping her husband invalidate the charges and win a recall election, saying that her accusers just didn’t know her husband like she did, that he was the most ‘honest’ person she knew. I think she may be feeling differently these days.

Ted and Gayle Haggard

Ted Haggard, an evangelist and former founder and leader of the New Life Church in Colorado, denied for months having sex with male escort and masseur Mike Jones, and denied having ever bought or used crystal meth. Jones ratted Haggard out when he discovered that Haggard was preaching ‘against gay marriage when behind the scenes he was having gay sex.’

In the case of Gayle Haggard staying with Ted, it stands to reason that ‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.’

Bill Clinton left a trail of semen in his wake, from Arkansas to Washington. There was the Gennifer Flowers affair, a woman who claimed she’d had a relationship with him for ten years. Paula Jones turned up the heat with her sexual harassment suit and finally, amidst all the other sexual gossip about Bill, the notorious Lewinsky scandal.

In some cases of infidelity, if the husband goes down, so does the wife. If his career is in jeopardy, by default so is hers. Hillary Clinton had aspirations of her own, and she was not going to let Bill get in the way of them. Some have suggested that their relationship is more a business partnership than a marriage. This may be one reason why Hillary Clinton defended her husband’s accusers on ’60 Minutes’ in 1992, declaring that she wasn’t some ‘little woman standing by her husband like Tammy Wynette,’ and that she suspected the accusations against her husband were a right-wing conspiracy, the purpose of which was to ruin her husband’s presidential candidacy.

Diana Kirschner also says wives of high-powered men are ‘accustomed to protecting the family’s reputation, the family’s success, the family’s political standing, and finally, the finances.’ This may be true in the cases above, but it still doesn’t explain why these women have to further humiliate themselves by standing in the spotlight and sharing the podia with their husbands when they give their lame ass apologies to their families and all the constituents who trusted and elected them. Let them face their public humiliation alone. As for Dottie? She's only living up to her name.