Penn State Sexual Abuse Survivor Travis Weaver Steps Forward With Strength and Courage to Discuss Abuse by Jerry Sandusky

Jeff Anderson: We applaud Travis Weaver for his courage and desire to speak out in order to help others. Travis came to us expressing great sorrow and guilt over the kids that followed him and experienced sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky. Travis made the decision to go public and to tell his story so that he could know at the end of the day that he has done everything he can to protect other children.  Travis, who has previously been known as John Doe A, found his voice to speak the truth to protect other children. In telling his story he is able to vanquish the guilt and sorrow he expressed to us after having read about Sandusky’s indictment and all the other children affected by Sandusky’s abuse. This is his effort to support other survivors.

We encourage Travis and every survivor to speak up and out. We are deeply grateful to him and the other survivors of the Sandusky and Penn State scandal who have come forward. We know many still suffer in silence. We encourage survivors to come forward with the assurance that their names and privacy can be protected.

Marci Hamilton: Travis stands up for all the survivors of Pennsylvania. He filed just in time, before his statute expired, and is a reminder that many survivors miss the deadline. We hope Pennsylvania legislators pay attention to his story because it is a reminder of why these survivors should have a chance to seek justice in the courts.

Background

Attorney Jeff Anderson is a nationally known St. Paul, Minnesota-based trial lawyer widely recognized as a pioneer in sexual abuse litigation.  Anderson has offices in cities across the United States, is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and as filed several lawsuits arising out of the Philadelphia Grand Jury Report.  For over three decades Anderson has represented thousands of survivors of sexual abuse by authority figures.

Contact Jeff Anderson:  Office 651.227.9990 Mobile  612.817.8665  Jeff@AndersonAdvocates.com

Attorney and Professor Marci Hamilton, co-counsel to Jeff Anderson & Associates, is one of the United States’ leading constitutional legal scholars, as well as an expert on the First Amendment.  Professor Hamilton holds the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, and is the author of God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2005), and Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge 2008) Professor Hamilton is a 1988 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and served as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.  She clerked for Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the United States Supreme Court.  She received a Masters Degree in Philosophy and another in English at Penn State.

Contact Marci Hamilton:  Mobile 215.353.8984 hamilton02@aol.com

You can see Travis’ full interview tonight on NBC’s Rock Center at 9pm CST/10pm EST.