As the investigation of the child sexual assault charges leveled at former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky widens, at least one alleged victim has now hired an attorney to explore a civil lawsuit.
Pennsylvania attorney Ben Andreozzi told ABC News he has been retained by one of Sandusky's alleged victims to explore a civil lawsuit against not only against the former coach, but anyone who may have not reported the alleged attacks against his client. That could include a number of officials and staff at Penn State University and The Second Mile charity which Sandusky founded and helped run.
As the investigation unfolds into the charges that Sandusky assaulted eight boys over 15 years, it is still unclear how many victims will come forward. While he criticized police, school officials and even the whistleblower that witnessed one of Sandusky's alleged assaults, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said that he thinks that more victims will come forward.
"When the word gets out, when people understand that authorities are actually doing something about this, that they may be believed, then more people come forward," Corbett said on "Fox News Sunday." "If I had to speculate I wouldn't be surprised if we had more victims come forward."
"We would have expected law enforcement to be involved much sooner," he added. Mike McQueary, the coaching assistant who testified that he saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a campus shower almost a decade ago, "did not in my opinion meet a moral obligation" in reporting the abuse, the governor added.
McQueary, who the university has put on leave, met the legal "minimum obligation" after he reported the incident to his superiors. For many, this represents part of the problem -- that state law doesn't require all people to report child abuse to police.
"Pennsylvania's law is in need of repair," Wes Oliver, associate professor at Widener University School of Law, told ABC News. "Pennsylvania's law requires someone who learns through the course of his or her employer that a child is being abused that person go to their supervisor -- all the way up to the head of the organization."
It is feared that dozens of people knew about Sandusky's alleged sexual assaults and kept quiet. Staff on the Penn State police force, the state Department of Public Welfare, the district attorney, and staff The Second Mile, Sandusky's charity for at risk youth, all possibly knew of and were covering up his crimes.
Second Mile has denied it knew the seriousness of the charges, although the non-profit's president Jack Raykovitz was reportedly informed that Sandusky had been banned from a local high school because of inappropriate behavior with children, according to court documents.
Patricia Coble, a now former The Second Mile fundraising volunteer who worked for the organization for the past 10 years, said that when she heard the news of Sandusky's arrest she felt like she was punched in the stomach.
"I do absolutely think that Jerry Sandusky started this foundation with the intent of having children readily available for his needs," Coble said. "To work for a foundation that is nothing but a front for child abuse? No, they should be held accountable."
Speaking on "Good Morning America" Monday, newly appointed Penn State University President Rodney Erickson said that the university is committed to the victims of the crime and raising awareness of child sexual abuse.
