Second Mile insurance seeks exemption

Published Dec. 25, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

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The insurance company for the charity run by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky wants to be excused from paying any legal defense bills linked to the child sexual abuse charges against him.

Federal Insurance Co. filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that paying for legal costs "arising from sexual assault, molestation" or abuse is "repugnant to Pennsylvania public policy" and should therefore be barred, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday.

The insurance company, based in Warren, N.J., also said that the illegal acts allegedly performed by Sandusky were not committed "in his capacity" as an official of Second Mile, the charity Sandusky ran to help troubled youths, according to the paper.

Sandusky has been charged with 50 criminal counts of sexual abuse and child endangerment from what prosecutors said was his molestation of 10 young boys he met through Second Mile over a 15-year period.

Legal fees from both the criminal case and pending lawsuits could reach six-figures, The Inquirer reported.

Earlier this month, Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola said that a plea deal would not be pursued either by the defense or prosecution.

Amendola stressed that the 67-year-old, who is free on $250,000 bail, maintains his innocence and said a plea bargain likely would involve a life sentence, given the severity of the allegations and Sandusky's age.