>> program is being hit with allegations of abuse by one of its long-time coaches. this while more victims are coming forward claiming they suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a former penn state assistant coach named jerry sandusky . nbc 's peter alexander is in state college with the latest on this story. peter, good morning.
>> reporter: ann, good morning to you. police in syracuse, new york are investigating whether the men's assistant basketball coach there molested a boy, beginning in the mid 1980s , for more than 12 years. we'll have more details on that in just a moment. but here at penn state university , the man initially named acting president has now officially taken over that title. his name is rodney erickson. and today we're learning new details about the case here, and about a federal investigation, as well. several lawyers tell nbc news that more young men are coming forward to say they're victims of jerry sandusky . many of them empowered the lawyers, say, to begin sharing their stories of abuse in the face of sandusky 's denials. with bob costas on monday night.
>> i say that i am innocent of those charges.
>> there's comfort in numbers. and i think that they now understand that we're not alone.
>> reporter: ben and riazi represents at least two alleged victims, one of them not included among the eight listed in the grand jury report. and riazi says that man was told by authorities he is victim number 11 . and he's claiming there was yet another sexual assault on campus.
>> my client was sexually assaulted by mr. sandusky in the early '90s. and he was sexually assaulted on the grounds of penn state university .
>> reporter: and federal investigators are now examining the sandusky case. nbc news' national investigative kpobl correspondent michael isikoff .
>> reporter: federal prosecutors and fbi agents are looking hard at whether to open up their own investigation because of allegations that jerry sandusky crossed state lines to commit child abuse . one of the pennsylvania state charges against sandusky alleges that he flew one boy, victim number four, to the outback bowl in tampa in 1998 . and then again to the alamo bowl in san antonio in 1999 . starting when the boy was about 13 years old, sandusky is charged with repeatedly abusing him, including at the bowl games . the feds are also trying to determine whether sandusky used the internet to recruit alleged victims, also grounds for the fbi to become involved. and the new york-based charity, the fresh air fund , confirmed this week that it sent a half dozen children across state lines to live with sandusky . one high-level official said it would be inconceivable that we couldn't find grounds to make this a federal case.
>> reporter: penn state 's board of trustees has hired a large pittsburgh-based law firm to advise it during this sex abuse scandal. two penn state administrators already face charges they lied to a grand jury , and didn't alert authorities when given a report of suspected abuse. they deny the charges. and with a new wave of heightened awareness on college campuses late thursday, syracuse university announced it had placed assistant men's basketball coach, bernie fine , on administrative leave. after a former ball boy told the media fine molested him, beginning in the 1980s . fine denies the allegations, and the university says it investigated the complaint in 2005 and immediately alerted police, who found no evidence to support the claims and no charges were ever filed. and back here at penn state , obviously, this entire community has been affected by the allegations here. the allegations that jerry sandusky molested and abused, assaulting as many as eight if not more boys. so students and alumni have launched a fund-raising effort here, ann, trying to show their support for the victims of child abuse , already raising more than $420,000.
>> well, that at least is a little bit of good news in what is really i tragic story. peter alexander ,
Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45353501/
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