BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Prosecutors were expected to rest their case on Monday in the child sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky after presenting testimony from witnesses who described in often-graphic detail being molested as boys by the former Penn State University assistant football coach.

In 3-1/2 days of testimony last week from eight alleged victims of Sandusky, the prosecution sought to convince the jury in Pennsylvania that he is a serial sexual predator who targeted boys through the Second Mile charity he founded in 1977 for underprivileged children.

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Some spoke so softly they were barely audible. Others were stoic, while some were almost defiant. One wept.

But no matter their demeanors, each of the eight young men summoned to the witness stand in a Pennsylvania courthouse this week revealed a similar narrative of sexual abuse as young boys. And one man stood at the center of each account: former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – A 25-year-old man testified on Thursday in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse trial that the former Penn State University assistant football coach bear-hugged him in a shower when he was a boy, as prosecutors moved closer to wrapping up their case.

The man was the sixth of eight alleged child sex abuse victims to testify in the closely watched trial in Pennsylvania.

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Three more witnesses took the stand on Wednesday to accuse former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky of sexually abusing them – in showers, bedrooms, basements – and in at least one instance using threats and professions of love to keep his actions secret.

“I felt his body on my back and I kept lurching forward, but I didn’t have anywhere to go,” one accuser testified, choking up as he described an incident in a locker room shower on Pennsylvania State’s campus during the summer of 2001. “I just felt his penis on my back.”

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – The child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky heads into its third day on Wednesday already marked by graphic testimony.

The Centre County courtroom fell silent on Tuesday when a sobbing teenage witness told jurors he was 10 0r 11 years old when Sandusky befriended him through a charity he ran, the Second Mile, and later sexually abused him.

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – The child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky heads into its third day on Wednesday already marked by graphic testimony.

The Centre County courtroom fell silent on Tuesday when a sobbing teenage witness told jurors he was 10 0r 11 years old when Sandusky befriended him through a charity he ran, the Second Mile, and later sexually abused him.

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Testimony resumed on Tuesday in the child sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky after the first witness in the highly publicized case gave graphic testimony describing years of molestation by the former Penn State University football coach.

The 28-year-old man, one of eight alleged victims of Sandusky due to be prosecution witnesses, told jurors on the first day of trial on Monday he had kept silent about the scores of times he was abused because he was ashamed.

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – The first witness called in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse trial testified on Monday that the former Penn State assistant football coach treated him like “his girlfriend” when he was a young teenager, showering together and engaging in oral sex.

The graphic testimony by the 28-year-old man – one of eight alleged victims of Sandusky due to be prosecution witnesses – came after jurors heard opening statements from prosecutors and the defense as the closely watched trial got under way.

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Opening arguments in the child sex abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky start on Monday, with the explosive case expected to center on the credibility of witnesses.

Eight young men are prepared to testify in Centre County Court about how Sandusky, 68, befriended and then sexually abused them as boys over a 15-year period. The men, now aged 18 to 28, will be identified publicly for the first time in court.

By Ian Simpson

(Reuters) – It might appear on the surface that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has one thing going in his favor as he heads into his child sexual abuse trial on Monday — lots of jurors with ties to the college where he worked for decades.

But legal and jury experts say that familiarity is no guarantee of sympathy for Sandusky and may in fact hurt him if they come to blame him for tarnishing the university’s image.