Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - How was missing DA Ray Gricar associated with convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky?

Dateline: Secrets Uncovered is set to bring forth the case of Ray Gricar's disappearance, which sparked discussions all over the country. The 59-year-old served as the district attorney of Centre County, Pennsylvania, from 1985 until 2005. This only made his disappearance a very high-profile case in the state of Pennsylvania.

Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of alleged child molestation and child s*xual abuse. Discretion is advisd.

Gricar was a tough prosecutor who could go after almost anyone. However, the only spot in Ray Gricar's glittering career is his decision to not prosecute longtime Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The latter was facing allegations of child sexual abuse. No one could pinpoint why the quiet DA never went after Sandusky.

The state attorney general’s office later revealed that it was Gricar who made the decision not to pursue this case. The case and its implications have also made their way to theories surrounding Ray Gricar's mysterious disappearance. Many claim that his disappearance was a direct result of his not prosecuting Sandusky in 1998.

The upcoming episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on January 31, 2024, will cover this connection in more detail. It might also draw some parallels with how the disappearance could have stemmed from this controversial decision.

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What happened between Ray Gricar and Jerry Sandusky in 1998?

As revealed later, Jerry Sandusky had multiple cases of s*xual abuse against him. These cases were mostly about his non-profit organization, the Second Mile, which helped underprivileged children.

In 1998, one of the victims' mothers went to the police with a complaint about Jerry Sandusky, who had allegedly showered with an 11-year-old boy. This was only one of the many such complaints received against Jerry Sandusky.

At the time of this complaint, Ray Gricar allegedly reviewed the police reports in private. The police reports presumably, contained notes or recordings of two conversations that the police heard between Sandusky and the boy’s mother. However, after reviewing the reports, Grical ultimately decided not to press charges, letting Sandusky go ahead with his alleged crimes for a longer time.

No one exactly knows why Gricar decided to not pursue this case, with some reports claiming that Gricar did not want to get involved with a local legend.

Unfortunately, by the time Sandusky was punished for his crime, Ray Gricar wasn't around to testify anything from the time of his investigation.

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Where is Jerry Sandusky now?

Jerry Sandusky initially escaped the investigation owing to Gricar's reluctance to prosecute him. However, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office dived into the case in 2008 after a Central Mountain High School student made new allegations of abuse against the assistant coach.

Soon, a case much bigger than the DA's office initially assumed took shape. Investigations revealed that Sandusky's organization, the Second Mile, was a meticulous way of entrapping potential victims.

In 2011, following a two-year grand jury investigation, Jerry Sandusky was arrested and charged with 52 counts of s*xual abuse of young boys. His cases varied over 15 years, from 1994 to 2009.

The following year, Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of the 48 remaining charges, after four of them were dropped. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison. He is currently incarcerated in the Pennsylvania prison system.

Ray Gricar's case, meanwhile, did not reach a satisfactory conclusion, with investigators still puzzled about the infamous disappearance.

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Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will air on Oxygen at 8.00 PM EST on Wednesday, January 31, 2024.