With today’s news a lot of people are wondering, what exactly is supervised visitation here in Pennsylvania? Essentially, it is exactly what the name suggests, in order for Jerry Sandusky to see his grandchildren, a responsible adult has to supervise the visits. He isn’t allowed to be alone with the grandchildren.
Who will supervise the visitation? Well, that depends. Chances are relatively good that in this case, the supervisor will be one of the parents. Remember, the parents aren’t being forced to allow visitation between Jerry Sandusky and the grand-children. In this case, it simply that Jerry Sandusky was not allowed to visit any children at all, including his grand-children. Some of the parents want him to be able to see the children and now he will be allowed to do so, but only in the presence of a responsible adult.
One parent, Jill Thomas, who is divorced from Jerry Sandusky’s son, Matt, does not want Jerry Sandusky to see her children. She accused Jerry Sandusky of touching one or more of her children, a charge that authorities are not pursing due to a lack of evidence.
Jill Thomas is in a custody dispute with Matt Sandusky, which makes the situation more complicated. Due to the ongoing custody dispute, it will be up to the family court judge to determine whether the children can be allowed in Jerry Sandusky’s presence and if so, what limitations would be placed on such visitations. It seems extremely unlikely, even should the family court determine that visitation with Jerry Sandusky is appropriate, that Jerry Sandusky would be allowed to be alone with Jill Thomas’ 3 children.
For more information, see this article on Penn Live.