Jerry Sandusky called a serial predator during opening statements of his child rape trial

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach charged with child rape, may take the stand at his trial, his defense attorney suggested Monday in his opening statements.

Joe Amendola told jurors that Sandusky routinely "got showers with kids" after working out and that he would say so later.

Sandusky, 68, has been under house arrest since being charged with sexually abusing 10 boys over a period of at least 15 years. Prosecutors allege that he met some of his accusers through Second Mile, a charity he created for underprivileged children. He has pleaded not guilty.

Sandusky has always maintained his innocence, Amendola said, saying his client's alleged victims had changed their stories and were questioned until authorities received the answers they wanted.

"A lot of people lied," Amendola said. Some of the alleged victims have civil attorneys, he noted, calling that unusual. Others, he said, have a financial interest in the case.

However, he said Mike McQueary, a former graduate student who said he saw what appeared to be Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a shower in Penn State's athletic facilities in 2002, did not necessarily lie. McQueary has said he assumed sex was occurring even though he did not see the actual act, Amendola said.

Tom Kline, an attorney for Victim 5, told reporters afterward that his client had no financial interest and "never sought this out," but considers it "an obligation of citizenship" to testify.

"I would expect a serial story of serial predatory acts as shown by the prosecution," Kline said.

Amendola told jurors that some former Second Mile children will testify that Sandusky affected their lives in a positive way.

And he questioned the behavior of some alleged victims. One went to a football game with him before Sandusky's arrest, he said; another, identified only as Victim 4, brought his girlfriend and baby over to meet Sandusky. "It looked like he was bringing his family to meet his father," Amendola said.

"One of the keys to this case, one of the keys to your perception ... is to wait until all the evidence is in," he told jurors. "Some of it will be graphic ... it's going to be awful. But that doesn't make it true."

Sandusky suffers from a psychological condition that may explain some of his behavior, including letters written to one of his alleged victims, defense attorneys said in a motion filed Monday.

The motion seeks to keep out testimony involving prosecutors' allegations that Sandusky exhibited "grooming behavior," including letters written by Sandusky to Victim 4.

But if the testimony and letters are allowed, attorneys said they intend to offer expert testimony from a psychologist, who "will explain that the words, tones, requests and statements made in the letters are consistent with a person who suffers from a Histrionic Personality Disorder," according to documents.

A source familiar with the case told CNN last week that letters written by Sandusky to Victim 4 could be described as love letters.

According to the National Institutes of Health, histrionic personality disorder is a condition in which "people act in a very emotional and dramatic way that draws attention to themselves."

"The goal of a person suffering from this disorder in writing those letters would not necessarily be to groom or sexually consummate a relationship in a criminal manner, but rather to satisfy the needs of a psyche belabored by the needs of such a disorder," the motion says.

Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan spoke to jurors before Amendola, telling them, "You'll hear about systematic behavior by a serial predator. These were experiences that took place not over days, not over weeks, not over months ... but over years."

As McGettigan spoke Monday, childhood pictures of eight of the 10 alleged victims were shown on a projector screen, and the alleged victims were identified by their first names.

McGettigan described to the jury the extent of each victim's contact with Sandusky. Victim 4 received "a multitude of gifts" from Sandusky and accompanied him on trips to the Alamo Bowl and the Outback Bowl, the prosecutor said.

Feelings of humiliation, shame and fear, led to "years of silence" on the part of accusers, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor reminded jurors that Sandusky, not Second Mile or Penn State, was on trial. But, he said, Second Mile represented "the perfect environment for a serial predator."

McGettigan's opening statement followed about 20 minutes of jury instructions from Judge John Cleland. "You are the conscience of the community," he told the panel.

In interviews after his arrest, Sandusky acknowledged showering and "horsing around" with boys but denied being sexually attracted to them. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

McGettigan referred to those interviews during his opening statement, saying, "Deny what you can ... and make an excuse."

A jury of five men and seven women, along with four