Former Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky's Grand Jury indictment paints the disturbing portrait of a man who used his position to target and sexually abuse young boys over a long period of time. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports on the missed opportunities to stop Sandusky. 
 
 Joe Paterno has reached out to a prominent Washington criminal defense lawyer to represent him in the Penn State sex abuse case, a source close to the case told NBC News. 
 
 J. Sedgwick Sollers, who once represented President George H.W. Bush in the Iran-Contra affair, was contacted by Paterno's advisers on Thursday. But Sollers has not yet met with Paterno, and a formal retainer agreement has not been signed. 
 
 The longtime Penn State football coach was fired Wednesday night after disclosures in a grand jury report that one of his assistants informed him in 2002 about an alleged incident of sexual abuse by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. 
 
 Paterno has not been charged with any crimes in the case. He has been described as a cooperating witness in the case. Two other university officials told by Paterno about the alleged incident were charged this week with failing to report Sandusky's conduct to legal authorities and perjury. 
 
 Sollers declined to comment Thursday night. He is the managing partner in the Washington office of King & Spalding, a major Atlanta-based law firm. A spokesman for Paterno said in an email that "no lawyer has been retained." 
 
 A source close to Paterno said that in addition to the investigations by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, the former coach is concerned about the likelihood of civil lawsuits by Sandusky's alleged victims and their families. 

 And Thursday night, the university announced that a key assistant coach who has been central to the case against Sandusky would not take part in Saturday's game against Nebraska because he had been the target of "multiple threats." 
 
 A day after the scandal led to the firings of head football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham B. Spanier, the school and its fans struggled to recover from the most tumultuous stretch in Penn State history. The spotlight showed no signs of dimming. 
 
 A San Antonio police spokesman confirmed that detectives there were exploring charges against Sandusky for allegedly sexually abusing a boy during trips with Penn State's football team to bowl games in 1998 and 1999. "We are going to be taking what action we can to see if a case can be built," prosecutor Cliff Herberg told a local radio station, WOAI-AM. 
 
 The boy in that case is one of eight that Sandusky, 67, allegedly molested at his house, on campus, and on road trips between 1994 and 2008. He stepped down as Paterno's defensive coordinator in 1999 but maintained an office at the football complex and ties to the university through his foundation for underprivileged boys and camps it ran at Penn State. 
 
 Prosecutors have also charged two school administrators, athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz, with covering up an alleged 2002 campus assault by Sandusky and later lying about it to authorities. 
 
 All have denied the charges. 
 
 Thousands of students rushed into the streets after Paterno's abrupt ouster Wednesday after 46 years as head coach and sparked late-night clashes between police and journalists. Police said they were reviewing tapes and preparing charges. 
 
 But that didn't stem what has been a chorus of criticism about the alleged abuse and questions over whether the Paterno or others could or should have stopped it. 
 
 U.S. Sens. Patrick J. Toomey (R., Pa.) and Bob Casey (D., Pa.), both withdrew their nomination of Paterno for a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by the White House. A spokesman for President Obama said the allegation regarding Sandusky and school officials, if true, "is outrageous." 
 
 The National Collegiate Athletic Association said it would investigate whether actions by Penn State officials violated its bylaws. NCAA president Mark Emmert told ESPN the Sandusky case was "easily the worst scandal" he had ever seen in college sports. 
 
 According to the grand jury, a graduate coaching assistant said he saw Sandusky raping a young boy in the team showers one night in 2002 and reported it to Paterno and other administrators. 
 
 No one passed the information to law enforcement, even though Sandusky had been investigated at least once before for alleged inappropriate conduct with a boy. 
 
 Paterno and Spanier have denied any wrongdoing. The graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, is now a receivers coach for the team. 
 
 McQueary has been the focus of increasing public scrutiny and criticism for not notifying law enforcement of what he had seen. Last night, the university reported he had been the target of threats. In a statement, the university said "it would be in the best interest of all for Assistant Coach McQueary not to be in attendance at Saturday's Nebraska game." 
 
 Paterno spent his first day out of coaching at home with his wife as reporters camped out front. A player and assistants dropped by. 
 
 His replacement, defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, said he would strive to "restore the confidence" in the program. 
 
 Spanier's replacement, Rodney Erickson, urged the community to stay calm. "The eyes of the nation are upon you," Erickson told students, faculty, and staff in a statement. "Please set an example that will make us all proud." 
 
 The university trustees met privately for a fourth time this week. At its public meeting Friday, the board is expected to name a special committee to investigate how the university responded to the allegations about Sandusky. 
 
 Emerging from the trustees meeting, Gov. Corbett said he supported the board's decision to oust Paterno and Spanier, saying he had lost confidence in both. 
 
 "When it comes to the safety of children, there can be no margin for error, no hesitancy to act," said Corbett, a trustee by virtue of his office. "Unfortunately, in my career, particularly as attorney general, I have seen many instances when people who have power believe they are beyond the law." 
 
 Contact staff writer John P. Martin at 215-854-4774, jmartin@phillynews.com, or @JPMartinInky on Twitter.
– Joe Paterno hasn’t been charged with any crimes in the Penn State abuse case, but he has reached out to prominent criminal defense lawyer J. Sedgwick Sollers to represent him just in case, sources tell NBC News. The Washington-based Sollers is famed for having once represented George HW Bush during the Iran-Contra scandal. He has not yet met with Paterno, however, nor has Paterno entered into a formal retainer agreement with him. A source close to Paterno says he wants representation to deal with both potential civil suits from Jerry Sandusky’s victims and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s investigation. That investigation expanded yesterday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, with state authorities looking into two new allegations against Sandusky, and Texas police investigating claims that he molested a boy there as well. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett also called for an investigation into Sandusky’s Second Mile charity, which gave him access to young boys, according to the Wall Street Journal.