By Brian Bowling

Published: Thursday, June 28, 2012, 1:54 p.m.
Updated: Monday, September 3, 2012

A Pittsburgh federal judge on Thursday immediately threw out a lawsuit filed by someone claiming to be the nephew of former Steelers football legend Franco Harris and seeking a restraining order against Jerry Sandusky.

The application by “Jonathan Harris” shows his home address as the address for the Second Mile foundation, the charity that Sandusky founded and where prosecutors said he met the children he sexually abused.

Citing that and other indicators that the lawsuit was a prank, U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer dismissed it and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office for possible prosecution of whoever filed the lawsuit. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.

Franco Harris said the man is not related to him.

Federal magistrates in Ohio and Georgia have dismissed similar restraining order applications, calling them frivolous, and others have been filed in Wisconsin, Oregon and Kentucky. The people filing them claim to be related to famous football players or coaches, or the lawsuits have been filed by “Tom N. Jerry.”

A Centre County jury last week convicted Sandusky, a former Penn State football defensive coordinator, on 45 of 48 charges for sexually abusing 10 children.

Brian Bowling is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-325-4301 or bbowling@tribweb.com.

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