NEW YORK — In a newspaper report, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky says Joe Paterno never spoke to him about any suspected misconduct with minors.

Sandusky has been charged with 40 counts of molesting eight boys during 15 years and is free on bail while awaiting a preliminary hearing on Dec. 13.

Penn State’s board of trustees fired Paterno on Nov. 9 because it felt the coach didn’t go far enough in alerting authorities after an assistant coach told Paterno he saw Sandusky assaulting a young boy in the football building showers in March 2002.

Sandusky told the newspaper he and Paterno never spoke about the alleged 2002 incident or a 1998 child molestation complaint investigated by the Penn State campus police.

“I never talked to him about either one,” Sandusky said.