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Fresh charges filed against ex-Penn State officials in Sandusky case
[Updated at 1:01 p.m. ET] New charges have been filed against three former Penn State officials in the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal, accused of having "used their positions to conceal and cover up for years the activities of a known child predator," Pennsylvania's attorney general said Thursday.
Former Penn State University President Graham Spanier - charged for the first time in the case - and former Athletic Director Tim Curley and ex-Vice President Gary Schultz now face the same five charges: obstruction of justice, perjury, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children and failure to report allegations of child abuse.
"(The three defendants) worked to actively conceal the truth with total disregard to the children who were victims in this case,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda L. Kelly told reporters Thursday.
The scandal, which erupted nearly a year ago, led to the firing of Spanier and longtime head football coach Joe Paterno, who died in January. Curley and Schultz had been charged with some of the counts - perjury and failure to report allegations of abuse - previously; both pleaded not guilty at the time.
Sandusky, the 68-year-old former Penn State assistant football coach, was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys and was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison in October.
Jurors determined that Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999, used his access to university facilities and his foundation for underprivileged youths to abuse the boys sexually. During the trial, a 23-year-old man identified as Victim No. 4 testified that he was 13 when Sandusky sexually abused him in a university shower.
Less than a month after Sandusky's conviction, former FBI Director Louis Freeh released his university-funded report that said Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz took part in a cover-up to avoid bad publicity.
Attorneys for Spanier blasted the review, calling it a "blundering, indefensible indictment" and "a flat-out distortion of facts" that was "infused with bias and innuendo."
Spanier told The New Yorker magazine's Jeffrey Toobin in August that he had no recollection of e-mails he is accused of exchanging with top university officials over two specific allegations of abuse involving Sandusky: one in 1998 and another in 2001.
"I am aware, as I said in my letter to the board of trustees, that I was apparently copied on two e-mails," Spanier told Toobin. "I didn't reply to them. The first e-mail that I saw didn't mention anybody's name. It simply said something to the effect of 'The employee will be interviewed tomorrow,' something like that, no name mentioned. Then, about five weeks later, I think it was, I was copied on another e-mail that said, 'The interview has been completed, the investigation has been completed, nothing was found, Jerry felt badly that the kid might have felt badly.' "
Spanier, Curley and Schultz are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Friday, Kelly said.
Asked if Paterno would have faced the same charges if he were alive, Kelly said: "Mr. Paterno is deceased. The defendants charged in this case are Curley, Schultz and Spanier. I'm not going to speculate or comment on Mr. Paterno’s relationship to this investigation. Mr. Paterno is dead, and that’s the end of it."
Sandusky is seeking a new trial. For more on Thursday's developments, click here.
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It's about damn time! Just like the navy if selling weed in the engine room the captain IS responsible.
Coming up next it's the Bishop's and Boy Scouts leaders time! We need to clean house here people enough is enough!
This case and those people,literally makes me sick to my stomach......Hope they burn in hell!
Yes, yes, yes and yes! Only when justice prevails and punishment meted out to those who are responsible for abusing children in the most profound of ways (molestation, serious mental and physical abuse) will those who have a mind to abuse otehrs STOP. Abuse a child (or elderly/disabled/otherwise beleagured person, for that matter!) and you will be severely PUNISHED. Great job here.
In other news: There have been reports that 3 janitors, 1 landscaper, and the guy that refills the vending machines have run off to Pango Pango over fears they would be accused of being in the shower with Sandusky and the kids. Mary Walcott, of the Infamous Salem Witch Trials stated at a press conference: " I thought I was good... But wow! I'm nothing but a rookie compared to Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda L. Kelly! ;-p
Paterno should be dug up and his rotting corpse should be hung, shot and set on fire. He had the knowledge and power to stop this on day one. Shame on him and his family.
Not to be a Debbie Downer but I highly doubt this will have any effect on people who abuse children. It may however make people in high positions think twice before trying to cover up scandals.
GEB –
It may just make future Mike McQueary's not tell anyone when they see child abuse. McQueary didn't call the police in 2001 because he was afraid he would be labeled a snitch and never work as a football coach. That eventually happened to him anyway, only a decade later.
Anyone else notice the eerie similarity in profiles of Spanier and Sandusky?? Creepy!
Your comment is completely silly.
I think Spanier looks like Mayor West from Family Guy.
This trial will be interesting. It won't revolve around victims of child molestation it will evolve around emails and correspondence. I would find it hard to believe the state would bring a case without evidence on the other hand they are under a extreme amount of pressure to bring a case and get a conviction. The press has pushed this case to be bigger and bigger from the beginning. If Spanier and Curly are not convicted by a jury Lois Freeh will have some explaining to do. It will be interesting to see if Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett is called forth to explain why he didn't press charges in 1998 when he was attorney general in P.A.
It's interesting that Corbett sat on the investigation and collected $200k in campaign donations from Sandusky and those working on his charity. Now that the likely new PA AG is going to investigate Corbett, he's rushing these cases to spread blame around before people point the finger at him. Forget a football coach, why are we not focusing on the person who was actually elected to be in charge of such investigations? His replacement was certainly able to find informaton.
We seem to be doing a better job with Penn State than we did with the Catholic Church.
This is an incredibly dumb statement. The Church has paid out well over a billion dollars and charges stemmming from 40 to 60 years ago still keep coming long after the priests in question are dead.
But aside from that, there is ample proof our public school system harbors far more active abusers than anything seen in the Church. The lack of outrage is deafening. It should also be noted, the public schools have caps on how much they can be sued.
Good one!
So true. The katholicks get away with so much genocide and abuse.
How does one stop the Roman Catholic Church ... at anything? FYI: The Vatican is actually its own government/country. It even has a seat at the United Nations. Good luck ever changing it or even charging it with crimes against humanity, of which it has a 1,000-year history – and then some. A quick read of European history makes one shake their head and wonder how so many people could think this was anything more than a greedy, money-making self-protectionist cabal of repulsive men in gold dresses who, through intrigue and corruption, have become rich by interfering in the operation of every country on the planet. The RCC is anything but a religion and little more than a bank. One of the wealthiest.
AWild, you're absolutely right. This same kind of crime is happening in public schools every day and it's hushed up. Teachers are allowed to transfer or resign quietly with no charges. The only cases that make headlines are the pretty female teachers, but it's very common
The amount of "rational" PSU alums, and State College residents on this article defending these monsters is sickening.
Please do not attempt to respond with a 5 paragraph essay. You're an embarassment to the human race if you remotely think your school doesn't deserve to literally be shut down today.
No 5 paragraphs here. Just this: Eat S* and die.
Not a Penn State alum, nor a fan... however, your comment is completely absurd. Why subject to punishment those who have never, nor will ever have anything to do with the scandal?
America has killed innocent people with drone attacks, unfortunately, some of our troops have done atrocious things overseas... why don't we appoint you as the scapegoat for all negative things America? Get a life!
And you consider yourself rational, stating that an entire university should be shut down due to the actions of few? Your comment doesn't even deserve a response, but I am sick of people like you out there making comments like that. Get over yourself.
Yes Matt, we should shut down the University, and the Pennslyvania State Government.
We need to also close the US government, and all Americans should participate in a group suicide.
Yep, because you know, a University employee was jailed for abusing children. We should close all states governments as well, and of course, all the Universities in the land. Heck, close all the schools too.
Yep, that should adequately punish Sandusky. Thanks Matt for contributing such valuable advise.
Herchato, that is because Penn state doesn't have millions and millions of folllowers or the power of that church. Don't be a twit.
Good. Something needed to happen to this fisheyed fool. Lettin' creepers roam and such... Ugh!
When will we purge the public schools of the thousands and thousands and thousands (tens of thousands?) of vile, pedophile teachers/Obama flacks who have been preying on children? What does Obama think of so many of his cultists being pedophile teachers in public schools and what does Obama plan on doing with the public school pedophile teacher crisis?
I would hope that all these child molesters would be put on an Island surround by ocean where they had to produce their own food and build their own shelters . They need to be removed from "civilization" with no return! To so destroy a childs innocents is unforgivable.
sounds like the liberal democrats in dc along with their pope Broke O'Bmaah
The good ol' boys are going down. We see this everywhere. You give some people power and they think they can run people over. Make an example out of them!
Okay, this is good charges are given to the creeps that covered this sick stuff up. Why can't justice take care of these catholic priest that are molesting boys everyday? These creeps are not only, "getting off" and i mean in two ways, but the church seems to back them up well.
Sandusky and his twin brother! Yikes....