Ex-Penn St. Coach Sandusky Charged With Homo Sex Abuse of Young Boys

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/09/23/penn-state-fight-scandal/#comment-339611

Penn St. Settles Court Fight With Insurer Which Revealed Sandusky Scandal Details
September 23, 2016 9:02 PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Penn State has settled a court fight with its insurer over payments to victims of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, a case that revealed new allegations about how early late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno knew of accusations against his assistant coach.

A one-page document filed with a Philadelphia court on Thursday stated the action against the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association Insurance Company was settled.

Terms of the deal and the amount of payment are confidential by mutual consent, a Penn State spokeswoman said in an email Friday.

As part of the legal tussle over whether the insurer would have to cover Sandusky-related claims, both sides obtained sworn depositions from key witnesses and other documents that hadn’t previously become public.

The presiding judge, after requests from The Associated Press and other media outlets, released some of that information in July.

Among the notable new revelations were allegations Paterno fielded a complaint about Sandusky in 1976. The documents include portions of the accuser’s deposition in 2014 saying Paterno, when told that a boy had been molested, responded that he didn’t want to hear about it and had “a football season to worry about.” :mad: :mad:

A Paterno family lawyer has lambasted the allegations, saying they are untrue and impossible to prove.

Penn State made $92 million in total payouts to settle 32 civil claims in the Sandusky sex molestation scandal, and sued to have the insurer cover them.

In May, a judge found that Penn State had to assume the costs of settlements stemming from claims over most of the 1990s because its insurance policies did not cover abuse or molestation.

When Sandusky abused children at his home or at events held by the children’s charity he started, “he was still a PSU assistant coach and professor, and clothed in the glory associated with those titles, particularly in the eyes of impressionable children,” Judge Gary Glazer wrote.

“By cloaking him with a title that enabled him to perpetuate his crimes, PSU must assume some responsibility for what he did both on and off campus,” he said.

Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys. He is serving a 30- to 60-year prison term.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...n-Sandusky-Case-Going-to-Trial-397228931.html

Lawsuit Against Penn State in Sandusky Case Going to Trial
By Mark Scolforo
Published at 9:15 AM EDT on Oct 16, 2016

A lawsuit by a former Penn State coach whose testimony helped convict fellow assistant Jerry Sandusky of being a sexually violent predator goes to trial Monday over allegations that the university defamed him and wrongly refused to renew his contract.

Mike McQueary, now 42, played quarterback at Penn State before becoming a member of Joe Paterno's coaching staff.

But he became best known as the assistant who went to Paterno in 2001 to report seeing Sandusky, then a retiree with gym privileges, sexually molesting a boy in the team shower. Sandusky was not arrested until a decade later, leading to accusations of a high-level cover-up.

Nine women and three men were chosen for the jury last week. Both sides will make opening statements Monday.

McQueary was suspended with pay from the football program in 2011, when the first charges were brought in the case. Following Sandusky's conviction in 2012 on charges of abusing 10 boys, McQueary learned he was effectively being terminated from his $140,000-a-year job.

He claims in his whistleblower lawsuit that he was retaliated against for helping prosecutors, wrongly misled by high-ranking administrators who first heard his story in 2001, and defamed.

His own role in the scandal has also drawn scrutiny because he did not physically intervene in the sexual assault of the boy, and because he didn't go to the police.

McQueary went to Paterno's home a day after the shower incident to discuss what he had seen. Paterno alerted Tim Curley, the athletic director at the time, and Gary Schultz, a vice president at the time, and McQueary met with both of them about a week later.

Paterno's handling of the complaint was eventually cited by trustees as one of the reasons for his firing in late 2011. Paterno died a few months later.

In his lawsuit, which seeks more than $4 million, McQueary claims Curley and Schultz wrongly led him to believe that they considered it a serious matter and that they would respond appropriately.

As a result, the lawsuit claims, McQueary "has been labeled and branded as being part of a cover-up,'' making it impossible for him to find work as a football coach.

He also claims he was defamed by a news release issued by Graham Spanier _ Penn State president at the time _ on the day Sandusky was charged, expressing full support for Curley and Schultz, who both had also been charged criminally for not reporting the abuse claim and other offenses.

The lawsuit says Spanier's statement and comments he made a few days later to athletics staff "clearly suggest'' McQueary had lied before a grand jury and to police. Spanier is also accused of failing to properly report suspected abuse and endangering children. He is awaiting trial.

It appears from court documents that neither Curley nor Schultz will answer any questions if called to testify in McQueary's lawsuit. Both invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when attorneys sought to question them during the pretrial phase of the case.

Spanier has not said whether he would testify.

McQueary has already told his story to a grand jury, at a preliminary hearing and at Sandusky's 2012 trial.

Sandusky, 72, is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence at a prison in southwestern Pennsylvania. He maintains his innocence.

During the Sandusky trial, McQueary gave this account on what he witnessed:

Entering the locker room, he heard showers running and "smacking sounds.'' In a mirror, he saw Sandusky standing behind a boy whose hands were against the shower wall. He turned to see directly that Sandusky had his arms around the boy's midsection, testifying it "was sexual, it was wrong, it was perverse.''

He became alarmed, flustered and shocked, slamming shut his locker. He then saw that Sandusky and the boy, estimated at ages 10 to 12, had become separated.

He did not say anything to Sandusky or the boy. Instead, he went to his office and called his father, who advised him to come to his home to convey what he had seen. Early the next day, he contacted Paterno.

Asked during the trial whether he called police, he replied that he felt that he had because Schultz had an oversight role with campus police as vice president for business and finance.

It was only an anonymous email sent to the district attorney in November 2010 that led investigators to first approach McQueary in the case.

Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts, including four that involved the shower encounter: indecent assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children. He was acquitted of the most serious charge related to the incident McQueary witnessed, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

The identity of the boy, called Victim 2 in court records, remains in dispute. A man who said he was Victim 2 reached a settlement with the university, but the lead prosecutor at Sandusky's trial said in court recently he does not believe he was the person McQueary saw in the shower.

The criminal case against Spanier, Curley and Schultz is still pending.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ueary-Lawsuit-Spanier-Sandusky-397568921.html

Did Penn State Edit Release During Jerry Sandusky Scandal?
By Mark Scolforo
Published 3 hours ago

Penn State's former general counsel testified Tuesday that several days before two high-ranking administrators were charged over their handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal, the school's then-president let the men's defense lawyers review and suggest changes to a statement he later issued that voiced his full support for them.

Cynthia Baldwin told jurors about email exchanges that ensued with defense attorneys Tom Farrell and Caroline Roberto shortly before their clients were charged with perjury, failure to properly report suspected abuse and other offenses in November 2011.

Baldwin said someone at the attorney general's office had told her the charges were coming against Gary Schultz, then the school's vice president for business and finance, and Tim Curley, then the athletic director. That led to an internal meeting with high-ranking members of the school's public relations staff, the then-chairman of the board of trustees Steve Garban and president Graham Spanier.

Spanier wanted help with a statement in support of Curley and Schultz that he had drafted, and his aides suggested changes. He also directed Baldwin to provide it to the defense attorneys.

"He said to send it to (Roberto)," Baldwin testified. "That's what I did."

It was published on Nov. 5, the day that the attorney general's office announced charges against the two administrators and Sandusky, news that sent the campus reeling and soon led the board of trustees to force out Spanier. It was also later revised to include direct quotes from Farrell and Roberto.

Spanier's statement is a critical part of a civil lawsuit that went to trial this week, brought by former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary. He believes he was defamed by the Spanier statement, which said the charges against Curley and Schultz were groundless.

McQueary has testified he reported to the two men in 2001 that he saw Sandusky sexually abuse a boy in a team shower. He believes Spanier's press statement made him look like a liar.

Before Spanier's statement was posted on a university news site, Baldwin had been in touch with the two defense lawyers. Farrell, who represents Schultz, suggested making a wording change, from indictment to presentment. She said she passed that along to Spanier, who made the change. Pennsylvania grand juries generally do not indict, but rather issue reports known as presentments.

Baldwin said she understood why Spanier was writing the statement: "I knew it was going to be used for press reasons."

Baldwin is a former chair of the Penn State board who also spent two years as an appointed member of the state Supreme Court. Her actions in accompanying Curley and Schultz before a grand jury investigating Sandusky in early 2011 led a state appeals court earlier this year to dismiss several of the charges against them on grounds their right to legal representation had been compromised.

Spanier was also charged, a year later, over his actions in response to the Sandusky matter. All three men await trial in Harrisburg on charges of failure to report suspected abuse and child endangerment.

McQueary is seeking more than $4 million for how he was treated after his role in the Sandusky investigation became public. The week after Sandusky, Curley and Schultz were charged, McQueary was placed on paid administrative leave and never returned to the football program. He says has not been able to find work since.

Baldwin said the decision to keep McQueary off the sidelines was motivated by threats against him that were reported to her by police and athletics department staff.

In addition to the defamation allegation, the lawsuit also claims McQueary was retaliated against for helping police and prosecutors convict Sandusky, and that Curley and Schultz committed a misrepresentation by falsely making him think they took his report seriously and would respond accordingly.

The university's defense has been that his contract was not renewed, he was paid 18 months' severance, and that damage to his reputation was in part because of public outrage that he did not intervene physically to stop Sandusky's abuse of the boy.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Penn-State-Mike-McQuery-Case-397728221.html

Ex-Penn State Athletic Director Denies Claims in Mike McQueary Whistleblower Lawsuit
By Mark Scolforo
Published at 7:09 AM EDT on Oct 20, 2016 | Updated at 8:39 AM EDT on Oct 20, 2016

A former Penn State athletic director is denying a claim by a main witness against Jerry Sandusky that he was terminated as an assistant football coach because of his role in Sandusky's child molestation case.

Jurors in Mike McQueary's defamation and whistleblower lawsuit were read testimony Wednesday by Dave Joyner.

McQueary's lawsuit claims he was mistreated by the university over his role as a witness against Sandusky. He's seeking more than $4 million in lost wages and other claims.

The school says he was put on paid leave after Sandusky's arrest over safety concerns, not in retaliation for his role in the case.

Sandusky maintains his innocence and is appealing.

Testimony resumes on Thursday, the fourth day of trial. McQueary is expected to take the stand in the coming days.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ky-Joe-Paterno-Scandal-Lawsuit-398959001.html

Jury Awards Ex-Penn State Coach More Than $7M
Published 2 hours ago | Updated 44 minutes ago

A jury has ruled in favor of a former Penn State assistant football coach in his defamation case against the university, awarding him over $7 million in damages.

Jurors deliberated about four hours before returning with their decision Thursday night.

Mike McQueary claims he was defamed by a statement the school president released the day Jerry Sandusky was charged with child molestation. He also says he was retaliated against for helping with the Sandusky investigation and misled by school administrators.

Penn State argued McQueary's reputation was harmed by public opinion about his decision not to go to police or child-welfare authorities when he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a boy.

The jury awarded McQueary compensatory damages of about $2.3 million. He also was awarded $5 million in punitive damages.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Penn-State-Historic-Fine-Sandusky-399875011.html

Penn State Fined Record Amount Over Sandusky Case
By NBC10 Staff
Published 6 hours ago | Updated 4 hours ago

Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coach at Penn State, was convicted in 2012 of sexual abuse of 10 boys and is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence. He maintains his innocence.

Penn State is facing a record fine for the way it mishandled the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.

The U.S. Department of Education wants to fine the school $2.4 million for failing to disclose what school officials knew about Sandusky's sex crimes.

Sandusky, a football coach under legendary head coach Joe Paterno, was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing several young boys. Some of the sex crimes occurred on Penn State's campus.

The penalty is punishment for breaking the law known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

"For colleges and universities to be safe spaces for learning and self-development, institutions must ensure student safety -- a part of which is being transparent about incidents on their campuses. Disclosing this information is the law," U.S. Education Under Secretary Ted Mitchell said in a statement Thursday.

The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to report publicly each year the number of criminal offenses on campus. Schools have to give the information to the Department of Education [DOE], which then provides it to the public.

The $2.4 million fine is the largest ever levied by the DOE, nearly seven times the highest fine to date, which was $350,000 against Eastern Michigan in 2007.

Penn State officials did not want to comment before thoroughly reviewing the DOE's 239-page report. Their statement expressed regret for the past and vigilance in the future.

"Today, Penn State has robust Clery training and collection processes in place. We have many initiatives, including 18 focused on fighting sexual assault and misconduct, with the creation of new positions, mandatory employee training, a universal hotline and many others. Part of our process includes regular evaluation of our efforts, the analysis of best practice and incorporation of learnings into our operations," the statement read, in part with a link to the school's "major efforts."

Just last week, a jury awarded assistant Penn State football coach Mike McQueary $7.3 million in lost wages and damages. McQueary, a key witness in the trial against Sandusky, testified he told Paterno in 2001 that he'd seen Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in a shower inside the school's locker room.

To date, the scandal has cost the school upwards of $100 million in lawsuit settlements to victims and their families, legal fees and penalties assessed by the NCAA, according to a report in the New York Times.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...-new-trial-victim-2-testifies/#comment-343404

Jerry Sandusky In Court To Seek New Trial, Victim 2 Testifies
November 4, 2016 6:48 PM By Greg Argos

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (CBS) — “Is There anything you’d like to say sir?”

To that, there was no response from victim number two, the now 29-year-old Marine who says Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulted him in a Penn State shower in 2001.

“He was dragged here,” said Jenn Storm, a Pennsylvania victim’s advocate. “If he never has to talk about this again, that’s what he would like.”

Victim number two spent about an hour answering questions from Sandusky’s current attorney Al Lindsay. Those questions focused on why his original statements to police back in 2011 stated he was never abused by his former mentor and why that story changed after hiring an attorney.

“It’s incredibly common for victim’s of sexual violence to not be forthcoming initially. Sometimes it takes them months, years, weeks. You have to understand that in this case, there was so much pressure on this young man. There were so many things going on and Jerry was not incarcerated at that time,” Storm said.

During the 2011 trial, prosecutors said victim two was known only to God and the Sandusky defense team claims the state knew who that person was, but didn’t trust his testimony.

If that’s true, that could be considered prosecutorial misconduct and Sandusky could receive a new trial.

“If you recall the testimony from the commonwealth, they deny he was victim number two,” Lindsay said.

The judge will now decide whether to grant the 72-year-old’s motion for post conviction relief.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...m-plus-to-mcquearys-7m-verdict-vs-penn-state/

Judge Adds $5M-Plus To McQueary’s $7M Verdict Vs. Penn State
November 30, 2016 4:33 PM

mike-mcquary.jpg

Former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary (L) (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty

By Mark Scolforo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former Penn State assistant football coach is getting an additional $5 million over his treatment by the university following Jerry Sandusky’s arrest on child molestation charges five years ago.

Judge Thomas Gavin ruled in favor of Mike McQueary’s whistleblower claim against the university Wednesday, adding to a jury’s $7.3 million verdict issued last month for defamation and misrepresentation.

McQueary had told investigators he saw Sandusky sexually abuse a boy in a team shower in 2001. After Sandusky’s arrest, McQueary was put on leave with pay and hasn’t returned to coaching.

Gavin is concluding that Penn State retaliated against McQueary.

The judge is awarding McQueary legal fees, nearly $4 million in lost wages and $1 million for humiliation and harm to his reputation.

A university spokesman declined to immediately comment.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Sandusky-Case-McQueary-Legal-Fees-Penn-State.html

Whistleblowing Former Penn State Coach Mike McQueary Wants $1.7 in Legal Fees
Ex-assistant coach seeks legal fees from Penn State
Published 2 hours ago

A former assistant football coach who won verdicts of more than $12 million from Penn State over his treatment after Jerry Sandusky was arrested for child molestation is asking for another $1.7 million in legal fees.

Lawyers for Mike McQueary filed a petition Wednesday outlining the litigation costs and lawyer bills that would justify such an award.

The legal fees are being sought under the state's whistleblower protection law.

A Penn State spokeswoman says the school will review the request.

McQueary testified he saw Sandusky sexually abuse a boy in a team shower in 2001.

After Sandusky's 2011 arrest, McQueary was placed on paid leave and banned from athletic facilities. He was terminated the next year when his coaching contract expired.

Sandusky is appealing a 45-count child sexual abuse conviction. Top News: Florida Drug Smuggling, Greek Protests and MoreTop News: Florida Drug Smuggling, Greek Protests and More
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Penn-State-Sues-Former-President-Over-Abuse-407772595.html

Penn State Sues Former President for Breaching Contract, Demands Millions
Published at 12:06 PM EST on Dec 21, 2016

Graham+Spanier+PSU+Abuse+Lawsuit.jpg

Former Penn State University President Graham Spanier.


Penn State has countersued its former president, claiming he violated his employment agreement by not disclosing what he knew about Jerry Sandusky before the former assistant football coach's arrest on child molestation charges in 2011.

The university's legal counterattack filed Monday was made public by the court on Tuesday, along with Penn State's response to a revised breach-of-contract lawsuit Graham Spanier filed in the courthouse near State College last month.

The school said Spanier violated a 2010 employment contract and wants back the millions it has paid him over the past five years. The counterclaim said Spanier did not fully disclose what he knew about the Sandusky grand jury investigation in 2011, or information he purportedly had about complaints regarding Sandusky showering with boys in 1998 and 2001.

Spanier attorney Tom Clare called it "a last-ditch effort by Penn State to escape liability for its multiple clear breaches" of the separation agreement. :rolleyes:

Spanier was forced out as president by university trustees days after Sandusky was first charged five years ago, along with two high-ranking university administrators accused of covering up complaints about Sandusky.

He and Penn State entered into a separation agreement that granted him 18 months' salary, a $1.5 million retirement payment, a $700,000 post-presidency sabbatical payment, and five years of tenured faculty service at $600,000 annually, ending in November 2017. :mad:

The agreement also called for the school not to make negative comments about him, an element of the deal that Spanier claims the school has violated.

"Dr. Spanier did not disclose the full state of his knowledge of allegations and investigations involving Sandusky, nor were those facts otherwise known to the university at that time," Penn State's lawyers wrote in the new counterclaim. "To the contrary, Dr. Spanier used his knowledge of those matters to the university's detriment and his own advantage in negotiating the terms of his separation."

After the agreement, Penn State unearthed email messages between Spanier and the two high-ranking administrators, then-vice president Gary Schultz and then-athletic director Tim Curley, about the 1998 complaint investigated by university police and the 2001 incident witnessed by another assistant coach, Mike McQueary.

Penn State said it would have "terminated Dr. Spanier on terms materially different than those set forth in the separation agreement" had they known about those emails in November 2011. The school said Spanier's failure to disclose what he knew, "particularly in light of his 2011 knowledge of the grand jury investigation," ran afoul of his responsibilities as the school's president, trustee and faculty member.

Clare, Spanier's lawyer, said in a statement Tuesday it was "outrageous" that Penn State "would treat one of its longest-serving presidents this way, and we look forward to showing how ridiculous these claims are as the case progresses."

Spanier was charged in 2012 over his handling of the Sandusky matter. He is awaiting trial with Curley and Schultz in Harrisburg on charges of endangering the welfare of children and failing to properly report suspected abuse, a case that has been pared back sharply and delayed repeatedly. All three deny the accusations against them. No trial date has been set.

Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse in 2012 and is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence. He maintains he is innocent and an appeal is pending.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...oach-a-Quarter-Billion-Dollars-409967445.html

Penn State Abuse Scandal Costs Approach a Quarter-Billion Dollars
By Mark Scolforo
Published 40 minutes ago

Penn State's costs related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal are approaching a quarter-billion dollars and growing, five years after the former assistant football coach's arrest on child molestation charges.

The scandal's overall cost to the school has reached at least $237 million, including a recent $12 million verdict in the whistleblower and defamation case brought by former assistant coach Mike McQueary, whose testimony helped convict Sandusky in 2012.

The university has settled with 33 people over allegations they were sexually abused by Sandusky, and has made total payments to them of $93 million.

The total also covers the $48 million "fine'' levied by the NCAA that is funding anti-child-abuse efforts in Pennsylvania, $27 million in lawyer fees to defend lawsuits, nearly $14 million that includes the legal defense of three former administrators facing criminal charges for their handling of Sandusky complaints and $5.3 million for crisis communications and other consultants.

The school's latest financial statement said insurers have covered $30 million in costs, while other insurance claims remain pending.

The school also was hit in November with a $2.4 million fine from a federal investigation, started immediately after Sandusky was arrested, that concluded the university repeatedly violated campus crime reporting requirements.

A look at where some of the other pending Sandusky-related matters stand:

ADMINISTRATORS' CRIMINAL CASE

A senior judge sitting in Harrisburg is considering a request by three former high-ranking Penn State administrators to throw out their criminal charges, following an oral argument that was held in Harrisburg in October.

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier, former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Vice President Gary Schultz are accused of not responding properly to McQueary's 2001 complaint that Sandusky was sexually abusing a boy in a team shower. They are also accused of putting children in danger.

The attorney general's office wants to add a new count, of conspiracy to commit endangering the welfare of children, against all three defendants. Judge John Boccabella has not indicated when he might rule.

The three men have consistently maintained their innocence.

SANDUSKY'S APPEAL

Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence in Greene State Prison on a 45-count conviction for sexual abuse of 10 boys, and he is currently pursuing an appeal in county court near State College.

In November, the judge handling that appeal-- Judge John Cleland, who was also the trial judge-- took himself off the case after Sandusky's lawyers raised objections to Cleland's role in a December 2011 meeting in a hotel the night before Sandusky waived a preliminary hearing.

Cleland's sternly worded order included a footnote saying his review of the 34 issues raised by Sandusky found none of them had merit.

The state court system is working on appointing a new judge, but that decision has not been made.

SPANIER V. PENN STATE

Penn State countersued Spanier last month, saying he violated his employment agreement by not disclosing what he knew about Sandusky before Sandusky's 2011 arrest. The school is seeking repayment of millions of dollars it has paid him over the past five years.

Spanier's lawsuit claims the school violated an agreement made when he was pushed out of the top job-- days after Sandusky was charged-- by making public comments that were critical of him and not living up to promises regarding office space, teaching opportunities and payment of legal costs.

SPANIER V. FREEH

A judge has scheduled a hearing later this month in a lawsuit by Spanier against former FBI Director Louis Freeh and his law firm, who were paid by Penn State to produce a 2012 report into how Spanier and other top administrators handled the Sandusky matter.

Judge Robert Eby will hear oral argument in Freeh's preliminary objections to the lawsuit. Spanier is seeking damages for the reputational and economic harm he alleges resulted from the report.

PATERNO V. NCAA

The family of former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is suing the NCAA, saying it damaged the Paterno estate's commercial interests by relying on conclusions about Paterno in the Freeh report. Two former Paterno assistants, son Jay Paterno and Bill Kenney, are also suing, saying they have not been able to find comparable work because of the Freeh report. The most recent action in that case involved a dispute over subpoenas. Paterno died in 2012.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...r-Penn-State-Ex-Administrators-412494723.html

Judge Sets Trial for Penn State Ex-Administrators
Judge John Boccabella set jury selection for March 20 in the criminal trial of former university President Graham Spanier, former Vice President Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Tim Curley.
Published at 3:48 AM EST on Feb 2, 2017

Penn State's former president and two other ex-administrators learned Wednesday they will go to trial next month, nearly six years after the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal first became public.

Judge John Boccabella set jury selection for March 20 in the criminal trial of former university President Graham Spanier, former Vice President Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Tim Curley.

All three are charged with endangering the welfare of children.

Boccabella threw out charges of failing to properly report suspected abuse, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired.

But he denied a slew of other defense motions, including requests that all charged be thrown out. He gave both sides about four weeks to make pretrial filings regarding selection of a jury and what evidence will be allowed.

The attorney general's office had sought to add a conspiracy charge related to the child-welfare accusation. The judge did not directly address that request, but he declined to dismiss that conspiracy charge based on time limits.

The judge also turned down defense requests to have separate trials, to move the trial from Harrisburg or to bring in out-of-county jurors.

The three administrators handled a graduate assistant's report in 2001 claiming he had seen Sandusky, then retired, sexually abusing a boy inside a team shower late on a Friday evening. That matter was not reported directly to police and languished until the case was reopened about eight years ago.

Schultz and Curley were first arrested in 2011, and Spanier a year later. All three have consistently denied the allegations. Spanier's lawyer declined comment, while attorneys for Curley and Schultz did not respond to messages seeking comment. A spokesman for the attorney general's office said the judge's decisions were being reviewed.

The cases have dragged on for years, in part because of a lengthy dispute over how Penn State's then-general counsel handled grand jury appearances with the three in 2011, and also because the original trial judge, Todd Hoover, died last year. Superior Court threw out many of the most serious charges a year ago, including perjury.

Sandusky, Penn State's longtime assistant football coach, was convicted in 2012 of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys. He is pursuing appeals while serving a 30- to 60-year sentence at Greene State Prison.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...verdict-for-ex-assistant-coach-413252023.html

Penn State Seeks to Overturn Verdict for Ex-Assistant Coach Mike McQueary
The university said in a brief dated Monday that the verdict in favor of Mike McQueary should be reversed, a new trial should be ordered or the damages should be lowered.
Published 5 hours ago

Penn State fought back against a verdict that awarded one of its former assistant football coaches millions of dollars for his treatment after Jerry Sandusky's arrest on child molestation charges.

The university said in a brief dated Monday that the verdict in favor of Mike McQueary should be reversed, a new trial should be ordered or the damages should be lowered.

The school said Judge Thomas Gavin gave jurors an incorrect instruction regarding who must report cases of child abuse, and that he acted as a "biased advocate" for McQueary during the October trial.

"Multiple instances exist where the court acted as an advocate on behalf of McQueary," university lawyers wrote, citing the jury instruction as well as Gavin's questioning of witnesses in front of the jury.

They say Gavin acted on his own, without prompting from the litigants, when telling jurors that three former administrators were considered mandatory reporters of suspected abuse.

"The court's instruction was akin to taking the case out of the jury's hands and directing a verdict in favor of McQueary," Penn State's lawyers argued.

Former President Graham Spanier, former Vice President Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Tim Curley were facing charges of failing to report abuse for their handling of McQueary's complaint, but the trial judge in their pending criminal case threw out those charges last week. He ruled time had expired under the statute of limitations.

The three still are scheduled to go to trial next month on charges of endangering the welfare of children.

McQueary was awarded more than $12 million for defamation, misrepresentation and violations of whistleblower protections.

The defamation claim hinged on a statement Spanier and the school issued shortly after Schultz and Curley were arrested, along with Sandusky, in November 2011. McQueary argued his own statements to police and the grand jury were made to look like lies when Spanier asserted he was confident the charges the two other administrators then faced were groundless.

The school said it was not liable for what it called "defamation by innuendo."

"This is not a defamatory statement, but an opinion that Spanier's long experience with these officials led him to believe that they conducted themselves properly," the university's lawyers wrote.

They also argued Gavin should have delayed the civil trial so they could obtain statements and testimony from Curley and Schultz. As criminal defendants awaiting trial, they asserted their right against self-incrimination. Spanier did testify at the McQueary civil trial.

The brief concerns the defamation and misrepresentation claims the jury decided. Penn State says it will later outline its challenge of the whistleblower verdict, which Gavin issued.

Sandusky is appealing a 45-count verdict after a 2012 trial. He is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of 10 boys. Top Sports PhotosTop Sports Photos
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Jeffrey-Sandusky-Child-Sex-Abuse-Charges-413618113.html

Ex-Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky's Son Faces Child Sex Abuse Charges
Jeffrey Sandusky is charged with statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other related offenses.
By Mark Scolforo
Published 4 hours ago | Updated 28 minutes ago

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One of Jerry Sandusky's sons was charged Monday with sex crimes involving two girls, more than five years after the former Penn State assistant coach was himself first arrested on child molestation charges.

Jeffrey S. Sandusky, 41, was charged by state police and arraigned by a district judge in Bellefonte on 14 counts. He was jailed on $200,000 bail.

Sandusky was a stalwart supporter of his father :rolleyes: and accompanied his mother, Dottie, to many of his court proceedings. On Monday, Dottie accompanied Jeffrey Sandusky to his.

Police accused him of soliciting naked photos from a then-16-year-old girl last year and seeking oral sex in 2013 from her then-15-year-old sister.

His defense lawyer, Lance Marshall, declined to comment on the allegations.

"All children have a right to be safe," said Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller. "We will prosecute this case as aggressively as we do all child abuse cases."

Miller said Sandusky talked to investigators. "He made statements," Miller said. "I wouldn't classify them necessarily as directly inculpatory, but I don't think they helped him much."

Sandusky was charged with solicitation of statutory sexual assault, solicitation of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, six counts of unlawful contact with a minor and two counts each of solicitation to photograph or depict sexual acts, sexual abuse of children and corruption of minors.

A state trooper said in the arrest affidavit that on Nov. 21, the alleged victims' father turned over to investigators text messages from Sandusky in which he asked one of the girls for nude photographs.

The affidavit said Sandusky told the alleged victim in texts in March that "it's not weird because he studied medicine" and instructed her "to not show these texts to anyone."

The girl's mother told investigators that when she confronted Sandusky, he told her "he knows it was wrong and inappropriate," police said.

"The victims' mother advised that Jeffrey Sandusky had advised her that he was trying to help her daughter by getting naked pictures of her off the internet and needed naked pictures of her to do it and to 'role play,'" the affidavit said.

The girl, called "Victim 1" in the affidavit, told police the texts made her uncomfortable and that "he kept pressuring me and asked me multiple times not to show the texts to anyone," police said.

Prosecutors allege Jeffrey Sandusky sought oral sex from a second girl, "Victim 2," in 2013. She was 15 years old at the time.

"Victim 2" told investigators that Jeffrey Sandusky told her in March: "I can't even say anything except I'm sorry."

Jerry Sandusky, who adopted Jeffrey Sandusky and five other children, is serving a lengthy prison sentence for sexual abuse of 10 boys.

Jeffrey Sandusky has not made any public allegations of abuse by Jerry Sandusky, but one of his siblings, Matt Sandusky, alleged during their adoptive father's 2012 criminal trial that he had been abused by him. Matt Sandusky was not called as a witness, and Jerry Sandusky has never been charged with those allegations.

The state Corrections Department said that because of the charges, Jeffrey Sandusky was suspended without pay Monday from employment as a corrections officer at Rockview State Prison, near State College. He had been hired in August 2015.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Jerry-Sandusky-Penn-State-Prison-415495153.html

New Prison Digs for Convicted Child Molester & Former Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky
Jerry Sandusky transferred to a medium-security prison
Published 5 hours ago

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has been moved from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security facility in western Pennsylvania.

State prison officials say the 73-year-old was initially assigned to the State Correctional Institution-Greene because he was considered to be vulnerable given the nature of his child-sex abuse conviction, and his high profile.

But Sandusky was moved on Feb. 27 to SCI-Somerset, a medium-security prison about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. That prison houses about 2,400 inmates.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Amy Worden says it's not uncommon for inmates to be transferred, without offering an explanation.

Sandusky is serving 30 to 60 years in prison for his 2012 conviction on charges he molested several boys he met through The Second Mile, a charity he founded.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...-for-role-in-sandusky-child-molestation-case/

2 Former Penn State Administrators Plead Guilty For Role In Sandusky Child Molestation Case
March 13, 2017 5:34 PM

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Former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)


HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Two former Penn State University administrators pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor child endangerment for their roles in the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case, more than five years after the scandal engulfed the school and led to coach Joe Paterno’s downfall.

Ex-Athletic Director Tim Curley and former university Vice President Gary Schultz originally were charged with felonies. The reduced charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Penn State ex-President Graham Spanier was also charged in the case. He was not in the Harrisburg courtroom Monday morning, though his attorneys were. His prosecution appears to be moving forward, with jury selection scheduled for next week.

The three handled a 2001 complaint by a graduate assistant who said he saw Sandusky, a retired defensive football coach, sexually abusing a boy in a team shower. They did not report the matter to police or child welfare authorities but told Sandusky he was not allowed to bring children to the campus.

Sandusky was not arrested until a decade later. He was convicted in 2012 of 45 counts of sexual abuse of 10 boys, and is serving a 30- to 60-year state prison term.

Shortly after Sandusky’s arrest, Paterno was fired.

Schultz and Curley were arrested in 2011, and Spanier in 2012.

The three former administrators at Penn State’s flagship campus in State College had also faced charges of conspiracy. Each felony count carried the possibility of seven years in prison.

Their case has dragged on for years because of a dispute about their representation during a grand jury appearance by Penn State’s then-chief counsel Cynthia Baldwin. That legal fight prompted the Superior Court decision that threw out several charges, including perjury and obstruction.

Penn State’s costs related to the Sandusky scandal are approaching a quarter-billion dollars.

The scandal’s overall cost to the school includes a recent $12 million verdict in the whistleblower and defamation case brought by former assistant coach Mike McQueary, the ex-graduate assistant whose testimony helped convict Sandusky in 2012.

The university has settled with 33 people over allegations they were sexually abused by Sandusky, and has made total payments to them of $93 million.

The NCAA also levied a $48 million penalty against the university that is now funding anti-child-abuse efforts in Pennsylvania.

McQueary went to Paterno’s home a day after the shower encounter to discuss what he had seen. Paterno alerted Curley, the athletic director at the time, and Schultz, a vice president at the time. McQueary met with both of them about a week later.

Nine years later, an anonymous email sent to a district attorney led investigators to first approach McQueary in the case.

Paterno’s handling of the complaint was eventually cited by trustees as one of the reasons he had been fired in late 2011. Paterno died a few months later. He was never charged with a crime.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/03/19/trial-of-former-psu-president-to-begin-this-week/

Trial Of Former PSU President To Begin This Week
March 19, 2017 8:00 PM By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG (CBS) — More than five years after the Jerry Sandusky scandal exploded, the trial of the former president of Penn State University, accused in an alleged cover-up in the Sandusky case, is set to begin with jury selection Monday morning in a Harrisburg courtroom.

“Well, with the pleas of Curley and Schultz, I would expect that they would testify as prosecution witnesses,” he said.

It is not known for certain what if any role Curley and Schultz would play in a Spanier trial, but Parry notes that the child endangerment charge to which Curley and Schultz pleaded guilty was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

In any event, Parry said the guilty pleas can’t be good news for the Spanier defense.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...-I-wish-I-would-have-done-more-416851063.html

Ex-PSU Athletic Director: 'I wish I would have done more'
By Mark Scolforo

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Former Penn State Athletic Director says, "I wish I would have done more."


The former Penn State athletic director who pleaded guilty last week to child endangerment testified Wednesday he now thinks his response to a 2001 complaint about Jerry Sandusky showering with a boy was inadequate.

Tim Curley, a prosecution witness in the ongoing criminal trial of former university president Graham Spanier, said he felt at the time they and fellow administrator Gary Schultz did "what we thought was appropriate" by banning Sandusky from taking children into team facilities but not alerting police or child-welfare authorities.

"At the end of the day, I wish I would have done more :rolleyes:," Curley said during 90 minutes of testimony.

Curley provided new details about a 1998 investigation that was prompted by a woman's complaint that Sandusky had bear-hugged her son in a football team shower. He said he notified Joe Paterno about it then, contradicting Paterno's grand jury testimony six years ago that 2001 was the first time he was aware of sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky.

Paterno told The Washington Post before he died in 2012 that he was completely unaware of the 1998 investigation.

"You know it wasn't like it was something everybody in the building knew about," Paterno told the paper five years ago. "Nobody knew about it."

Curley testified that he did not have any conversations with Spanier about the 1998 incident, which ended with a decision by the district attorney that criminal charges were not warranted.

"I'm sure I was glad it was concluded, and they didn't find any criminal behavior," Curley told jurors. "I'm sure that was a relief."

Curley said his description in a 2001 email to Spanier of a first "situation" was a reference to 1998, and an indication that Spanier knew what he was talking about. Spanier has denied any awareness of the 1998 investigation.

Paterno summoned Curley and Schultz to his home in February 2001 to report that graduate assistant Mike McQueary had just notified Paterno he had seen Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the team shower. McQueary testified on Tuesday he was certain he characterized what he saw as a sexual act to both Paterno and Curley, but Curley contradicted that version of events.

Curley said Paterno did not mention that Sandusky and the boy were naked, instead recalling that the coach described it as "horseplay, wrestling in the shower."

Still, the 1998 incident was on his mind, Curley said.

"I don't know exactly at what point that 1998 came into my focus again, but certainly it did, and it did sound similar," Curley testified.

A prosecutor asked Curley if McQueary, when meeting with Curley and Schultz in 2001, had described to him that something sexual had occurred. Curley's response was emphatic: "No, sir."

"I thought Jerry (Sandusky) had a boundary issue, a judgment issue that needed to be addressed," Curley said.

Curley said he made no effort to determine the identity of the child in the shower with Sandusky.

"Looking back now, I should have," he testified.

Curley, Schultz and Spanier had an email exchange in 2001 in which they first decided to report Sandusky to child-welfare authorities, but after Paterno came back from an overseas trip, Curley notified the others he wanted to change the plan. Together they agreed on a revised approach that no longer involved contacting the state Department of Public Welfare.

Curley said he could not recall the conversation he and Paterno had about it, as referenced in the contemporaneous email exchange among the three administrators.

"I don't remember the specific conversation, what his reaction was," Curley told jurors.

An investigator told jurors that four of the eight young men who testified during Sandusky's trial that he had abused them were abused after the 2001 incident McQueary witnessed. Spanier is accused of endangering children by how he responded to the 2001 complaint.

Curley also disclosed that prosecutors agreed as part of his plea that if he can provide proof of medical necessity, he will be allowed to serve any jail time on home confinement. The sentencing for him and Schultz, who pleaded guilty to the same offense last week, has not been scheduled.
 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/03/24/graham-spanier-guilty-penn-state/

Former Penn State President Found Guilty Of Child Endangerment In Sandusky Case
March 24, 2017 4:32 PM

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former Penn State president Graham Spanier was convicted Friday of hushing up suspected child sex abuse in 2001 by Jerry Sandusky, whose arrest a decade later blew up into a major scandal for the university and led to the firing of beloved football coach Joe Paterno.

Jurors found Spanier guilty of one misdemeanor count of child endangerment over his handling of a complaint against the retired assistant football coach but found him not guilty of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count.

Spanier, 68, showed no emotion when the verdict was read after 13 hours of deliberations.

The child endangerment charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors declined to say whether they would seek jail time. Spanier’s lawyer said he would appeal.

The trial centered on how Spanier and two other university leaders handled a complaint by graduate assistant Mike McQueary, who said he reported seeing Sandusky sexually molesting a boy in a team shower in 2001. They told Sandusky he could not bring children onto the campus anymore but did not report the matter to police or child welfare authorities.

Sandusky was not arrested until 2011 after an anonymous tip led prosecutors to investigate the shower incident. He was convicted the next year of sexually abusing 10 boys and is serving a decades-long prison sentence.

Four of the eight young men testifying at Sandusky’s trial said they were abused after 2001.

“Evil in the form of Jerry Sandusky was allowed to run wild,” Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte told the jury.

The scandal sent shockwaves through the Penn State community. It led to the firing of Paterno — who died of cancer at 85 in early 2012 — and resulted in the school paying out more than $90 million to settle civil claims by over 30 accusers. In addition, Penn State was fined $48 million by the NCAA.

Paterno, a Hall of Fame coach, was never charged with a crime.

Another state prosecutor, Laura Ditka, said the jury “kept the focus successfully on children.”

2 Former Penn State Administrators Plead Guilty For Role In Sandusky Child Molestation Case

Spanier “was convicted for all the children who came to Penn State after what Mike McQueary saw that night,” she said at a news conference after the verdict was returned.

Two of Spanier’s former lieutenants, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment charges a week ago and testified against Spanier.

But all three denied they were told the encounter in the shower was sexual in nature. :rolleyes:

A key piece of evidence was an email exchange in which the three debated what to do after getting the report from McQueary.

Spanier approved having Curley tell the retired coach to stop bringing children to athletic facilities and inform The Second Mile, a charity for at-risk youth founded by Sandusky.

But the evidence also showed they had earlier planned to inform the state Department of Public Welfare. Instead, Spanier approved putting that on hold, and the agency was never contacted. That failure to make a report formed the heart of the criminal accusations against him.

“The only downside for us is if the message isn’t ‘heard’ and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it,” Spanier told Curley and Schultz in 2001 in the email exchange. He called the plan “humane and a reasonable way to proceed.”

Spanier’s attorney, Sam Silver, said the case involved judgment calls by high-ranking university administrators in dealing with the complaint that Sandusky had been seen naked with the boy in a team locker room. He said there was no evidence of a crime.

Ditka said during closing arguments that the three university leaders wanted to protect the university’s reputation at the expense of children.

“They took a gamble,” she told the jurors. “They weren’t playing with dice. They were playing with kids.”

A report commissioned by the university and conducted by former FBI Director Louis Freeh concluded that the coach and the three others hushed up the allegations against Sandusky for fear of bad publicity.

Schultz and Curley testified they never told Spanier that the incident reported in the shower was sexual.

“Mr. Schultz made clear — he, Gary Schultz, told Graham Spanier that it was horseplay,” Silver said.

But McQueary contradicted them, testifying he did say it was sexual.

McQueary said he told the athletic director and vice president that he saw Sandusky behind a prepubescent boy, in a dark shower at night, with his hips moving slightly.

“Do you think that’s horseplay?” Ditka asked jurors.
 
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...f-Sympathy-for-Assault-Victims-417811373.html

Penn State Trustee 'Running out of Sympathy' for Assault Victims
Al Lord was not speaking for the university and has been a long time friend of former President Graham Spanier
Published at 7:19 PM EDT on Mar 31, 2017

A Penn State University trustee said he is "running out of sympathy" for "so-called victims" of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky following the conviction of the university's former president over his handling of a 2001 complaint about Sandusky.

Penn State said the trustee was speaking personally, not for the university, and prosecutors issued a rebuke.

The Chronicle of Higher Education, following up on former university president Graham Spanier's child endangerment conviction, reported Thursday that former bank executive Al Lord had told the publication in an email that he was "running out of sympathy for 35 yr old, so-called victims with 7 digit net worth." :mad:

Lord has been a supporter of Spanier's and attended his trial. He is part of an alumni-elected faction on the board that has repeatedly clashed with others over the university's response to the Sandusky child molestation scandal.

Lord questioned why people who said they were victimized by Sandusky "were so prominent in trial."

The chairman of the trustees, Ira M. Lubert, said Lord's comments "are personal and do not represent the opinions of the board or the university." He said the sentiments of board and university leadership were expressed in the first line of a statement released after Spanier's conviction: "First and foremost, our thoughts remain with the victims of Jerry Sandusky."

The attorney general's office said prosecutors will "never 'run out of sympathy' for victims of sexual abuse."

"Unlike Mr. Lord, the jury understood how Graham Spanier's failure to act, while a predator was in his midst, caused actual and grievous harm," the office said.

Spanier was found to have hushed up a complaint by a graduate assistant who said he had reported seeing Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in a school shower. Sandusky was not arrested until a decade later, when prosecutors received an anonymous tip about the shower incident.

Sandusky was convicted of abusing several boys and was sentenced to decades in prison, but he insists he's innocent and is appealing. Penn State has paid out more than $90 million to settle claims by about three dozen men who say they were abused as children at Sandusky's hands.

Spanier has said he plans to appeal.

The jury foreman at Spanier's trial said Thursday he was the last juror to vote to convict and feels he made a mistake.

Retired truck driver Richard Black, of Harrisburg, said he began to have regrets the day after the verdict, saying, "We got it wrong." He said he had doubts about whether prosecutors proved that Spanier was told by his lieutenants that what happened in the shower was sexual.

But he seemed to equivocate, also saying "based on the evidence that we were given, and what we heard from people sitting in the chair, we rendered a correct decision."
 
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