Daily Times (Primos, PA)

Verdict turns page in Penn State child molestatio­n scandal

- By Mark Scolforo The Associated Press

HARRISBURG » Penn State is trying to turn the corner on the Jerry Sandusky child molestatio­n scandal, but the former FBI director who authored a scathing report on it more than four years ago says more changes are needed, even after the conviction of the university’s former president.

A jury’s guilty verdict against Graham Spanier on Friday to a misdemeano­r count of child endangerme­nt made him the last of the three former high-ranking administra­tors to be held criminally culpable for how they handled a 2001 complaint about Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in a team shower.

Penn State issued a statement after the verdict, saying the justice system had produced “closure” in the criminal cases that began with Sandusky’s arrest in 2011. The school said Spanier’s conviction and guilty pleas by two other former top administra­tors indicated a “profound failure of leadership.”

But former FBI director Louis Freeh said Penn State needs “new leadership and vision” and called on Penn State President Eric Barron to resign.

“Pennsylvan­ia taxpayers, the entire (Penn State) community and responsibl­e political leaders should be ‘appalled’ by Barron and his entire ‘leadership’ team,” said Freeh.

He had remained largely silent for more than four years, as his report became a target of heated criticism by supporters of Spanier, his former co-defendants, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, and of the school’s Hall of Fame head football coach, the late Joe Paterno.

Curley, then the athletic director, and Schultz, a vice president, pleaded guilty to misdemeano­r child endangerme­nt last week and testified for the prosecutio­n. All three men await sentencing.

On Saturday, the chairman of the Penn State board rejected the criticism of Barron, the university’s president for the past three years. The school revamped its organizati­on and procedures after the scandal, paid more than $90 million to settle civil claims and establishe­d and funded programs to fight child abuse.

“President Barron has led the creation of a model ethics and compliance program to protect and support the university community,” said Chairman Ira Lubert. “He has my full support and appreciati­on for his leadership and accomplish­ments.”

Lubert said the board “disagreed firmly” with the 2012 Freeh report’s criticism of Penn State’s culture, an issue that has rankled many within the university community, but has also attracted support.

“There’s no other way to read this verdict than to see it as a renounceme­nt of the culture at Penn State,” said Tom Kline, a lawyer who represente­d a young man who testified against Sandusky and Spanier, and settled with the university over a claim of abuse in a team shower at Sandusky’s hands.

Trial testimony contradict­ed statements by both Paterno and Spanier that they were unaware of a 1998 complaint by a woman about Sandusky showering with her son, a matter that was investigat­ed without charges being filed.

Curley and Schultz said the 1998 incident was on their minds when they had to determine what to do about the 2011 incident, when then-graduate assistant football coach Mike McQueary reported to them and Paterno that he saw Sandusky abuse a boy in a team shower late on a Friday night.

 ?? MATT ROURKE - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Former Penn State president Graham Spanier, center, walks with his attorney Sam Silver, center left, from the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg, Friday. Spanier was convicted Friday of hushing up suspected child sex abuse in 2001 by Jerry...
MATT ROURKE - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Penn State president Graham Spanier, center, walks with his attorney Sam Silver, center left, from the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg, Friday. Spanier was convicted Friday of hushing up suspected child sex abuse in 2001 by Jerry...

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