Verdict turns page in Penn State scandal

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — 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.