Ex-Penn State chief guilty of covering up abuse complaint

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Former Penn State President Graham Spanier was convicted Friday of hushing up child sexual abuse allegations in 2001 against 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.

The jury found Spanier guilty of one misdemeanor count of child endangerment over his handling of a complaint against the retired assistant football coach but acquitted him of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count.

Spanier, 68, could get up to five years in prison.

His lawyer said he will appeal.

The trial centered on how Spanier and two other university administrators handled a complaint by graduate coaching assistant Mike McQueary, who said he reported seeing Sandusky sexually molesting a boy in a team shower in 2001.

The three officials told Sandusky he could not bring children onto the campus anymore but did not report the matter to police or child welfare authorities.

Administrators had planned to inform the state Department of Public Welfare. Instead, Spanier approved putting that on hold, and the agency was never contacted. That decision formed the heart of the case against him

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 10 to 30 years behind bars. At least four victims said they were molested after 2001.

The scandal led to the ouster of both Spanier and Paterno, and resulted in the school paying out more than $90 million to settle claims by over 30 Sandusky accusers.