Former Penn State president Spanier loses criminal appeal

HARRISBURG » Former Penn State president Graham Spanier lost an appeal Tuesday of his misdemeanor conviction for child endangerment over his handling of a 2001 complaint about Jerry Sandusky showering with a boy in the football team locker room.

A Superior Court majority rejected Spanier’s claims that too much time had passed to charge him, he was not legally obligated to care for the boy, and should not have been charged because he did not supervise children directly.

“To hold that (he) was not supervising a child’s welfare when he oversaw PSU’s response to the Sandusky allegations, or to hold that he owed no duty of care in his exercise of that supervisory authority, would plainly not effectuate the purpose of sheltering children from harm,” wrote Judge Victor Stabile, joined by one other jurist in the 2-1 decision.

Spanier’s lawyers said he is deeply disappointed and “plans to pursue his appellate options” in hopes of vindication.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro, whose office prosecuted Spanier, said his office was gratified by the decision.

“We will continue to pursue anyone who looks the other way in the face of child sexual abuse,” Shapiro said.

Spanier, 69, has been on bail while appealing, so has not served his sentence of two months in jail followed by two months of house arrest.