JoePa knew of abuse for years: cops

MORE EVIDENCE has emerged that Joe Paterno stayed silent about Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of young boys for decades, according to a report on Saturday.

A police report obtained by CNN details the legendary ex-Penn State football coach’s reaction to whistleblower Mike McQueary showing up in his office in 2001 and saying he had witnessed Sandusky (pictured, with Paterno on right) engaged in “an extreme sexual act” with a young boy in the locker room. The new report describes what happened after McQueary told Paterno what he witnessed.

“Then (Paterno) made the comment to McQueary this was the second complaint of this nature he had received about Sandusky,” the report obtained by CNN reads.

The report is based on McQueary’s recounting of the 2001 meeting. That contradicts Paterno’s public statements that he knew nothing of Sandusky’s serial abuse until McQueary confronted him.

Those claims of abuse and other allegations led to Sandusky’s eventual arrest in 2011.

McQueary — a former Penn State quarterback — was a key witness in the case against Sandusky.

The assistant coach was convicted a year later of sexually abusing 10 boys over the course of 15 years. At least three attacks occurred after the 2001 locker room incident. Sandusky is serving 30 years in prison.

Paterno was fired in November 2011. He died of lung cancer the following January at the age of 85.

In grand jury testimony given in 2011, Paterno said he had no recollection of any reports of similar activity being discussed in his presence.

But the new report adds to evidence that Paterno turned a blind eye to Sandusky’s crimes for years.

Court documents, revealed by the Washington Post in 2016, say Paterno was aware of Sandusky abusing young boys as far back as 1976.

The report obtained by CNN was written days after Sandusky’s arrest in 2011, soon after the 2001 allegation first came to the attention of police.

“Paterno, upon hearing the news, sat back in his chair with a dejected look on his face,” the report states, adding that McQueary “said Paterno’s eyes appeared to well up with tears.”