Penn State's Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz 'failed to protect against a child sexual predator,' Freeh report says - UPDATE

The probe of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual-abuse scandal says top Penn State officials withheld information to avoid bad publicity. Read the REPORT.

Penn State University's investigation into the Jerry Sandusky scandal concludes top officials who fielded a 2001 complaint about him created a dangerous situation for future victims by not reporting the matter.

The Freeh Group’s report, issued this morning, says to avoid bad publicity President Graham Spanier, football coach Joe Paterno, Athletic Director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, a Nazareth native, “repeatedly concealed critical facts.”

The report says the men “failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade.”

All four knew about a 1998 investigation into Sandusky that didn’t result in criminal charges at the time, but none alerted the trustees and none took further action against Sandusky, according to the report.

Sandusky is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of 45 criminal counts. The scandal led to the ouster of Paterno and the school’s president.

After reading the report, Penn State student Janel DeGerolamo, 20, of Palmer Township, said while its findings were scathing, she was anticipating its release because she "wanted to know the truth."

"As a senior, I wanted to know this," said DeGerolamo, a Notre Dame High School graduate. "I wanted to know who I could trust in my administration."

While DeGerolamo said she doesn't imagine it will be easy, she's hoping the report's findings on the actions of Sandusky, Curley, Schultz, Paterno and Spanier won't permanently taint her school's name.

"That's five people compared to our 500,000 living alumni," DeGerolamo said. "Those five people can't define our university. ... I'm still proud to say 'We are Penn State.'"

The summary of the report refers to the "callous and shocking disregard for child victims." It says none of the four men took "any responsible action" after February 2001 when graduate assistant Mike McQueary reported to Paterno that Sandusky assaulted a child in a Penn State shower room, other than Curley advising Sandusky's Second Mile charity that Sandusky had showered with a boy. Despite knowledge of the 1998 incident, the only limitation they put on the former assistant football coach was to ask him not to bring "guests" into Penn State facilities, according to the summary.

“Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State,” Freeh said. “The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.”

A decision made Feb. 25, 2001, by Spanier, Curley and Schultz to report to the state Department of Public Welfare what McQueary told Paterno, was reversed on Feb. 27, the summary states. The only "intervening factor" investigators could find was a conversation Feb. 26 between Paterno and Schultz, the summary says.

Penn State failed to comply with provisions of the Clery Act -- the 1990 federal law named after Jeanne Ann Clery, who was murdered in 1986 at Lehigh University -- that requires collecting and reporting crimes on campus, Freeh says. Sandusky's assaulting a child on campus would fall within the law's guidelines, the report states. But the school's implementation of the Clery Act was still in draft form at the time, it says.

The report's claims of Clery Act violations were discussed amongst several Lehigh Valley colleges and universities this morning. Stuart Bedics, police chief for DeSales University, said his department is currently preparing the school's annual Clery Act report. The university has programs in place to educate administrators on how to deal with the Clery Act's provisions.

"I think what I learned from it is that we're doing a good job here at DeSales," Bedics said on his reaction to the findings in the Freeh Report.

The report also singled out the revered Penn State football program — one built on the motto “success with honor” — for criticism. It says Paterno and university leaders allowed Sandusky to retire in 1999, “not as a suspected child predator, but as a valued member of the Penn State football legacy, with future ‘visibility’ at Penn State’,” allowing him to groom victims.

Trustee Anthony Lubrano, a critic of the board’s dismissal of Paterno in November, said the board was still formulating a response.

With the report now complete, the NCAA said Penn State now must address four key questions concerning “institutional control and ethics policies,” as outlined in a letter sent to the school last fall.

“Penn State’s response to the letter will inform our next steps, including whether or not to take further action,” said Bob Williams, the NCAA’s vice president of communications. “We expect Penn State’s continued cooperation in our examination of these issues.”

The website with the report, which initially included a summary of Freeh's upcoming news conference comments, crashed soon after information went live at 9 o'clock; it was back online by about 9:30.
Freeh News Release on Penn State University Report