In March of this year, it was reported that former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was the subject of a grand jury investigation regarding the alleged sexual abuse of minors, including at least one incident that occurred on campus. Head coach Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley and other Penn State officials were called to testify in front of that grand jury in January, so they were certainly aware of the allegations swirling around Sandusky.
In 1998, a year before Sandusky retired from Paterno’s staff, the university was made aware of a shower incident involving Sandusky and a 12-year old boy in the Lasch Building, home to the Nittany Lions football program.
Unbelievably, and despite the school’s knowledge of numerous allegations involving the coach both during and after his time with the program, Sandusky still maintained a presence on the campus as late as last week. According to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, and citing multiple sources within the program, Sandusky “work[ed] out multiple times in the team’s weight room just last week.”
The school has subsequently banned Sandusky from the campus.
Last Friday, a state grand jury handed down a 40-count indictment of Sandusky, with the charges ranging from felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of someone under 16 to indecent assault of someone under 16. A day later, Curley as well as another high-ranking school official were charged with perjury and failure to report suspected abuse.
Curley “placed himself” on administrative leave last night, while the other official, vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, “retired”.
Curley and Schultz might not be the last school officials to feel the legal heat, either. At a press conference held Monday afternoon to address the scandal that’s rocked Happy Valley to its very core, Pennsylvania attorney general Linda Kelly was asked if Paterno is a target of law enforcement.
“He’s been cooperative with the investigators in this,” she said. “He’s not regarded as a target at this point.”
When asked the same question about president Graham Spanier, Kelly would not comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett said Monday he will attend a special meeting of the the school’s Board of Trustees Friday. Corbett gave a “no comment” when asked if he would ask for Spanier’s resignation at the meeting.
(Photo credit: AP)
