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The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of
child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...
committed by
Jerry Sandusky Gerald Arthur Sandusky (born January 26, 1944) is an American convicted serial child molester and retired college football coach. Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State University under J ...
, an assistant coach for the
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen years. The scandal began to emerge publicly in March 2011 and broke in early November 2011 when Sandusky was indicted on 52 counts of
child molestation Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...
, stemming from incidents that occurred between 1994 and 2009. Sandusky was ultimately convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse on June 22, 2012, and was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison. Of the 10 victims who were listed, only eight appeared at trial. All were over the age of 18 by the time they testified. Six were over 21. Additionally, three Penn State officials, school president
Graham Spanier Graham Basil Spanier (born July 18, 1948) is a South African-born American sociologist and university administrator who became the 16th president of Pennsylvania State University on September 1, 1995. On November 9, 2011, in the wake of the Pen ...
, vice president Gary Schultz, and athletic director
Tim Curley Timothy M. Curley (born April 28, 1954) is a former athletic director for Penn State University. Career Curley was appointed athletic director on December 30, 1993. He succeeded Jim Tarman, for whom he had served as an assistant. During his 18 ...
, were charged with
perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
,
obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
, failure to report suspected child abuse, and related charges. The
Penn State Board of Trustees The Penn State Board of Trustees is the 38-member governing body for Pennsylvania State University. Its members include the university's president, the Governor of the Commonwealth, and the state Secretaries of Agriculture, Conservation and Natur ...
commissioned an independent investigation by former
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
Director
Louis Freeh Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001. Graduated from Rutgers University and New York Univers ...
, whose report stated that Penn State's longtime head football coach
Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...
, along with Spanier, Curley and Schultz, had known about allegations of child abuse by Sandusky as early as 1998, had shown "total and consistent disregard...for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims", and "empowered" Sandusky to continue his acts of abuse by failing to disclose them. Shortly after the scandal broke, Spanier resigned. The board of trustees terminated the contracts of Paterno and Curley. As a result of the scandal, the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) imposed sanctions on the Penn State football program: a $60 million fine, a four-year postseason ban, scholarship reductions, and a vacation of all victories from 1998 to 2011. These sanctions were considered to be among the most severe ever imposed on an NCAA member school. NCAA President
Mark Emmert Mark Allen Emmert (born December 16, 1952) is the former president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He was the fifth CEO of the NCAA; he was named as the incoming president on April 27, 2010, and assumed his duties on Nov ...
stated that the sanctions were levied "not to be just punitive, but to make sure the university establishes an athletic culture and daily mindset in which football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people." The
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
subsequently imposed an additional $13 million fine. The Paterno family retained former
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Richard Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 76th United States attorney general from 1988 to 1991 under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. A ...
to conduct a review of the Freeh report, which concluded that the report constituted a "rush to injustice" that could not be relied upon and that Freeh's evidence fell "far short" of showing that Joe Paterno attempted to conceal the scandal, but rather that "the contrary is true". In January 2013,
state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...
Jake Corman Jacob Doyle Corman III (born September 9, 1964) is an American politician who served as the president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate from 2020 to 2022. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Senate 1999 to 2022, holding the same seat his f ...
and state treasurer
Rob McCord Robert Maxwell McCord (born March 5, 1959) is an American former politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2015. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Gove ...
sued the NCAA, seeking to overturn the Penn State sanctions on the basis that Freeh had been actively collaborating with the organization and that
due process Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual p ...
had not been followed. In November 2014, Corman released emails showing "regular and substantive" contact between Freeh's investigators and the NCAA, suggesting that Freeh's conclusions were orchestrated. As part of a settlement, the NCAA restored the 111 wins to Paterno's record on January 16, 2015. On March 25, 2017, Curley, Schultz, and Spanier pleaded or were found guilty of
misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...
charges of
child endangerment Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, emotional and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...
. All
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
charges against Curley and Schultz were dropped, and Spanier was acquitted of conspiracy, the charges central to Louis Freeh's allegation of a cover-up. In June 2017, all three were sentenced to jail terms, fines, and
probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...
for the misdemeanors. Spanier was sentenced to four to twelve months in jail, a $7,500 fine, and two years of probation. Spanier's misdemeanor conviction was overturned by the federal district court, but reinstated by the court of appeals in December 2020.


Background

Jerry Sandusky Gerald Arthur Sandusky (born January 26, 1944) is an American convicted serial child molester and retired college football coach. Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State University under J ...
was an assistant coach for the
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
Nittany Lions football team from 1969 to 1999. For the last 23 of those years, Sandusky was the team's
defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...
. In 1977, he founded
The Second Mile The Second Mile was a nonprofit organization for underprivileged youth, providing help for at-risk children and support for their parents in Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by Jerry Sandusky, a then-Penn State assistant college football coa ...
in
State College State College is a borough and home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University. State College is the largest designated borou ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, a charity formed to help disadvantaged youth. Sandusky retired from the organization in 2010. In 1998, he was investigated for
child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...
but no charges were filed. Sandusky was considered for spearheading the startup of a football program at
Penn State Altoona Penn State Altoona is a commonwealth campus of The Pennsylvania State University located in Logan Township, Pennsylvania. It is one of four full-fledged four year institutions in the Commonwealth Campus network. The full-time student count w ...
in 1998–99, but the idea was scrapped and he retired in 1999. After his retirement, Sandusky remained a coach ''
emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...
'' with an office in and access to Penn State's football facilities per his employment contract.


Criminal prosecutions


Investigation

In Pennsylvania, a
grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...
only ''recommends'' criminal charges. It hears all of the available evidence but does not have authority to
indict An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...
the accused. In the case of Sandusky, the grand jury investigation began in 2009 under commonwealth attorney general and later-
governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former prosecutor who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was also attorney general of Pen ...
. The grand jury subpoenaed records from both Penn State and The Second Mile, and heard testimony from Victim 1 (Aaron Fisher),
Mike McQueary Michael Jacob McQueary (born October 10, 1974) is a former American football assistant coach for the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) under head coach Joe Paterno until late in the 2011 football season. McQueary was identified as a key ...
,
Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...
,
Tim Curley Timothy M. Curley (born April 28, 1954) is a former athletic director for Penn State University. Career Curley was appointed athletic director on December 30, 1993. He succeeded Jim Tarman, for whom he had served as an assistant. During his 18 ...
, Gary Schultz, Victim 7,
Graham Spanier Graham Basil Spanier (born July 18, 1948) is a South African-born American sociologist and university administrator who became the 16th president of Pennsylvania State University on September 1, 1995. On November 9, 2011, in the wake of the Pen ...
, Victim 4, and Ronald Petrosky (Penn State janitor). This grand jury did not recommend indictment. Commonwealth attorney general Linda L. Kelly prepared a presentment which included credibility determinations about the testimonies received before the first grand jury for the second grand jury. This second grand jury heard testimony from Victim 3, Victim 5, and Victim 6. Kelly said that during the investigation there was an "uncooperative atmosphere" from some Penn State officials.


Victim 1

The investigation was initiated in the spring of 2008 after Aaron Fisher (identified in court papers as "Victim 1"), then a freshman at
Central Mountain High School Central Mountain High School is a public high school located at 64 Keystone Central Drive, Mill Hall, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States. In the 2022–2023 school year, enrollment was reported as 1,127 pupils in 9th through 12th grad ...
in
Mill Hall, Pennsylvania Mill Hall is a borough in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,613 at the 2010 census. History The Nathan Harvey House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Geography Mill Hall is located ...
, reported that Sandusky had been molesting him since age 12. Fisher met Sandusky through The Second Mile in the mid-2000s, when Sandusky began making advances toward Fisher which involved "inappropriate touching". At the time of the alleged actions, Sandusky was volunteering as an assistant football coach at Central Mountain High School, where these assaults took place.


Victim 2

Mike McQueary, then a
graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...
and later assistant coach at Penn State, testified that on approximately February 9, 2001, he had been inside the Lasch Football Building, located on Penn State's University Park campus, when he witnessed a naked Sandusky standing directly behind a boy whose hands were up on the wall in the men's shower room. McQueary, distraught, left the building and called his father John, who told Mike to come over to his house right away and talk to him. While Mike was on the way to his father's, John called Dr. Jonathan Dranov, Mike's boss and family friend, seeking his advice. As President of Centre Medical and Surgical Associates, Dranov was a
mandated reporter A mandated reporter is a person who is required by law to report crimes, typically if they know or suspect a child or vulnerable adult has been or is at risk of being abused or neglected. Mandatory reporting laws can also extend to vulnerable ad ...
in the state of Pennsylvania. Dranov testified that he questioned Mike three times about what he saw, and each time Mike kept going back to what he witnessed. Because there was no clear crime witnessed by Mike, Dranov and John recommended he talk to head football coach Joe Paterno. On Saturday morning, Mike McQueary called Paterno to arrange a meeting, and the two met at Paterno's home later that same morning. McQueary testified he gave a rough report of what he had seen but that, out of respect, he did not share more graphic details. Paterno left for
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
to attend an awards ceremony shortly after meeting with McQueary and did not return to State College until late Saturday night or Sunday morning. On Sunday morning, Paterno called then-athletic director Tim Curley regarding the incident. Curley, along with then-university vice president Gary Schultz, both went to Paterno's home, where Paterno told them about McQueary's story and advised them to speak directly to McQueary themselves to get the full details. In his grand jury testimony, Paterno said that he was told about Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature" to the victim. On Monday, Curley and Schultz reported the incident to Graham Spanier, who was president of Penn State at the time. Spanier told them to meet with the graduate assistant, which he was not told to be McQueary. Nine or ten days later (the exact date is unknown), McQueary received a phone call from Curley regarding the incident and set up a meeting with Curley and Schultz in the
Bryce Jordan Center The Bryce Jordan Center is a 15,261-seat multi-purpose arena in College Township, Pennsylvania, on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University. The arena opened on January 6, 1996, and is the largest such indoor venue in ...
, either that same afternoon or the next day, to go over the details of what had happened in the shower room. Curley and Schultz both denied having been told about alleged
anal intercourse Anal sex or anal intercourse principally means the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris ...
. Curley denied that McQueary reported anything of a sexual nature whatsoever and described the conduct as merely "horsing around". Spanier likewise testified that he was only apprised of an incident involving Sandusky and a younger child "horsing around in the shower". Curley then met with Sandusky and told him he was not to be using Penn State's athletic facilities with any young people, and Curley reported the incident to Jack Raykovitz, who, as the CEO of The Second Mile, was Sandusky's boss and also a mandated reporter. The Second Mile fell under the direct supervision and authority of Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare, and was a contractor of the local county office of Children and Youth Services. Raykovitz was also a highly trained professional on handling such allegations. He reported the incident to two board members of The Second Mile, Bruce Heim and Bob Poole, and told Sandusky to wear shorts in the shower in the future. Despite Penn State banning Sandusky from bringing boys onto the main campus after the McQueary incident, he was allowed to operate a
summer camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...
through his Sandusky Associates company from 2002 to 2008 at Penn State's Behrend satellite campus near
Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...
, where he had daily contact with boys from fourth grade to high school.


Other victims

One child's mother reported a 1998 incident to Penn State police when her son came home with his hair wet. After an investigation by Detective Ronald Shreffler,
Centre County Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County is composed of the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area ...
District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
Ray Gricar chose not to prosecute. Shreffler testified before the grand jury that the director of the campus police then told him to drop the case, and that detectives had eavesdropped on conversations during which the mother confronted Sandusky about the incident. Sandusky admitted to showering with other boys and refused to discontinue the practice. Gricar was not available to testify, as he had
disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the intent of placing ...
in 2005. Victims also commonly reported that Sandusky would place his hand on their thighs or inside the waistband of their underpants. Two recounted
oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth). Cunnilingus is oral sex performed on the vu ...
with Sandusky, sometimes culminating in his
ejaculation Ejaculation is the discharge of semen (the ''ejaculate''; normally containing sperm) from the penis through the urethra. It is the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential component of natural conception. ...
. Penn State janitor James Calhoun reportedly observed Sandusky performing oral sex on an unidentified boy in 2000, but by the time of Sandusky's trial Calhoun was in a nursing home suffering from
dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
; he was deemed not competent to testify.


Locations of assaults

According to the grand jury testimony, the assaults took place: * In Sandusky's basement, * At a victim's high school, * In Sandusky's car, * In the Lasch Football Building on Penn State's University Park campus, * Toftrees Golf Resort and Conference Center, * The East Area Locker Rooms on the Penn State campus, and * A hotel room in
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. At least twenty of the incidents were said to have taken place while Sandusky was still employed by Penn State.


Indictments

On November 4, 2011, commonwealth attorney general Linda L. Kelly indicted Sandusky on forty counts of sex crimes against young boys following a three-year investigation. Sandusky was arrested on November 5 and charged with seven counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, as well as eight counts of corruption of minors, eight counts of
endangering the welfare of a child Endangerment is a type of crime involving conduct that is wrongful and reckless or wanton, and likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm to another person. There are several kinds of endangerment, each of which is a criminal act that can b ...
, seven counts of
indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...
, and other offenses. Penn State officially banned Sandusky from campus on November 6. He was arrested again at his residence on December 7, 2011, on additional charges of sexual abuse. Schultz and Curley, who had been found to be not credible by the grand jury, were charged with
perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
and failure to report suspected child abuse. The indictment accused Curley and Schultz of not only failing to tell the police, but falsely telling the grand jury that McQueary never informed them of sexual activity. Sandusky was then released on $250,000 bail pending trial. Curley and Schultz appeared in a
Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
courtroom on November 7, where a judge set bail at $75,000 and required them to surrender their passports. Curley was placed on administrative leave, and Schultz resigned to go back into retirement. Spanier was criticized for issuing a statement expressing support for Curley and Schultz, while failing to express any concern for Sandusky's alleged victims.
Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...
Pat Meehan Patrick Leo Meehan (born October 20, 1955) is a former American Republican Party politician and federal prosecutor from Pennsylvania who represented parts of Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Berks, and Lancaster counties in the United States Hou ...
asked Education Secretary
Arne Duncan Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator and former professional basketball player who served as the 9th United States secretary of education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools ...
to probe whether Penn State violated the
Clery Act The Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (formerly the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act), signed in 1990, is a federal statute codified at , with implementing regulations in the U.S. Code of Federal Regu ...
when it failed to report Sandusky's alleged actions on campus. Duncan announced an investigation into possible Clery Act violations at Penn State, saying that colleges and universities have "a legal and moral responsibility to protect children" and that Penn State's failure to report the alleged abuse would be a "tragedy". Officials in
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
also began investigating whether Sandusky molested one of the victims at the 1999 Alamo Bowl. On February 24, 2012, the
Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
'' Patriot-News'' reported that
U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
Peter J. Smith was conducting a federal criminal investigation into Penn State separate from the Clery Act investigation in which he
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
ed the school for information about Spanier, Sandusky, Curley, Schultz and The Second Mile. Specifically, Smith subpoenaed information about Sandusky's travel records in relation to allegations that he had molested boys at both the 1999 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio and the
1999 Outback Bowl The 1999 Outback Bowl featured the Kentucky Wildcats and the Penn State Nittany Lions. It was the 13th edition of the Outback Bowl, and the first sellout in the bowl's history. Summary Penn State entered the game with an 8–3 record and was r ...
in
Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Although federal authorities would have
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
in the case since Sandusky was accused of taking the boys across state lines, three former prosecutors interviewed by ''
The Patriot-News ''The Patriot-News'' is the largest newspaper serving Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area in central Pennsylvania. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily and Sunday circulation in the United States. It has bee ...
'' believed that this investigation did not appear to be focusing on Sandusky, but instead on a possible
coverup A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or other embarrassing information. Research has distinguished personal cover-ups (covering up one's own misdeeds) from relational co ...
by school officials.


''Commonwealth v. Sandusky''


Trial

During Sandusky's trial, an accuser and Sandusky's wife Dottie both testified about the
Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the second ...
incident. The accuser said Sandusky was attempting to negotiate oral sex with him in a bathroom while Dottie was in the apartment, and that she came to the "edge" of the bathroom for a few words with Sandusky including, "What are you doing in there?" Dottie said Sandusky was having a disagreement, including yelling, with the boy—who she said was in the bathroom, but "clothed"—about attending a luncheon. She went on to characterize the boy as "very demanding. ... And he was very conniving. And he wanted his way, and he didn't listen a whole lot." Dottie testified when it was still uncertain whether Sandusky would testify. Though Sandusky's
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
attorney Joe Amendola had said on the opening day of the trial that he would testify, Amendola ultimately rested the case without calling Sandusky to testify in his own defense.


Verdict

On the evening of June 22, 2012, the jury found Sandusky guilty on 45 of the 48 counts against him. Following the announcement of the verdict, Judge John Cleland immediately revoked Sandusky's
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
and ordered him to be taken into custody to await sentencing. Sandusky continued to maintain his innocence even after being convicted. His attorneys filed a notice to
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
the conviction.


Sentencing

Sandusky faced a maximum sentence of 442 years in prison. According to
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
, he likely faced a minimum sentence of 60 years – at his age, effectively a
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...
. Sentencing was scheduled for October 9, 2012. At that hearing, prosecutors requested to the court that Sandusky be declared a
sexually violent predator Some jurisdictions may commit certain types of dangerous sex offenders to state-run detention facilities following the completion of their sentence if that person has a "mental abnormality" or personality disorder that makes the person likely t ...
under Pennsylvania's version of
Megan's Law Megan's Law is the name for a federal law (and informal name for similar state laws) in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were created ...
, which would subject him to stringent reporting requirements if he is released. He would not only have to report his address to police every three months for the rest of his life, but would also have to participate in a court-approved counseling program. However, given his age, Sandusky will likely die in prison. Earlier, on August 30, the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board recommended that Sandusky be declared a sexually violent predator. On the day of sentencing, Sandusky was officially designated a sexually violent predator. He was sentenced on October 9, 2012, to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison. Judge Cleland told Sandusky that he intentionally avoided a sentence with a large number of years, saying it would be "too abstract." Nonetheless, he still felt the need to pronounce a sentence that would have the "unmistakable impact of saying 'the rest of your life' (in prison)". He is presently not slated to be released until October 9, 2042, when he will be 98 years old.


''Commonwealth v. Curley, Schultz, and Spanier''

On November 1, 2012, the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'' and NBC News, citing sources close to the investigation, reported that Spanier would be formally charged for his alleged role related to Sandusky's crimes. Later that day, Kelly announced that as part of a superseding indictment, Spanier, Curley and Schultz had been charged with grand jury perjury, child endangerment,
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
, and
obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
in connection with the scandal. Spanier faced eight charges, three of which were
felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...
. A criminal docket was filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County, in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...
. Preliminary hearings for Curley and Schultz were held on December 16, 2011. Prosecution presented several witnesses. McQueary took the stand again and testified that, on the night of the 2001 incident, he saw a 10- to 12-year-old Caucasian boy standing upright in the shower, facing the wall, and Sandusky directly behind him, with Sandusky's hands wrapped around the boy's "waist or midsection". McQueary estimated that the boy was roughly a foot shorter than Sandusky. He further stated that he "did not see insertion nor was there any verbiage or protest, screaming or yelling" and denied ever using the words "anal" or "
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
" to describe the incident to anybody. On July 30, 2013, Spanier, Schultz, and Curley were ordered by Judge William Wenner to stand trial. On January 22, 2016, some of the charges against Curley, Schultz, and Spanier were dropped due to the violation of their rights to legal representation. On March 24, 2017, Spanier was found guilty of one charge of child endangerment and not guilty of the second charge of child endangerment or conspiracy. Curley and Schultz had previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment charges and testified at Spanier's trial in exchange for all other charges, including conspiracy, being dropped. On June 2, 2017, Spanier, Schultz and Curley were sentenced to prison by Senior Judge John Boccabella. "Why no one made a phone call to the police...is beyond me. Why Mr. Sandusky was allowed to continue to use the Penn State facilities is beyond me," Boccabella said. Spanier was sentenced to four to twelve months with two months in jail and four months
house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
, followed by two years of
probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...
and a $7,500
fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (p ...
. Spanier's conviction was subsequently overturned on appeal. Spanier's conviction was reinstated in December 2020, and he served 58 days in prison in summer 2021. Curley was sentenced to a seven to 23-month jail term, with four months of it as house arrest, followed by two years of probation and a $5,000 fine. Schultz was sentenced to a six to 23-month jail term also with four months of it as house arrest, followed by two years of probation and a $5,000 fine.


Reactions


Media

The ''Patriot-News'' was the first media outlet to report on the Sandusky grand jury investigation in March 2011. The story did not receive much attention outside of the immediate area, and many readers at the time assailed the newspaper for impugning the reputations of Sandusky and Penn State. Criminal charges against Sandusky were filed in November 2011. In April 2012, crime reporter
Sara Ganim Sara Elizabeth Ganim (born September 9, 1987) is an American journalist and podcast host. She is the current Hearst Journalism Fellow at the University of Florida's Brechner Center for Freedom of Information and the James Madison Visiting Profess ...
and members of the ''Patriot-News'' staff were awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting is awarded to an example of "significant issues of local or statewide concern, demonstrating originality and community connection". This Pulitzer Prize was first awarded in 1948. Like most Pulitzers the winn ...
for their coverage of the scandal. Under Pennsylvania law of the time, any state employee who learned about suspected child abuse was required to report the incident to his immediate supervisor. In the case of the 2002 incident, McQueary reported the incident to his immediate supervisor, Paterno. In turn, Paterno reported the incident to ''his'' immediate supervisor, Curley, and also reported it to Schultz, to whom the University Police Department directly reported. For these reasons, Paterno and McQueary were not implicated in any criminal wrongdoing, since they did what they were legally required to do.Drehs, Wayne
Coach may have whistle-blower status
ESPN, November 11, 2011.
However, once the incident came to light, Paterno was criticized for not going beyond the law to report the incident to police, or at least seeing to it that it was reported. Several advocates for victims of sexual abuse argued that Paterno should have faced charges for not going to the police himself when it was apparent Penn State officials were unwilling to act. After McQueary was identified as the graduate assistant who reported the 2001 incident, he was criticized for not intervening to protect Sandusky's victim (an accusation McQueary has since disputed), as well as for not reporting the incident to police himself. On November 7,
Pennsylvania State Police The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is the state police, state police agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police is a full service law enforcement agency which handles both ...
Commissioner Frank Noonan said that though some may have fulfilled their legal obligation to report suspected abuse, "somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child." Noonan added that anyone who knows about suspected abuse, "whether you're a football coach or a university president or the guy sweeping the building" has "a moral responsibility to call us." Paterno said McQueary informed him that "he had witnessed an incident in the shower ... but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report." Paterno was uncertain if being more graphic would have made a difference. "And to be frank with you I don't know that it would have done any good, because I never heard of, of, rape and a man," said Paterno. When he read the presentment after it became public, he asked his son, "What is
sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...
, anyway?" Further, following reports of the arrests, criticism of Penn State leadership and Paterno himself included calls for their dismissal for allegedly "protecting Penn State's brand instead of a child" and allowing Sandusky to retain ''emeritus'' status and unfettered access to the university, despite knowledge of the allegations of sexual abuse. In an interview with
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
radio station
WFAN WFAN may refer to: * WFAN (AM) WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, with a sports radio format, branded "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New Y ...
, sports reporter Kim Jones, a Penn State alumna, stated that, "I can't believe aterno'sheart is that black, where he simply never thought about andusky's 2001 incidentagain and never thought about those poor kids who were looking for a male mentor, a strong man in their life." Former sports commentator
Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ra ...
called for Paterno to be immediately fired, saying that "he failed all of the kids—the kid kids and the player kids—he purported to be protecting." In an editorial for the ''
Centre Daily Times The ''Centre Daily Times'' is a daily newspaper located in State College, Pennsylvania. It is the hometown newspaper for State College and the Pennsylvania State University, with more than 45,000 students attending the main campus. History The ...
,'' literary critic Robert Bernard Hass, a Penn State alumnus, compared Paterno's downfall to a Greek tragedy and suggested that despite his many good deeds, pride and age contributed to his failure to report the incident to police. The ''Patriot-News'' published a rare full-page, front-page editorial in its November 8, 2011, edition, calling for Spanier's immediate resignation as Penn State president; it also called for this to be Paterno's last season coaching Penn State football. The same day, an editorial in the ''Post-Gazette'' called for the resignations of both Paterno and McQueary. On November 14, Sandusky gave his first interview after being arrested. In a phone interview with
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
's
Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from ...
on ''
Rock Center with Brian Williams ''Rock Center with Brian Williams'' is an American weekly television newsmagazine that was broadcast on NBC from October 31, 2011, to June 21, 2013 and hosted by former ''NBC Nightly News'' anchor Brian Williams. It aired on Mondays until January ...
'', Sandusky denied the allegations, though he admitted showering with boys and inadvertently touching them "without intent of sexual contact". The interview received substantial coverage in the media, particularly regarding the manner in which Sandusky answered Costas when asked if he was sexually attracted to young boys: The day of the interview, Sandusky's lawyer claimed that he was able to track down Victim 2 and that, according to the child, the incident did not occur as described by McQueary. However, in the days following the interview, several potential victims contacted State College lawyer Andy Shubin alleging abuse by Sandusky, with one accuser reporting an abusive encounter with Sandusky in the 1970s. The media began to run various accounts of Penn State culture, as well as the prominence and power of football and of Paterno within it. Former Penn State employees, including a former vice president of student affairs Vickey Tripone, and former football grad assistant Matt Paknis himself a child abuse survivor who admitted he noticed but failed to report Sandusky's behavior stepped forward to critique the influence of the school's football program. Further stories detailed the loss of
sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...
s, the damage to Penn State's merchandise sales, brand, student admissions, and the impact of the scandal on recent graduates. On November 23, 2011, the editor of the ''Patriot-News'' wrote a column criticizing ''The New York Times'' for insufficiently protecting the identity of Victim 1. The ''Times'' both defended its reporting and published
public editor A public editor is a position existing at some news publications; the person holding this position is responsible for supervising the implementation of proper journalism ethics within that publication. These responsibilities include identifying a ...
criticism of the reporting. On December 3, 2014,
KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPKD-TV (channel 19), a ...
in Pittsburgh reported that Sandusky received a letter from Penn State asking to renew his
season ticket A season ticket, or season pass, is a ticket that grants privileges over a defined period of time. History The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has illustrative quotations which show the term ''season ticket'' used in the United States in 18 ...
plan for the football team and attend a "recruiting" trip to a Penn State basketball game. The letter was reportedly sent out in error.


The Second Mile

Jack Raykovitz, the longtime president and CEO of The Second Mile, announced his resignation on November 14. In addition, the
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization "dedicated to raising awareness about the millions of children around the world in need of permanent, safe, and loving families and to e ...
's Angels in Adoption program subsequently rescinded its earlier 2002 award to Sandusky for his work with The Second Mile "in light of the serious allegations against him, and to preserve the integrity of the Angels in Adoption program."


Penn State

The allegations impacted personnel and operations for Penn State. Penn State responded in various ways.


Ousting of Spanier, Curley, Paterno, and Schultz

On November 8, 2011, Spanier canceled Paterno's weekly Tuesday
press conference A press conference, also called news conference or press briefing, is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalism, journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicia ...
, citing legal concerns. It was to have been the coach's first public appearance since Sandusky's arrest. Paterno later reported that Spanier canceled the press conference without providing him with an explanation. That same day, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that Penn State was planning Paterno's exit at the close of the 2011 college football season. Based on interviews with two individuals briefed on conversations among top university officials, the ''Times'' reported: "The Board of Trustees has yet to determine the precise timing of Mr. Paterno's exit, but it is clear that (he) will not coach another season." The following day,
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
reported that Paterno had decided to retire at the end of the 2011 season, saying that he didn't want to be a distraction. In a statement announcing his retirement, Paterno said, "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." On the afternoon of November 9, Easton '' Express-Times'' reported that the board had given Spanier an
ultimatum An ; ; : ultimata or ultimatums) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion, threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the ...
—resign before that night's meeting or be fired. At that night's meeting, Spanier offered his immediate resignation. The board accepted it and named
provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...
Rodney Erickson Rodney Allen Erickson (born 1946) is an American academic administrator who served as the 17th president of Pennsylvania State University from 2011 to 2014. Formerly executive vice president and provost (chief academic officer), he was named int ...
as interim president. Several Penn State sources told StateCollege.com and the ''Patriot-News'' that Spanier and vice chairman
John Surma John Peter Surma (born May 25, 1954) is an American businessman. He was the executive chairman of the board of United States Steel Corporation. Surma retired as CEO of U.S. Steel effective September 1, 2013, and Chairman effective January 1, 2014 ...
mutually agreed that the best way forward for all involved would be for Spanier to resign "voluntarily and with grace." At the same meeting, the Board turned down Paterno's proposal to finish out the season and instead stripped him of his coaching duties immediately; defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was named the interim coach for the remainder of the season. During the week after Paterno's firing, the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
removed his name from the championship trophy for its conference championship game, renaming it the Stagg Championship Trophy. The inaugural game was scheduled for December 2011, and the trophy was originally named the Stagg–Paterno Championship Trophy after both Paterno and
Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...
, a college football pioneer. In addition, the
Maxwell Football Club The Robert W. Maxwell Football Club (originally called the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia) was established in 1935 in sports#American football, 1935 to promote safety in the game of American football. Named in honor of Tiny Maxwell, Robert ...
announced that the Joseph V. Paterno Award, presented to the college football coach who did the most to develop his players both on and off the field, would be discontinued. An attorney retained by the families of some of Sandusky's victims criticized the decision by the Board to fire Paterno, saying, "The school let the victims down once, and I think they owed it to the victims to at least gauge how the immediate termination decision would impact them as opposed to Mr. Paterno's resignation at the end of the year." However, one of the trustees told
Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...
'' Morning Call'' that the Board had no choice but to force Paterno to leave immediately to contain the growing outrage over the scandal. According to the trustee, the Board considered letting Paterno finish the season with Bradley as team spokesman, but ultimately decided that would still keep the focus on Paterno. The board also did not like that Paterno released statements on his own rather than through the school, with some board members feeling he may have breached his contract. The trustee also noted that he and many of his colleagues felt Paterno either "knew about he abuseand swept it under the rug, or he didn't ask enough questions." The board was also angered by Spanier's statements of support for Curley and Schultz. A few months later, chairman Steve Garban and vice chairman John Surma issued a statement saying that the board felt Paterno "could not be expected to continue to effectively perform his duties" in the wake of the scandal. On March 12, the Board of Trustees released what it described as its final statement on the ouster of Spanier and Paterno, stating that Spanier not only made unauthorized statements to the press, but failed to tell the board all he knew about the 2001 incident. It also said that Paterno demonstrated a "failure of leadership" by not going to the police. The board said it had every intention of sending someone to personally inform Paterno of the decision, but was unable to do so because of a large number of people surrounding his house. Rather than risk having Paterno learn about the decision via the media, the board decided to order him to leave immediately via telephone. However, in late 2014 and early 2015, court depositions by trustees
Kenneth Frazier Kenneth Carleton Frazier (born December 17, 1954) is an American business executive. He is executive chairman and former CEO of the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside of North America). After joining Merck & Co. as general ...
and Keith Masser conflicted with the "failure of leadership" story. As stated by Masser in his deposition in
state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...
Jake Corman Jacob Doyle Corman III (born September 9, 1964) is an American politician who served as the president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate from 2020 to 2022. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Senate 1999 to 2022, holding the same seat his f ...
's lawsuit against the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA), "The decision to remove Coach Paterno had nothing to do with what he had known, what he hadn't done. It was based upon the distraction of having him on the sidelines would have caused the university and the current football team harm. It had nothing to do with what Coach Paterno had done, or hadn't done." Frazier's testimony added that, given what had been reported publicly and in the grand jury presentment, he felt that Coach Paterno leading the football team onto the field would not send the right message. It was his opinion that, although the board needed to be careful to understand all the facts, the decision about relieving Paterno of his coaching duties did not depend on knowing the key facts of Paterno's alleged involvement. Rather, given the seriousness of the matter, Frazier's concern was the public perception of the University's values if Coach Paterno were to remain as coach. Spanier remained a tenured
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
professor at Penn State, despite being stripped of his duties as president. Likewise, Paterno remained a
tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...
d member of the Penn State faculty, and was treated as having retired. The board was still finalizing Paterno's retirement package at the time of his death from
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
two months later, on January 22, 2012. On October 16, 2012, Penn State announced it would not renew Curley's contract when it expired in June 2013.


Freeh report

On November 21, 2011, Frazier announced that
Louis Freeh Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001. Graduated from Rutgers University and New York Univers ...
, former director of the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
, would lead an internal investigation into Penn State's actions. Freeh announced that the team assisting him in his investigation would include former FBI agents and federal prosecutors. As the Sandusky trial proceeded toward conviction in June 2012, it was reported that " e university says that reeh'sreport should be out this summer and will be released to the trustees and the public simultaneously without being reviewed by the school's general counsel's office". The Freeh report was released on July 12, 2012. Freeh concluded that Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz were complicit in "conceal ngSandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities." According to Exhibit 2F of the report, Spanier and Schultz felt that approaching Sandusky as a first step was a more "humane" approach. Freeh's press release was critical of all four for not expressing the same feeling toward his victim. The report was also critical of Penn State's general counsel, Cynthia Baldwin. Freeh concluded that Schultz, Spanier, Curley and Paterno "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade", as well as violated the Clery Act. The report also stated the four men not only made no effort to identify the victim of the 2001 incident, but alerted Sandusky to McQueary's allegations against him, thus potentially putting the victim in more danger. In addition, the report said that the four men "exhibited a striking lack of
empathy Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...
for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being." The report stated that the men knew about the 1998 incident but "empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have continued, unrestricted and unsupervised access to the University's facilities and affiliation with the University's prominent football program" while the investigation was underway. The report stated that Paterno was asked in January 2011 by the grand jury about inappropriate sexual conduct with young boys, other than the 2001 incident. He replied, "I do not know of it. ... I don't know. I don't remember." Spanier had granted Sandusky ''emeritus'' status, and the perquisites of that status, upon his retirement in 1999, to the dismay of provost Rodney Erickson and vice provost Robert Secor. In emails dated August 31, 1999, Erickson said, "Let's go ahead and grant it 'emeritus'' status if Graham has already promised it," and Secor wrote, "But we are in a bind. Apparently Graham told anduskythat we would do this, he was wholly within his rights here since the policy says, 'The President may grant (or deny) Emeritus Rank on an exception basis.'" Freeh found no evidence to show that Sandusky's retirement or ''emeritus'' rank was related to the events at the Lasch Building. In response, Penn State's trustees announced that they accepted the report's conclusions and would implement corrective measures. On September 13, 2012, a group of alumni and supporters, under the name of Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, released a review of the Freeh report that was critical of their investigation and conclusions. On February 10, 2013, a report commissioned by the Paterno family was released by
Richard Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 76th United States attorney general from 1988 to 1991 under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. A ...
, former
U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...
and former governor of Pennsylvania, maintaining that the report was "seriously flawed, both with respect to the process of tsinvestigation and its findings related to Mr. Paterno". In response, Freeh called Thornburgh's report "self-serving" and said that it did not change the facts and findings of his initial investigation. On June 23, 2014, at Sandusky's pension forfeiture appeal, hearing arbiter Michael Bangs ruled that his pension be reinstated and criticized the Freeh report, stating it "was based on significant hearsay and was mostly ruled inadmissible (for the proceedings), utwas admitted in part to show it had found Sandusky had received 71 separate payments from Penn State between 2000 and 2008". Later in a footnote, Bangs states, "The terrifically significant disparity between the finding in the Freeh report and the actual truth is disturbing. While the Freeh report found that Penn State had made 71 separate payments to anduskybetween 2000 and 2008, they were off by almost 85 percent, as the correct number was six separate payments". Bangs goes on to say that the error "calls into question the accuracy and veracity of the entire report".
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
sportscaster
Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from ...
said, "What Freeh did was not only gather facts but he reached a conclusion which is at least debatable from those facts and then he assigned a motivation, not only to Curley and Schultz and Spanier, but he specifically assigned a very dark motivation to Joe Paterno, which seems like it might be quite a leap. ... A reasonable person will conclude that there is some doubt here and that the other side of the story deserves to be heard." In January 2012, sports journalist
Sally Jenkins Sally Jenkins (born October 11, 1960) is an American sports columnist and feature writer for ''The Washington Post'', and author. She was previously a senior writer for ''Sports Illustrated''. She has won the AP Sports Columnist of the Year Awa ...
secured an interview with Paterno shortly before his death. During the interview, she asked him his views on the Sandusky sexual molestation allegations. Her report of the interview was published January 13, 2012. In it she drew no firm conclusions about Paterno's culpability, but simply reported his words, and those of his lawyer. On July 12, 2012, in a ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' follow-up column, after the release of the ''Freeh Report'', Jenkins wrote: "Joe Paterno was a liar, there's no doubt about that now ... Paterno fell prey to the single most corrosive sin in sports: the belief that winning on the field makes you better and more important than other people."


Other actions

A building owner removed Sandusky's image from a mural near the university, and the Penn State Creamery renamed an ice cream flavor which had been created in his honor. On top of ousting both Paterno and Spanier, the school also placed McQueary on indefinite paid administrative leave. Steve Garban resigned from the board of trustees after the release of the Freeh report, the first member of the board to do so since the scandal broke. One victim withdrew from Central Mountain High School due to
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...
, and the boy's mother has stated that the high school did not do enough to prevent the fallout. In January 2012, new university president Rodney Erickson traveled for a week to speak with alumni in New York, Pittsburgh, and
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in an attempt to repair the university's image. At the meetings, Erickson received harsh criticism from alumni over the firing of Joe Paterno, and also received widespread criticism from the media for attempting to shift the focus away from the university. After the Freeh report's release, local organizations called for the removal of the
Joe Paterno statue ''Joe Paterno'' is a bronze sculpture of Joe Paterno, former head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. It was located on the northeast side of Beaver Stadium on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University in State College, ...
outside
Beaver Stadium Beaver Stadium is a college football stadium on the campus of Pennsylvania State University in Penn State University Park. It has been home to the Penn State Nittany Lions football of the Big Ten Conference since 1960, though some parts of th ...
. A small plane towed a banner over campus, reading ''Take the Statue Down or We Will''. After some days of mixed messages,Thomas, Taylor
"Penn State to remove Paterno Statue this weekend"
''
MarketWatch ''MarketWatch'' is a website that provides financial information, business news, analysis, and stock market data. It is a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, a property of News Corp, along with ''The Wall Street Journal'' and '' Barron's.'' ...
'', July 20, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
the school removed the statue on July 22, in front of a crowd of student onlookers. The statue was reportedly put in storage. Erickson said the statue had become "a source of division and an obstacle to healing" but made a distinction between it and the
Paterno Library The Penn State University Libraries consists of 36 libraries at 22 locations in Pennsylvania. The two main buildings on Penn State's University Park campus are the Pattee and Paterno libraries. History The library's first permanent location ...
, also on campus. The $13 million 1997 library expansion, partially funded by a $4 million gift from Paterno and his wife Sue, "remains a tribute to Joe and Sue Paterno's commitment to Penn State's student body and academic success, and it highlights the positive impacts coach Paterno had on the university.... Thus I feel strongly that the library's name should remain unchanged," Erickson said in the statement.


Penn State students

A few Penn State students, angered over Spanier's role in the 2001 incident as well as his statement of support for Curley and Schultz, created a
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
page, "Fire Graham Spanier", to call on Penn State's Board of Trustees to fire him. An online petition at
change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...
calling for Spanier's ouster garnered over 1,700 signatures in four days. After Paterno's ouster was announced on live television, students and non-students protested near the Penn State campus. Sources estimate 10,000 people protested to support Paterno, with some tipping over a
WTAJ WTAJ-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Johnstown–Altoona–State College media market, market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, t ...
news van. Some police officers used a "chemical spray" to disperse the demonstrators. Minor injuries were reported. Approximately $200,000 in damage resulted from the protest. Local police criticized the short notice from Penn State administration and the insufficient time to mobilize officers from other areas as factors exacerbating the situation. About 47 people were charged in connection with the protest, and some were subsequently sentenced to a combination of prison terms, probation,
community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...
, and
restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...
. On November 10, a group of Penn State alumni set up and announced ProudPSUforRAINN, a fundraiser for the anti-sexual violence network
RAINN The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense Safe Helpline ...
with a goal of $500,000, which was exceeded by July 10, 2012. Students also held a
candlelight vigil A candlelight vigil or candlelit vigil or candlelight service is an assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to pray, show support for a specific cause, or remember the dead, in which case, the event is often called a cand ...
on the lawn of Old Main. The planning for the vigil began the Monday before Paterno's firing and gained steam quickly across campus. It was shown live on news networks across the country, including
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
and
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
. Former
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
player and sports broadcaster
LaVar Arrington LaVar RaShad Arrington (born June 20, 1978) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a linebacker for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittan ...
, a Penn State alum, spoke at the event which attracted an estimated 10,000.


NCAA


Initial sanctions

On November 17, NCAA President
Mark Emmert Mark Allen Emmert (born December 16, 1952) is the former president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He was the fifth CEO of the NCAA; he was named as the incoming president on April 27, 2010, and assumed his duties on Nov ...
personally wrote Erickson to ask him how Penn State had exercised control over its athletic program in the wake of the scandal. The letter also demanded answers to four specific questions about how Penn State had complied with NCAA policies during that time. Penn State pledged full cooperation, but asked to defer its response until after the release of the Freeh report. On July 16, Emmert appeared on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
' ''Tavis Smiley'' and said that with the release of the Freeh report, Penn State had "weeks, not months" to answer the questions he had raised in the November letter. He also hinted that he had not ruled out issuing the so-called "
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
", which would have forced Penn State to cancel at least the 2012 season. The NCAA had not handed down a death penalty to a Division I school since
Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
(SMU) was hit with it in 1987 for massive violations in its football program. Shortly after the release of the Freeh report, the NCAA Board gave Emmert the power to take corrective and punitive action relative to Penn State, forgoing the NCAA's normal investigative protocol. On July 22, 2012, the NCAA announced that it would impose "corrective and punitive" sanctions against both the Penn State football program and the institution as a whole the next morning. In announcing the sanctions, Emmert said that, although the behavior could be called more egregious than any other seen in NCAA history, and thus a multi-year suspension was appropriate, they concluded that it was as important to drive "cultural change" at Penn State as much as it was to hold it to account. For this reason, Emmert said, the NCAA believed cancelling one or more football seasons was not appropriate, as it would cause "significant unintended harm to many who had nothing to do with this case." He also praised Erickson and newly installed Board of Trustees chairwoman Karen Peetz with taking corrective measures on their own, saying that they"have demonstrated a strong desire and determination on the part of Penn State to take the steps necessary for the university to right these severe wrongs." On July 23, Emmert announced the following sanctions against Penn State: * Five years probation. * A four-year postseason ban. * Vacating of all wins from 1998 to 2011–112 wins in all. This had the effect of stripping the Nittany Lions of their shared Big Ten titles in 2005 and 2008. It also removed 111 wins from Paterno's record, dropping him from first to 12th on the NCAA's all-time wins list. * A $60 million fine, the proceeds of which were to go toward an endowment for preventing child abuse. According to the NCAA, this was the equivalent of a typical year's gross revenue from the football program. * Loss of a total of forty initial scholarships from 2013 to 2017. During the same period, Penn State was to be limited to 65 total scholarships—only two more than a Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) school was allowed. * Penn State was required to adopt all recommendations for reform delineated in the Freeh report. * Penn State entered into an "athletics integrity agreement" with the NCAA and Big Ten, appoint a university-wide athletic compliance officer and compliance council, and accepted an NCAA-appointed athletic integrity monitor for the duration of its probation. The sanctions took the form of a sweeping
consent decree A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...
in which Penn State accepted the findings of fact by the NCAA and waived any right to appeal the sanctions. A full release was granted to all players in the program, allowing them to transfer to another school without losing eligibility. According to ESPN's Don Van Natta, Jr., the NCAA and Penn State had already begun preliminary discussions about possible sanctions in mid-July. The ''Patriot-News'' reported that the NCAA formally forwarded its terms to Penn State's legal team on July 19. Discussions continued over the weekend, and the final agreement was essentially the NCAA's original proposal except for some minor concessions to Penn State.Thompson, Charles
Alumni, trustees attack Penn State President Erickson for signing NCAA consent agreement too quickly
The Patriot-News, 2012-07-24.
In announcing the sanctions, Emmert said that he intended the Penn State case to be "the cautionary tale of athletics overwhelming core values of the institution and losing sight of why we are really participating in these activities can occur." He also said that the sanctions were necessary to force Penn State to reform its athletic culture. The Big Ten followed the NCAA actions, concurring with its findings by officially
censuring A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spi ...
Penn State and levying a separate fine of $13 million. In a statement, the conference stated that its intentions were "not to destroy a great university, but rather to seek justice and constructively assist a member institution with its efforts to reform." The Big Ten financial penalty came as Penn State gave up its four-year share of conference bowl revenue. The $13 million, as with the NCAA fines, will instead be donated to "help victims of child sex abuse". The NCAA said it was compelled to act outside the normal investigative process due to what it described as the sheer egregiousness of the misconduct detailed in the Freeh report. In the NCAA's view, Spanier, Curley, Schultz and Paterno's cover-up of Sandusky's crimes constituted "a failure of institutional and individual integrity," and thus violated basic principles of intercollegiate athletics that were over and above specific NCAA policies. Additionally, the NCAA said that since Penn State had commissioned the Freeh report and accepted its findings, further proceedings would be redundant. Emmert himself said that Freeh's investigation was far more exhaustive than any that would have been mounted by the NCAA. Due to the deviation from normal NCAA investigative process as well as the nature of the sanctions, four trustees of the university filed an appeal of the sanctions. Board member Ryan McCombie, a 26-year
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
veteran who was elected to the board in July 2012 by members of the school's alumni association, led the trustee appeal. A letter filed on the trustees' behalf by Paul Kelly of Jackson Lewis LLP called the sanctions "excessive and unreasonable". The letter also argued that Erickson exceeded his authority in accepting the sanctions. In addition, a group of former Penn State football players, including former starting quarterback Michael Robinson, filed their own appeal. However, a spokesman for the NCAA held that the sanctions were not subject to appeal.


Sanctions rescinded

The validity of the sanctions later came into question, and emails surfaced that indicated highly ranked officials within the NCAA did not believe the organization had the jurisdiction to pass down the original sanctions. Subsequent emails, brought forward under subpoena, quoted an NCAA vice-president, "I characterized our approach to PSU as a bluff when talking to Mark mmert, NCAA president... He basically agreed ecauseI think he understands that if we made this an enforcement issue, we may win the immediate battle but lose the war." Another vice-president questioned the NCAA's investigation and enforcement process of Penn State, calling it "a bit of a runaway train right now," and wrote that he had concerns regarding the NCAA's jurisdiction to sanction Penn State: "I know we are banking on the fact
enn State Enn is an Estonian masculine given name, a form of Henry and may refer to: * Enn Eesmaa (born 1946). Estonian journalist and politician * Enn Griffel (1935–2007), Estonian auto racing driver * Enn Kasak (born 1954), Estonian philosopher and ...
is so embarrassed they will do anything." The NCAA later rescinded many of the sanctions against Penn State. On September 24, 2013, the NCAA announced that Penn State's scholarships would be gradually restored until the number of scholarships reached the normal 85 for the 2016–17 year, the first year after Penn State's postseason ban. A year later, on September 8, 2014, the NCAA announced that Penn State would be eligible for the 2014 postseason and all scholarships would be restored in 2015. Several months later, on January 16, 2015, the NCAA reinstated Paterno and Bradley's wins.


Debate over suspension of the football program

At least two Penn State trustees, as well as several alumni, criticized Erickson for accepting the NCAA sanctions as quickly as he had. However, in a press conference shortly after the penalties were handed down, Erickson said that as harsh as they were, he had no choice but to accept them. According to Erickson, had Penn State not accepted the penalties, the NCAA would have gone in "another direction"—one that would have included the NCAA canceling at least the 2012 season. Erickson said that under the circumstances, "we had our backs to the wall," and he had no choice but to accept the consent decree since it was the only deal on offer. Erickson subsequently told ESPN's John Barr that Penn State was facing as long as a four-year ban from play had it not agreed to the sanctions that were ultimately imposed. Erickson went further on July 25, saying that Emmert had personally told him on July 17—the day after Emmert's interview with Smiley—that a majority of the NCAA leadership wanted to shut down Penn State football for four years. He also said that Penn State could have faced a host of other severe penalties, including a fine several times greater than the $60 million ultimately imposed. When Erickson learned this, he immediately started talks with the NCAA, and was able to get the death penalty taken off the table. Erickson discussed his actions with the board later that night, and the Board resolved that Erickson's actions were understandable under the circumstances. Emmert and the NCAA Executive Committee's chairman,
Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...
president
Edward John Ray Edward John Ray (born September 10, 1944) is an American economist who became the 14th president of Oregon State University on July 31, 2003. Prior to joining Oregon State, Ray was executive vice president and provost of Ohio State University f ...
, subsequently acknowledged that the NCAA had seriously considered imposing a death penalty, but denied that Penn State had been threatened with one had it not accepted the consent decree. Ray, whose committee was charged by Emmert with designing the sanctions, told ESPN's Adam Rittenberg that while there was considerable debate about whether to include a death penalty among the sanctions, "the overwhelming position of members of both the executive committee and the Division I board was to not include suspension of play." He also "categorically" denied that the NCAA had threatened Penn State with a death penalty had it not accepted the sanctions, and added that using it as a backup in case of such a rejection was "never even a point of discussion within either the executive committee or the Division I board." Emmert himself told ESPN's
Bob Ley Robert A. Ley ( ; born March 16, 1955) is an American sports anchor and reporter, best known for his work at ESPN. A multiple Emmy Award-winner, he was the longest-tenured on-air employee of the network, having joined ESPN just three days after ...
that the death penalty was "unequivocally on the table" as one of the possible sanctions. However, he said, Penn State's swift corrective measures after the scandal broke out in full—including forcing out Spanier and Paterno—were significant factors in ultimately taking the death penalty off the table. "Had Penn State not been as decisive as they were," Emmert said, "I don't know what the outcome would have been, but I suspect it would have been significantly worse." Emmert also repeated Ray's denial that Penn State had been threatened with a multi-year suspension had it not agreed to the penalties, saying there had been "some confusion" about those circumstances. He did say, however, that if Erickson and Penn State had not signed the consent decree, the NCAA would have launched a full-blown infractions investigation that would have had "an unknown outcome." In the consent decree itself, the NCAA acknowledged that there had been some discussion about imposing a "death penalty," but noted that this severe penalty was primarily reserved for repeat violators who neither cooperated with the NCAA nor took any corrective measures once the violations came to light. However, it not only noted Penn State's swift corrective action, but also pointed out the school had never been the subject of a major infractions case before. This stood in contrast to the situation at SMU 25 years earlier; school officials at SMU knew major violations were occurring and did nothing to stop them, and the school had been under nearly constant scrutiny from the NCAA for over a decade.


Civil lawsuits and subsequent developments

On November 28, 2011, Fisher and his mother hired attorneys to pursue civil claims against both parties. On November 30, the first lawsuit by a victim of sexual abuse was filed against Penn State and Sandusky alleging over 100 incidents of sexual abuse; the victim was identified in the suit only as "John Doe A." A man claiming to be the previously unknown victim of the shower incident ("Victim 2") stepped forward through his lawyers in July 2012 and stated his intentions to file a lawsuit against Penn State. His lawyers, Ross Feller Casey LLP, also released a pair of
voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows callers to leave a recorded message when the recipient has been unable (or unwilling) to answer the phone. Calls may be directed to voicemail m ...
s from September 2011 that were purportedly left for the firm's client by Sandusky. On September 20, 2012, Penn State released an announcement that the institution had hired the law firm of Feinberg Rozen LLP to assist in the handling of any
personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an Injury (law), injury to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law, common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the ...
lawsuits that could emerge as a result of the sexual abuse allegations that had been made against Sandusky. Erickson stated that Penn State's ultimate goal was to
settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...
any civil cases in a way that would not force the victims to go through the legal process once again. On October 2, McQueary sued Penn State in Centre County Court for a total of $8 million demanding $4 million for alleged
defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
due to Spanier's public statement of support for Curley and Schultz, and another $4 million for alleged
misrepresentation In common law jurisdictions, a misrepresentation is a False statements of fact, false or misleading''Royal Mail Case, R v Kylsant''
931 Year 931 ( CMXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place North Africa * The Ummayad Caliphate of Córdoba invades and conquers the city of Ceuta, which was ruled by the Berber dynasty Banu I ...
Question of law, statement of fact made during negotiations by one party to another, the statement then in ...
after Schultz stated he would take appropriate action after the shower room incident McQueary witnessed. The suit alleges that McQueary was fired because he had cooperated with law enforcement and would serve as a witness in the trial of Schultz and Curley. McQueary was also seeking reinstatement of his job or compensation for lost wages. On January 1, 2013, Governor Tom Corbett announced he would sue the NCAA in federal court over the sanctions imposed on Penn State. Although Corbett is an ''ex officio'' member of the board of trustees, Penn State was not involved in the suit. According to the AP, Corbett was filing an
antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
suit against the NCAA. Though he had originally "endorsed he NCAA settlement in the immediate wake of the Freeh reportas 'part of the corrective process'","Penn State: Lessons Not Learned" (editorial)
New York ''Times'', January 3, 2013 . Retrieved 2013-01-04.
Corbett and other state lawmakers had recently begun to object to the prospect of the $60 million fine being spent mostly outside of Pennsylvania. One reason given for the objection is that there was no legal way Penn State could ensure that taxpayer money would not be used to pay the fine. In sharply criticizing the governor's move in an editorial, ''The New York Times'' noted that Corbett "barely mentioned the young victims" in his statement. It continued: "In his complaints, the governor only confirmed the inquiry finding that the university's obsession with football predominance helped drive the cover-up of Mr. Sandusky's crimes." It also noted that, in the suit, Corbett "bypassed incoming state attorney general
Kathleen Kane Kathleen Margaret Kane (née Granahan) (born June 14, 1966) is an American former politician and lawyer who served as the attorney general of Pennsylvania from 2013 until her resignation in 2016, following her conviction for perjury, obstruction ...
hoin her election campaign last year ... promised to look into why it took so long for the pedophilia scandal to be investigated when Mr. Corbett previously served as attorney general". The ''Patriot-News'' said of the suit: " tcomes after a year of withering criticism of Corbett by some quarters of the Penn State community, which has seen the governor and his fellow PSU trustees as too quick to brand former head coach Joe Paterno and others as fall guys for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal." On June 6, 2013, federal Middle District Judge
Yvette Kane Yvette Kane (née Pregeant; born October 11, 1953) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Early life and education Kane was born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. After g ...
said she could not "find any factual allegations" and threw out the lawsuit calling, it "a Hail Mary pass" that easily warranted dismissal. Matthew Sandusky, the adopted son of Jerry Sandusky, was also involved in lawsuits against Penn State. While Matthew originally took his adopted father's side when he was first questioned by the grand jury, he later revealed that Sandusky had started to sexually abuse him when he was 8 years old. Ross Feller Casey LLP went on to represent him in the civil lawsuit, and Matthew reached a settlement with Penn State. He was one of the 26 victims involved in the settlement amount that was reached in October 2013. On August 16, 2013, a man known as Victim 5, who was sexually abused by Sandusky, was the first to settle his civil suit against Penn State for an undisclosed amount. On October 28, Penn State reached settlements with 26 Sandusky victims, costing the university a total of $59.7 million. Victim 6 filed a lawsuit against Penn State on January 22, 2013. However, the lawsuit was dismissed on November 6. A U.S. District Judge in Philadelphia ruled in favor of Penn State, stating that the university could not legally be held liable for Sandusky's actions simply because he was employed there. The judge stated that Victim 6 failed "to explain how molestation was the kind of act that Penn State employed Sandusky to perform." On November 21, Victim 9 sued Penn State, citing that the male victim had been unable to reach a settlement with the institution. Stephen E. Raynes of Raynes McCarty released a statement that he and his team had been working closely with Michael Rozen to reach a settlement for Victim 9. Because of Penn State's refusal to compensate his client, they filed a civil lawsuit in an attempt to "compel Penn State to finally fulfill its responsibilities to this young man." On April 9, 2015, Penn State trustees voted to approve a settlement with "one or more" victims from the Sandusky scandal. While both the victims involved and the amount of the settlement remained confidential, another step was taken to provide justice to those who had suffered at the hands of Sandusky. As of November 27, 2015, the total amount that Penn State owed victims of Sandusky was close to $93 million. An audit of Penn State's financial statements for the 2015 financial year (ending June 30) revealed that the university had made new payments totaling $33.2 million that were all related to Sandusky. The audit also indicated that Penn State had already paid or agreed to pay 32 claims relevant to Sandusky.


Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association Insurance

In February 2012, Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association Capital Insurance Company (PMACIC), Penn State's liability
insurer Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...
, asked the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to limit its exposure from a lawsuit filed by an alleged victim of Sandusky due to both the time of coverage of the policies and possible "intentional conduct" of the university. PMA Capital Insurance Co. should not be confused with the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, which had a business relationship with Penn State dating back to the 1950s. The Association sold its insurance business to PMA Capital Insurance Company of Blue Bell, PA in 2004. PMA Capital Insurance Co, was sued by the university in February 2013 after the company refused to cover claims from thirty men alleging abuse by Sandusky. As part of the
litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...
, PMACIC brought in a lawyer with expertise in sex abuse cases to examine how Penn State vetted claims before paying alleged victims. Noting a surprising lack of documentation, the lawyer wrote, "It appears as though Penn State made little effort, if any, to verify the credibility of the claims."
Penn Live ''The Patriot-News'' is the largest newspaper serving Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area in central Pennsylvania. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily and Sunday circulation in the United States. It has bee ...
reported that a court order connected to the PMACIC case stated that Paterno was allegedly told in 1976 about an accusation of sexual abuse by Sandusky. PMA documents alleged that a boy told Paterno he had been molested by Sandusky, who was then an assistant coach. The order also cited reports by unnamed assistant coaches who said they witnessed inappropriate contact between Sandusky and some children, according to the ruling by Philadelphia Judge Gary Glazer. Penn State spokesman Lawrence Lokman said university officials involved in cases related to the Sandusky scandal were aware of the new allegations contained in the insurance case broadly; Lokman said to Penn Live: "Many, many people, potential victims and victims have come forward to the university as part of that (settlement) process... We do not talk about their specific circumstances." CNN reported one of the victims, identified as Victim A, had told Paterno about an incident in a bathroom as early as 1971. NBC also reported that one former Penn State assistant coach witnessed an incident in the late 1970s, and three other coaches—who have gone on to work in pro level and other colleges—allegedly saw inappropriate conduct between Sandusky and young boys in the 1990s. Risk management expert Raymond Williams identified three incidents with some of the assistant coaches on the Penn State staff at the time, and three others that were reported to university officials; and whether the key officials should have had knowledge about child sex-assault allegations involving Sandusky in each of the six different cases dating to 1976. McQueary alleged former Penn State assistant coaches
Greg Schiano Gregory Edward Schiano (born June 1, 1966) is an American football coach. He is currently the head football coach at Rutgers University, a position he held from 2001 to 2011 and resumed before the 2020 season. Schiano has the most wins in program ...
and Tom Bradley knew about earlier transgressions by Sandusky. In a deposition related to the PMA case, McQueary claimed that upon telling Bradley what he had seen, Bradley was not shocked and related a story about a time in the 1990s when Schiano had witnessed Sandusky doing something with a boy. Bradley and Schiano denied the allegations. Paterno family members dismissed the accusations. Paterno's wife Sue said in a letter to the Board of Trustees: "It is time to end this endless process of
character assassination Character assassination (CA) is a deliberate and sustained effort to damage the reputation or credibility of an individual. The term ''character assassination'' became popular around 1930. This concept, as a subject of scholarly study, was origi ...
by accusation" and asked board members to seek the truth "in the spirit of our love for Penn State and our duty to the victims." Paterno's son Scott called the new claims "bunk," and expressed on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
"it would be great if everyone waited to see the substance of the allegation before they assume it's true. Because it's not." Michael Boni, a plaintiff's lawyer in the Sandusky scandal, claimed "the headlines of these stories is Paterno knew of Sandusky's molestation in the '70s, '76 or '77. I'm unaware of direct, irrefutable evidence that that's the case... believe me, I'm the last person to defend the guy, but I am the first person to believe in our justice system. And I think you need more than anecdotal evidence or speculative evidence." Penn State president
Eric Barron Eric James Barron (born October 26, 1951) is an American academic administrator who was the 18th president of Pennsylvania State University from 2014 until 2022. He previously was the 14th president of Florida State University and director of the ...
said the accusations were "unsubstantiated and unsupported by any evidence other than a claim by an alleged victim", and claimed the university is being subjected unfairly to "rumor, innuendo and rush to judgment". Barron acknowledged the school's board had spent tens of millions of dollars without making an effort to corroborate claims. "None of these allegations ... has been substantiated in a court of law or in any other process to test their veracity," Barron wrote. The university hired settlement experts Kenneth Feinberg and Michael Rozen to handle the claims. The settlement agreements required victims to release several organizations, and anyone connected to them, from lawsuits, including The Second Mile. An
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
attorney who represents sex abuse victims said, "That's not normal. Why would Penn State care about The Second Mile?" and that he had never encountered a defendant requesting a liability release for a separate organization. Penn State alumni trustee Al Lord said, "There's only one reason or the release and that was to protect ... members of the board who were involved at the Second Mile." The trustee who chaired the board committee that oversaw negotiations was Ira Lubert, a friend of a former Second Mile board chair as well as part-owner of a summer camp The Second Mile visited. Nicholas Mirkay, a
University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
law school professor and nonprofit governance expert, found it surprising Penn State leadership allowed a board member with even a tangential connection to the Second Mile to lead settlement negotiations.


McQueary vs. Penn State

In October 2016, a jury found that Penn State had defamed McQueary, and awarded him $7 million in damages. Penn State appealed the ruling in November 2016, and the case judge also awarded an additional almost $5 million to McQueary based on a separate charge that his firing was retaliation for
whistleblowing Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
. McQueary eventually settled the case for an undisclosed amount before the appeal was heard.


Fines for Clery Act Violations

In November 2016, the
U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...
announced that it sought to fine Penn State nearly $2.4 million for violating the Clery Act. The violations include failing to alert the public about Sandusky's conduct and other campus dangers. Penn State officials have said that they will not appeal the fine. Findings:


Impact

At the time of the NCAA sanctions, one columnist had characterized them (scholarship restrictions, a bowl ban, loss of revenue) as a fate "worse than
death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
" for the Penn State football program – noncompetitiveness on the field. In addition to the expected damage to future recruiting from those sanctions, the NCAA had enacted a temporary exception to transfer rules which allowed current scholarship players to leave the tainted program. Only one high profile player left State College, and the football program did not experience a losing season between Paterno's firing and the first post-sanction bowl game. The football team posted winning records of 9–4 in 2011, 8–4 in 2012, 7–5 in 2013, and 7–6 in 2014. In 2015 the arrival of running back
Saquon Barkley Saquon Rasul Quevis Barkley ( ; born February 9, 1997) is an American professional American football, football running back for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany ...
heralded 11 win seasons in 2016 and 2017. Penn State's Aa1 revenue-bond rating was "placed on review for possible downgrade" by
Moody's Investors Service Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...
because of the scandal's possible effects on the university's finances. After the school was removed from the watchlist in February 2012 and assigned a "negative outlook" within that rating class due to its "ongoing uncertainty", Moody's again considered downgrading the bond rating the following July. In October 2012, Moody's downgraded Penn State's bond rating to Aa2 citing "anticipation of the substantial financial impact on the university from the ultimate cost of future settlements and possible judgments". It would not be until February 2016 that Penn State would see its rating restored to Aa1, with Moody's citing a stable outlook and the university's ability to continue operating despite Pennsylvania's delay in enacting 2016 appropriations.
State Farm Insurance State Farm Insurance is a group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1922, it is the largest property, casualty and auto insurance provider in the United ...
pulled its sponsorship of the Nittany Lions football team in July 2012, and asked the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, M.D. Pa.) is a district level federal court with jurisdiction over approximately one half of Pennsylvania. The court was created in 1901 by subdividing t ...
to declare that there is no provision in its policy with Penn State to force the company to help pay for Sandusky's criminal defense bills or any punitive damages that he has incurred. Penn State reported that the school had spent $3.2 million on investigations, public relations, and legal advice in response to the scandal through the middle of February 2012. On August 15, 2012, Penn State's
regional accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is Quality assurance, assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions mad ...
was put on "warning" status due to the Sandusky scandal. The
Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education, is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...
, which accredits the university, continued to accredit Penn State but demanded a report addressing these. In November, the warning status was lifted as the accreditor was "impressed by the degree to which Penn State has risen, as a strong campus community, to recognize and respond to the sad events."


See also


Film

*'' Paterno'', a 2018 film about the Penn State case


Similar cases

* Baylor University sexual assault scandal involving football players * Ohio State University abuse scandal involving 177 students and athletes *
United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal A child sexual abuse scandal involving the abuse of young players at football clubs in the United Kingdom began in mid-November 2016. The revelations began when former professional footballers waived their rights to anonymity and talked publicly a ...
involving British soccer teams *
USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of hundreds of gymnasts—primarily Minor (law), minors—over two decades in the United States, starting in the 1990s. It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports ...
associated with
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
and involving over 265 female gymnasts *
Child abuse in association football Child abuse in association football refers to instances where children involved in association football, whether as players or in other roles, have been subjected to various forms of abuse, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Child ...


References


Further reading

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External links


Sandusky, Penn State case timelineJerry Sandusky
collected news and commentary from the Patriot-News.
The Freeh Report
its full title is ''Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding the Actions of the
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
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