Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team once viewed as a favorite to succeed Joe Paterno as head coach, has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys, and the universitys athletic director and another university official were charged with perjury and failure to report after an investigation into the allegations.
Sandusky, 67, who had worked with at-risk children through his Second Mile foundation, was arraigned and released on $100,000 bail on Saturday after being charged with, among other offenses, seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, eight counts of corruption of minors, eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child and seven counts of indecent assault.
A grand jury identified eight boys singled out for sexual advances or sexual assaults by Sandusky from 1994 through 2009, including one incident that Paterno was allegedly told about. All of the alleged victims first encountered Sandusky through activities related to Second Mile, which he founded in 1977. Sandusky retired from daily involvement with the Second Mile last fall.
This is a case about a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys, the Pennsylvania attorney general, Linda Kelly, said in a statement.
According to the attorney general’s office, Paterno alerted the athletic director, Tim Curley, about a 2002 incident in which a graduate assistant for the team said he saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the shower at Lasch Football Building on the Penn State campus. The graduate student said he went to Paternos home the next day and described what he had seen. Paterno, in turn, told Curley.
About a week and a half after the 2002 incident, which occurred late at night, Curley and Gary Schultz, the universitys senior vice president for finance and business, met with the graduate assistant who had witnessed it, then told Sandusky that he could not bring any children from the Second Mile into the football building. But the university officials did not alert law enforcement, as required by state law, Kelly said.
A grand jury found that Curley, 57, and Schultz, 62, provided false testimony in discussing their response to the 2002 incident. The grand jury found that Curley committed perjury in repeatedly denying that he had been told that Sandusky had engaged in sexual misconduct with a child.
It also found the assertions by Schultz that the allegations were not that serious and that he and Curley had no indication that a crime had occurred contradicted other testimony. Paterno, who last week passed Eddie Robinson for the most career victories in Division I football, was not charged.
Curley and Schultz were each charged with one count of perjury, a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine, in addition to failure to report. They are scheduled to turn themselves in Monday in Harrisburg, Pa. Neither responded to attempts to reach him for comment. Sandusky did not respond to a telephone message left at his home.
Tom Farrell, the lawyer for Schultz, said in a statement: Gary Schultz is innocent of all charges. We believe in the legal system, and we believe it will vindicate him. We will fight these charges in court, and Gary Schultz will be proven innocent of all of them.
Caroline Roberto, the lawyer for Curley, said in a statement: Tim Curley is innocent of all charges against him. We will vigorously challenge the charges in court, and we are confident he will be exonerated.
Jay Paterno, the Penn State quarterbacks coach and son of Joe Paterno, declined to comment when reached on his cellphone.
I wish to say that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz have my unconditional support, Penn States president, Graham B. Spanier, said in a statement. I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 years. I have complete confidence in how they have handled the allegations about a former university employee.
The news about Sandusky, and the actions of top university officials, are sure to roil State College, a small college town so quaint that it is referred to as Happy Valley. Penn State has long been a picture of consistency in the ever-changing college football landscape, from its iconic football coach to its staid blue-and-white uniforms.
The indictment culminated a nearly three-year investigation by the state attorney generals office. The investigation began after claims by the first alleged victim that Sandusky had indecently assaulted him and engaged in various sex acts while the boy was Sanduskys house guest near Penn States campus.
The charges against Sandusky are at odds with his public persona in State College. After a successful career on the sidelines, he seemed to dedicate himself to improving the lives of the youth of the area through his foundation. Sandusky reportedly cited his devotion to the charity among the reasons for turning down various head coaching opportunities.
A defensive coach at Penn State from 1969 until his retirement in 1999, Sandusky helped burnish Penn States reputation as Linebacker U, devising the defenses that led the Nittany Lions to national championships in the 1982 and 1986 seasons.
Penn State did not play Saturday. The 16th-ranked Nittany Lions host No. 9 Nebraska next week in their final home game of the season.
