Penn State Blamed for Sex Abuse

Freeh report on Penn State’s handling of Jerry Sandusky’s child sex abuse reveals ‘total disregard’ for victims

Video: The Post’s Jenna Johnson details the findings of the Louis Freeh investigation into the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State University.

By Amy Shipley and Jenna Johnson

Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno and the senior leadership at the university covered up incidents of child sexual abuse on the Penn State campus by a former assistant football coach, showing “total disregard for the safety and welfare of the victims,” a team of investigators concluded in findings released Thursday morning.
In a prepared statement that preceded the release of a 162-page report, former FBI director Louis Freeh, who along with his law firm conducted an independent review of the circumstances surrounding the scandal, blamed Paterno and university officials for “catastrophic failures” that were reinforced by a Board of Trustees that had failed to create an environment of accountability.

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A look at the victims and events in the case against Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, as reported by the grand jury that investigated.

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Jerry Sandusky’s sex abuse trial: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has been convicted of 45 counts at his child sex abuse trial.

The release said Paterno and other officials showed no concern for the victims of Jerry Sandusky, 68, who in June was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse and is awaiting sentencing, until after his arrest last November. The report said “a culture of reverence for the football program . . . ingrained at all levels of the campus” contributed to the massive ethical breakdown.
“Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State,” Freeh said in the release. “In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University . . . repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large.”
The report took former Penn State president Graham Spanier to task, saying he “failed in his duties as president.” Investigators specifically homed in on an incident in February 2001, when Sandusky was discovered sexually assaulting a boy in the Penn State showers by graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary. The report blasted Paterno, Spanier, former vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley for showing concern for the ”humane” treatment of Sandusky rather than the victim.
The report said that when McQueary told Paterno he saw Sandusky behaving inappropriately with a young boy in a locker room shower, Paterno delayed passing along the information because he did not “want to interfere” with people’s weekend plans. At no time did any officials try to identify the boy, Freeh said.
Eight young men testified during Sandusky’s trial that he lured them as boys from his at-risk charity and sexually abused them in his home, in the Penn State locker room and on road trips with the football team for more than 15 years.
Members of Penn State’s Board of Trustees are opening a meeting Thursday in Scranton, Pa., to determine how to respond. The board paid for the investigation, which Freeh said involved 430 interviews and the analysis of 3.5 million e-mails and other documents. The report also made 120 recommendations in eight different areas.
In a statement on Penn State’s Web site, university leaders and the trustees said: “We want to ensure we are giving the report careful scrutiny and consideration before making any announcements or recommendations. We are convening an internal team comprising the Board of Trustees, University administration and our legal counsel to begin analyzing the report and digesting Judge Freeh’s findings.”
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