Harrisburg, PA (Sports Network) - Pennsylvania State Attorney General Linda
Kelly has announced charges against former Penn State president Graham Spanier
in relation to the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Kelly, at a news conference Thursday, said Spanier has been charged with
criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, endangering the welfare of
children, failure to report under the Child Protective Services Law and
perjury.
Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach, was sentenced last
month to 30-60 years in prison for his conviction on charges of child sexual
abuse. Sandusky was found guilty in June on 45 counts charging him with sexual
abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year period.
The scandal, which broke last November with Sandusky's arrest, brought down
the Penn State football program, tarnished the legacy of the late Joe Paterno
and scarred the entire university.
Spanier had been the school president for 16 years before his ouster on the
same day last November when Paterno was relieved of his duties as head coach.
In addition, Kelly announced further charges against former Penn State
athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. Curley and
Schultz had already been charged with perjury and failure to report under the
Child Protective Services Law.
"This is not a mistake, an oversight or a misjudgment," said Kelly. "This was
a conspiracy of silence by top officials at Penn State, working to actively
conceal the truth, with total disregard to the suffering of children."
Spanier, Schultz and Curley are accused of concealing information about
suspected child abuse involving Sandusky, including on-campus incidents from
1998 and 2001 that were reported and discussed in great detail by those three
men.
According to the State Attorney General's release, notes and documents about
the 1998 and 2001 crimes were allegedly kept by Schultz in a file drawer in
his campus office. Schultz told staff members that they were never to look in
that "Sandusky" file. On Nov. 5, 2011 -- the day the original criminal charges
were announced against Sandusky, Schultz and Curley -- that file was removed
from Schultz's office and delivered to his home.
The Sports Network