Ex-PSU president Spanier, 2 administrators charged with Sandusky cover-up

BELLFONTE, Pa. (AP) — State police on Thursday charged former Penn State University President Graham Spanier with five felonies and three misdemeanors — and added charges against two former administrators already awaiting trial — in an alleged cover-up of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky’s crimes as a former assistant football coach.

Spanier, who spent 16 years leading the state’s largest university, faces charges of perjury, endangering the welfare of children, obstruction of the administration of law and conspiracy.

Authorities filed additional charges against former administrators Gary Schultz and Tim Curley. The two, who are scheduled to stand trial in January on charges they failed to report allegations against Sandusky and lied about it to a grand jury, now face four additional felony charges and two misdemeanors.

“This is not a mistake, an oversight or misjudgment,” Attorney General Linda Kelly said while announcing the charges with State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan. “This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials at Penn State, working to conceal the truth, with total disregard to the suffering of children.”

Spanier, 64, of State College did not respond to calls for comment. One of his lawyers said they would issue a statement soon.

Schultz and Curley have maintained their innocence on all charges. Their lawyers could not be reached.

The university said it placed Spanier on leave. Trustees removed him from office last November.

School officials declined further comment “out of respect for the legal process.”

Kelly said she wants all three to face trial together. They now face the same charges, she said. They will be arraigned Friday before District Judge William Wenner at his office near Harrisburg.

“I hope the attention this case received will change people’s perceptions concerning child sexual abuse,” said Noonan. “If you aware of a complaint by a child or if you know that a child is being abused, it is imperative that you report it immediately to law enforcement.”

All three men showed a “callous lack of concern” for the victims, Kelly said.

The initial, 33-month investigation that led to the charges against Sandusky, Curley and Schultz a prime issue in the attorney general’s race on Tuesday between former Lackawanna County prosecutor Kathleen Kane and Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed. Gov. Tom Corbett, the former attorney general who launched the Sandusky investigation and appointed Kelly, is backing fellow Republican Freed.

Asked about the timing of the new charges five days before the election, Kelly said they were filed because the investigation was “ripe.” The election has nothing to do with it, she said.

A Centre County jury in June convicted Sandusky, 68, of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period, often on Penn State grounds. A judge sentenced him last month to 30 to 60 years in state prison. He’s serving the sentence in protective custody at a maximum-security prison in Greene County.

University trustees last November dismissed Spanier as president along with legendary football coach Joe Paterno, who died of lung cancer in January. Spanier remained employed by the university. He once wielded enormous clout with the state Legislature in obtaining billions of tax dollars for the university and its expansion at branch campuses throughout the state.

The new charges stem from email evidence referenced in the university-commissioned report last summer by former FBI Director Louis Freeh. The report suggests a conspiracy among Spanier, Curley, and Schultz to cover up a 2001 incident in a Penn State locker room witnessed by assistant football coach Mike McQueary.

“This is no big surprise. Ever since the Freeh Report came out and made a number of Spanier’s emails public, it was just a matter of time for the other shoe to drop and for him to be indicted,” said University of Pittsburgh law professor John Burkoff.

“Now the shoe’s dropped. And it’s a heavy-duty work boot.”

Spanier has denied any wrongdoing, with his attorneys blasting the Freeh report as a reckless work rife with flaws and omissions.

WPXI