Penn State Penn State child sex abuse scandal

1 penn state

1.1 ousting of spanier, curley, paterno, , schultz
1.2 freeh report
1.3 other actions
1.4 penn state students

penn state

the allegations have impacted personnel , operations penn state. penn state has responded in various ways.

ousting of spanier, curley, paterno, , schultz

penn state president graham spanier released statement of support curley , schultz before being forced resign.



joe paterno heavily criticized reaction allegations , subsequently forced resign in middle of 2011 season.

on november 8, 2011, spanier canceled paterno s weekly tuesday news conference, citing legal concerns. have been coach s first public appearance since sandusky s arrest. paterno reported spanier canceled press conference without providing paterno explanation. same day, new york times reported penn state planning paterno s exit @ close of college football season. based on interviews 2 individuals briefed on conversations among top university officials, times reported: board of trustees has yet determine precise timing of mr. paterno s exit, clear (he) not coach season.

the following day, associated press reported paterno had decided retire @ end of 2011 football season, saying didn t want distraction. in statement announcing retirement, paterno said, 1 of great sorrows of life. benefit of hindsight, wish had done more.

on afternoon of november 9, express-times of easton, pennsylvania, reported board had given spanier ultimatum—resign before night s meeting or fired. @ night s meeting, spanier offered immediate resignation. board accepted , named provost rodney erickson interim president. several penn state sources told statecollege.com , patriot-news spanier , board of trustees vice chairman john surma mutually agreed best way forward involved spanier resign voluntarily , grace.

at same meeting, board turned down paterno s proposal finish out season , instead stripped him of coaching duties immediately; defensive coordinator tom bradley named interim coach remainder of season. during week after paterno s firing, big ten conference removed name championship trophy conference championship game, renaming stagg championship trophy. inaugural game scheduled december 2011, , trophy named stagg-paterno championship trophy after paterno , amos alonzo stagg, college football pioneer. in addition, maxwell football club announced joseph v. paterno award, presented college football coach did develop players both on , off field, discontinued.

an attorney retained families of of boys allegedly abused sandusky criticized decision board fire paterno, saying, school let victims down once, , think owed victims @ least gauge how immediate termination decision impact them opposed mr. paterno s resignation @ end of year.

however, 1 of trustees told morning call of allentown board had no choice force paterno leave contain growing outrage on scandal. according trustee, board considered letting paterno finish season bradley team spokesman, decided still keep focus on paterno. board did not paterno released statements on own rather through school, board members feeling may have breached contract. trustee noted , many of colleagues felt paterno either knew [the abuse] , swept under rug, or didn t ask enough questions. board angered spanier s statements of support curley , schultz. few months later, board of trustees chairman steve garban , vice chairman john surma issued statement saying board felt paterno not expected continue perform duties in wake of scandal.

on march 12, board of trustees released described final statement on ouster of spanier , paterno. said spanier not made unauthorized statements press, failed tell board knew 2002 incident. said paterno demonstrated failure of leadership not going police. board said had every intention of sending inform paterno of decision, unable because of large number of people surrounding house. rather risk having paterno learn decision via media, board decided order him leave via telephone.

however, in late 2014 , 2015, court depositions trustees kenneth frazier , keith masser conflicted failure of leadership story. stated mr. masser in deposition in state senator jake corman s lawsuit against ncaa, decision remove coach paterno had nothing had known, hadn’t done. based upon distraction of having him on sidelines have caused university , current football team harm. had nothing coach paterno had done, or hadn’t done.

mr. frazier s testimony adds, said in case of mr. curly, initial feeling was, when first heard this, facts had not been established , needed careful make sure understood facts. in -- in 48-hour time period read grand jury presentment, reached conclusion given had become public issues leading presentment , given said in presentment coach paterno s testimony , graduate student said coach paterno, felt not send right message if coach paterno able lead football team out onto field of play under circumstances. didn t change mind on question of whether had established key facts related coach paterno s involvement and/or responsibility. had reached conclusion that, standpoint of university s values interpreted broader public, known sufficiently serious relates child sexual abuse send wrong message our values university if coach paterno allowed coach though none of had ever happened.

spanier remained tenured sociology professor @ penn state, despite being stripped of duties president. likewise, paterno remained tenured member of penn state faculty, , treated having retired. board still finalizing paterno s retirement package @ time of death lung cancer 2 months later, on january 22, 2012.

on october 16, 2012, penn state announced not renew curley s contract when expired in june 2013.

freeh report

on november 21, 2011, trustee kenneth frazier announced louis freeh, former director of fbi, lead internal investigation university s actions. freeh announced team assisting him in investigation include former fbi agents , federal prosecutors. sandusky trial proceeded toward conviction in june 2012, reported [t]he university says [freeh s] report should out summer , released trustees , public simultaneously without being reviewed school’s general counsel’s office .

the freeh report released on july 12, 2012. freeh concluded paterno, spanier, curley , schultz complicit in conceal[ing] sandusky s activities board of trustees, university community , authorities. according report, 4 men concerned sandusky treated humanely , did not express same feelings towards victims. report critical of university s general counsel, cynthia baldwin. freeh , firm found nonfeasance, schultz, spanier, curley , paterno failed protect against child sexual predator harming children on decade violating clery act.

in addition, report said 4 men exhibited striking lack of empathy sandusky s victims failing inquire safety , well-being. report stated men knew 1998 incident empowered sandusky attract potential victims campus , football events allowing him have continued, unrestricted , unsupervised access university s facilities , affiliation university s prominent football program while investigation underway. report stated 4 men not made no effort identify victim of 2001 incident, alerted sandusky mcqueary s allegations against him, potentially putting victim in more danger. stated paterno had lied grand jury regarding knowledge of sandusky s behavior; had stated @ time hadn t known inappropriate activity until 2001. in response, penn state s trustees announced accepted report s conclusions , implement corrective measures.

on september 13, 2012, group of alumni , supporters, under name of penn staters responsible stewardship, released review of freeh report critical of freeh group s investigation , conclusions. on february 10, 2013 report commissioned paterno family released dick thornburgh, former united states attorney general , former governor of pennsylvania, maintaining freeh report flawed, both respect process of [its] investigation , findings related mr. paterno . in response, freeh called paterno family s report self-serving , said did not change facts , findings of initial investigation. on june 23, 2014, @ jerry sandusky s pension forfeiture appeal, hearing arbiter michael bangs ruled sandusky s pension should reinstated , criticized freeh report stating based on significant hearsay , ruled inadmissible (for proceedings), (but) admitted in part show had found sandusky had received 71 separate payments penn state between 2000 , 2008 . later in footnote bangs states terrifically significant disparity between finding in freeh report , actual truth disturbing. while freeh report found penn state had made 71 separate payments (sandusky) between 2000-2008, off 85 percent, correct number 6 separate payments . bangs goes on error calls question accuracy , veracity of entire report .

other actions

penn state has responded in ways such removing sandusky s image mural near university, , renaming ice cream flavor had been created in honor. university responded ousting both joe paterno , graham spanier, placing mike mcqueary on indefinite paid administrative leave.

victim 1 withdrew central mountain high school due bullying, , boy s mother has stated high school did not enough prevent fallout.

in january 2012, new university president rodney erickson traveled week speak alumni in pittsburgh, philadelphia , new york in attempt repair university s image. @ meetings, erickson received harsh criticism alumni on firing of joe paterno, , received widespread criticism media attempting shift focus away university.

statue of paterno removed in july 2012.

after freeh report s release, local organizations called removal of joe paterno statue outside beaver stadium. small plane towed banner on campus, reading take statue down or will. after days of mixed messages, school removed statue on sunday, july 22, in front of crowd of student onlookers. statue reportedly put in storage. president erickson said statue had become source of division , obstacle healing made distinction between , paterno library, on campus. $13 million 1997 library expansion, partially funded $4 million gift paterno , wife sue, remains tribute joe , sue paterno s commitment penn state s student body , academic success, , highlights positive impacts coach paterno had on university.... feel library s name should remain unchanged, erickson said in statement.

steve garban, member of psu board of trustees had stepped down chairman since sandusky scandal emerged , named freeh having received not disseminated information sandusky rest of board, resigned board following report s release. made him first board member leave since scandal emerged.

penn state students

downtown state college location of november 9–10 student protest.

a few penn state students, angered on spanier s role in 2002 incident statement of support curley , schultz, created facebook page, fire graham spanier , call on penn state s board of trustees fire spanier. online petition @ change.org calling spanier s ouster garnered on 1,700 signatures in 4 days.

after paterno s ouster announced on live television, students , non-students protested near penn state campus. sources estimate 10,000 people protested support paterno, tipping on wtaj news van , flicking cigarettes @ gasoline spilling it. police officers used chemical spray disperse demonstrators. minor injuries reported. approximately $200,000 in damage resulted protest. local police criticized short notice university administration , insufficient time mobilize police officers other areas factors exacerbating situation. 47 people charged in connection protest, , subsequently sentenced combination of prison terms, probation, community service, , restitution.

on november 10, group of penn state alumni set , announced proudpsuforrainn, fundraiser anti-sexual violence network rainn goal of $500,000, exceeded july 10, 2012.

students held candlelight vigil on lawn of old main. planning vigil began monday before paterno s firing , gained steam across campus. shown live on news networks across country, including cnn , espn. former nfl player , penn state alum, sports broadcaster lavar arrington spoke @ event attracted estimated ten thousand.