The Freeh Report: Penn St. and Paterno knew...and did nothing

Joe Paterno

It's one of the more anticipated documents released in some time.

At least to those who cover Sports or are interested in the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky case.

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh was charged by the Penn State Board of Trustees to investigate what...well...pretty much everyone involved with Jerry Sandusky, either directly or indirectly knew or didn't know when it came to Sandusky's molestation of young boys.

Here is a summary of what the report says: (it's pretty damning)

--Per a Pre-Report Press Release, Freeh's investigators conducted over 430 interviews and read over 3 million e-mails.

--The school violated The Cleary Act, a Federal Law that requires them to at least investigate reports such as the one's that accused Sandusky.

--Despite the Paterno families complaints, they did cooperate with the investigation, providing many documents and notes.

--The reports Paterno talked administrators into changing plans after the McQueary discovery were true.

--The reports Paterno, former President Graham Spanier, former AD Tim Curley and former VP Gary Schultz purposely didn't report what they knew about Sandusky were true. And they were done to spare the school the negative publicity they believed would go with such reports.

--The 4 DID know about the allegations Sandusky assaulted a boy in 1998 despite their statements otherwise.

((From the report: After being informed of the investigation into Sandusky in 1998 "Schultz is immediately informed of the investigation and notifies Spanier and Curley. Schultz's confidential notes from May 4, 1998 'Behavior at best inappropriate@worst sexual improprieties' and at min-poor judgement. Schultz also notes: Is this the opening of Pandora's box and 'Other children?'".))

((More from report: "Curley notifies Spanier and Curley that he has touched base with Paterno about the incident. Days later, Curley e-mails Schultz 'Anything new in this department? Coach is anxious to know where this stands". Paterno testified to the Grand Jury before his passing saying he knew "Nothing" about any 1998 investigation))

((Still more from report--after the McQueary witness incident: The administrators came up with a plan to start telling people about Sandusky. But--"Curley emails Schultz and Spanier and says he (Curley) has changed his mind about the plan after giving it more thought and talking to Joe (Paterno) yesterday." Curley suggests informing Sandusky they know and offer to help him. If he refuses then they inform 2nd mile and others and to not allow Sandusky access to school faciilities.

((Spanier signs off on it and adds: "This report is acceptable to me The only downside is if the message is not heard and acted upon and then WE become vunerable for not having reported it. But that can be assessed down the road. the approach you outline is humane and a reasonable way to proceed."))

((Going back in time, there is this note by the investigators: "Before 1998, several staff members and football coaches regularly observed Sandusky showering with young boys in the then Lasch building. None of the individuals interviewed by the Special Counsel notified their superiors of this behavior."))

--The Board of Trustees were not made aware of anything regarding Sandusky and the Board is heavily criticized for not "Creating an atmosphere that allowed the School to 'Not be Accountable' to them."

--After the Sarah Ganim reports in March came out, the Board did not demand accountability from Spanier or anyone else at the School.

We're not going to decipher the minutae in all the details of the report. If you would like to read all 267 pages of it, which we recommend, you can do so by going to the Freeh Report Website.

The link is RIGHT HERE

The bottom line here is pretty simple:

Pretty much everyone involved here who could have put a stop to the Monster Sandusky..didn't. This is a colossal failure of responsibility.

Those defending Joe Paterno, Penn State or anyone else being held responsible is wrong. Paterno, whether he realized it or not...broke a Federal Law. He knew. He may not of known details. But he knew. And he didn't do anything. For fear of hurting the School and/or the Football team

And that folks is INEXCUSABLE.

But it is not all on him (Paterno). From Spanier to Schulz to Curley should be jailed. They should be crucified. Because they did wrong. They operated on their own. But it is not all on them. No system was in place to hold them accountable.

We hope, no, we pray the U.S Attorney's office prosecutes these men to the FULLEST extent of the law. They should be. Yeah, we know Paterno passed away, but this should and we hope WILL tarnish his legacy.

When faced with the opportunity to do the right thing he failed. When given the chance to do the right thing Spanier failed. And so did Schultz and Curley.

Yes, the report lays out the discussions they had about reporting this, but NONE OF THEM FOLLOWED THROUGH. They deferred to Paterno and then tried to cover it all up. They put the interests of themselves and Penn State ahead of the children..and felt NO REMORSE over it.

Yes, you can expect Penn State, it's Board of Trustees, the Paterno family and others to be sued civilly, they are exposed to huge liabilities for their sheer and utter ignorance and stupidity for not acting. 

Please read the report, it makes us and a whole lot of other people pretty angry. Penn State and it's Board of Trustees have a lot to ponder...and do. Unfortunately they can't go back in fix their COLOSSAL FAILURE to act, but let's hope they do the right thing now and act like an institute of higher learning that is their for the betterment of all rather than the protection of a few.

Here's the Freeh presser in its entirety
((HT: WHP-TV Harrisburg))