DEVELOPING: 3 Ex-Penn State Officials Held Over For Trial

Penn State ex-president Graham Spanier, former athletic director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz have been bound for court on the charges against them in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.

Dauphin County Judge William Wenner found enough evidence to warrant a trial for three after a two-day preliminary hearing in Harrisburg.

Former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary testified as part of the hearing that Curley and Schultz knew what was going on...

Here's the update after his testimony...
((HT: ABC27 Harrisburg))
abc27 WHTM

Spanier's grand jury testimony during the Sandusky trial was read in open court in the morning session where it was disclosed that, according to Pennlive's Charles Thompson:

Prosecutors alleged that Spanier lied when:

He told the grand jury investigating former Penn State football assistant Jerry Sandusky that he never understood the 2001 incident to involve the abuse of a child.

He told the same panel that he was never made aware of any prior accusations against Sandusky. Records show Spanier was copied on at least some of the updates between Schultz and Curley on that case.

Schultz and Curley are already charged with perjury and the prosecution has to prove the statements were false to get a conviction to stick.

Curley And Schultz Set For January Jury Selection

((HT: WHP-TV))

The trial for Tim Curley and Gary Schultz is now scheduled to begin January 7th. They are accused of lying to a Pennsylvania grand jury and not disclosing the McQueary information relating to what he claims to have witnessed Jerry Sandusky do on campus in 2001.

Dauphin County ((PA)) Judge Todd Hoover is still considering motions by Curley and Schultz's lawyers to throw out the charges. Curley is on leave from his job as AD (still getting a salary) and Schultz is retired as a university VP.

Here was the dickering from the day before that led to the decision...

PSU Trustees File Suit Against NCAA, Spanier and Schultz Still Getting Paid

((HT: ESPN))

Don Van Natta is at it again- in a good way...

As he has uncovered that some of the current members of the Penn State Board of Trustees have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA ordering the elimination of the judgment, lawsuit, and anything else associated with the ruling that came down from Indianapolis...

Basically, the four trustees at the front of the suit claim the suit is "null and void" since the assertion is that President Rodney Erickson didn't have the authority to unilaterally sign the consent decree that the school and NCAA agreed to in the first place.

Ryan McCombie, a new member on the Board, claims that there was a lack of due process, the consent decree was based erroneously on the Freeh Report and the report alone, and that the damage done is "excessive" to an entire generation...

Whatever that means...

Here's the letter of appeal...thanks to Van Natta and ESPN...

Here's how some of the Penn State community is tackling the ruling, outside of the Trustees...
((HT: WHP-TV))


Also, two of the more important and checkered individuals associated with the scandal on campus are still getting paid- Graham Spanier and Tim Curley.

Spanier was fired in November, but he’s a tenured professor. But tenuired professors are protected- from, apparently, everything. In 2011 Spanier made more than $700,000 with pay and benefits.

Curley went on leave right after Sandusky’s indictment, so he is still being paid. According to the Penn State website, he makes close to $400,000.

You like apples...???
How you like them apples...???

Penn State fallout: Did NCAA do the right thing?

We could make this really short and just say--Yes, but there is more to it.

By now, most of you have read about the sanctions handed down by the NCAA to Penn State over their appeared coverup for Jerry Sandusky.

4-years without a bowl, 4-years with 20 scholarships lost, $60-million ($15 mil a year) and all victories since 1998 vacated, just to name a few.

No, it isn't the "Death Penalty", but it could be. It will be a decade...at least before they could be a potential powerhouse again.

But the questions remain: Was it too much? Was it not enough?

And the answer: It was neither.

Like it, agree with it or not, the NCAA had to do it. Yes, we know it is precedent setting, but the scope of what happened in Happy Valley was too.

No, they could not issue a "Death Penalty".  And though many argued they might as well have, it's not the same thing.

Killing the program doesn't just affect those in the program. It affects EVERYONE in the Big 10. It affects all the other teams on the Nittany Lions schedule. And ultimately, agree or not, the NCAA had to take that into consideration.

What this does do is make Penn State essentially a MAC team. And we don't mean to insult the MAC. For the sake of perspective, it's not the worst thing that could happen to them. Hopefully, it does give PSU some perspective and a bit of look at life on the other side of the BCS. Considering all that appears to have gone on, that may be a welcome--and needed change.

As much as many would like it to be this way, Football does not run the school. The school runs football, and that got lost somewhere in the shuffle. Yes, we know, the SEC is not too dissimilar to that, but when push comes to shove, the academia's will step in and to our knowledge none conspired to keep criminals close to the team...for the good of the team.

Oh, one thing needs to be said: The Paterno family needs to SHUT UP!

Nobody expects you to agree with this, but it is no longer your fight. Would we like to have heard what Joe had to say about the Freeh report and everything else? Yes. But we can't. Do we believe Paterno did what he did maliciously? No. But ignorance and hoping things will go away are not a good excuse. And by all indications, that is exactly what he believed.

The family just needs to walk away. Stop whining. Stop complaining. We know you feel wronged, but you are coming across as just wanting to keep Joe as the record holder. Never do you mention why what happened what was wrong. Never do you mention that there is no way he couldn't have known about Sandusky...but you keep whining.

Now, this decision was not perfect. The NCAA and in particular Mark Emmert avoided the 800-pound gorilla in the room and made no mention of Graham Spanier, Tim Curley or Gary Schultz...and that is a mistake.

A big mistake.

And we know the big argument here: Why punish those who are there now?

The answer is simple: That's the way it works. You may not agree with it, you may not like it, but the NCAA can't punish individuals for things after the fact. Their only recourse is the school. And that means the current players and staff. It just works that way. It's unfortunate, but do you have a better idea?

Spanier, Schultz and Curley will have their day in court. And maybe things will come out to exonerate them. But nobody really believes that. The legal system will take care of them. As will Karma.

Like we said at the beginning, the NCAA didn't get this perfect. But they didn't do badly either. They had to step up and do soemthing. And they knew full well not everybody would agree with it. But consider the alternative. If they sat back and did nothing, they lose even worse.

Paterno Negotiated Exit During 2011 Season, World Stunned...(Updated-Halo Removal)

((HT: NYTimes/Becker))

((halo update info at bottom))

So, let's get this straight...

Not that the HQ is shocked, surprised, or stunned...

But, apparently, Joe Paterno was negotiating his own golden parachute in plenty of time just as the grand jury investigation was getting warmed up. Jo Becker has discovered that the 2011 season was set to be Paterno's last and he and his family was to receive $3-million, be forgiven on a $350,000 interest-free loan, garner use of the university's private plane, and watch games from a private box for 25 years at Beaver Stadium.

Some members of the Board of Trustees were privy to the arrangement and, after being "bombarded" (Becker's verb) by hate mail and threatened by a defamation lawsuit, the school BoT caved.

But, according to Becker, the family says it was the other way around:

On Friday, Wick Sollers, a lawyer for Mr. Paterno and his family, said that it was Penn State that last summer proposed the lucrative retirement package, and that many of the aspects of the proposal — use of the plane, the luxury box — had existed in prior contracts.

If this does not confirm that the interview below was a complete and total demonstration of hubris, the HQ doesn't know what is...
((HT: ESPN))


And this one...
((HT: MSNBC.com/"Today" Show))


We could continue... but it's too easy...

And it's also too easy to say that the remodeling of parts of the Lasch Building is a good start. In all reality, it's the analogy of putting lipstick on a pig. The building, if you want to start some kind of cleansing, needs to be torn down for all it symbolizes and stands for on a campus that has a culture of denial and absolute power.

The HQ agrees with Bobby Bowden, among countless others, that the Joe Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium should be torn down and any representation of the Paterno name needs to be removed from any building in Happy Valley. The Board of Trustees needs to be blown up for all of their inactivity, cowering, and manipulation of the system to give the family a parachute and concealing the negotations until recently.

A thought echoed here...
((HT: WHP-TV))


And, despite how incredibly unrealistic and idealistic the idea is, the school needs to stop playing football for a while. If the continued sheltering of a child rapist doesn't symbolize all that was wrong inside the university, the HQ doesn't really know what else ever would...

To think the HQ actually agrees with SAS is just how bad this whole deal is... and that's a lot of screaming we're putting aside for this...
((HT: ESPN))


Penn State played football last post-season because of image preservation- even if it was the bowl game in Dallas... No, not that one... the other one.

The Paterno family has paraded itself shamelessly in front of any camera for the last week because of image preservation. Joe Paterno orchestrated his own exit during a grand jury investigation because of image preservation.

Paterno/Sans halo

For what's left of Penn State to preserve what's left of it's image, it needs to collectively start over- and return to small town ideals that created a Happy Valley in the first place.

And that means, in scientific terms, approaching absolute zero...
And while, yes, it's a very cold place... sometimes that's the only way to start over...

((Update--Michael Pilato, an area artist who had painted a mural in State College with an image of Joe Paterno....has painted over the halo. The halo had been placed there upon Paterno's death. The act comes just 2 days after the release of the Freeh report))

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))

Sandusky trial fallout: More info coming as stories grow apart

Jerry Sandusky

--UPDATED-- The family of former coach Joe Paterno released a statement late Monday afternoon asking that Penn State be completely forthcoming with any e-mails related to this story and that they be given to the Louis Freeh investigation to be in turn released to the public.
 ----------------------------------------------
Interesting.

We felt compelled to tell a story here because we just read through the grand jury testimony of former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and former V.P Gary Schultz.

And it was a fascinating read.

But first, the explosive report from CNN about e-mail chains between the two men and school president Graham Spanier continue to add to what is a scary and immensely disappointing portrayal of how Penn State didn't react when confronted about possible Sandusky indescretions.

The e-mails, first mentioned a couple of weeks ago, talk about the group deciding after consulting former coach Joe Paterno advised them to be quiet, to do just that.

CNN is expected to release more e-mails this week.

Now...back to the Grand Jury testimony.

OSG Sports read through a large portion of the 276 page testimony of Schultz and Curley at the Dauphin County Courthouse.

You can read the testimony by following the link RIGHT HERE

Without giving away the spoilers, start on about page 173 or so. That's where the attorney's begin talking to Curley about the incident where Mike McQueary found Sandusky in the shower with a young boy.

Curley went to great lengths to say McQueary was very not specific about what he had seen. The part that stands out the is when he describes who decided not to do anything and why.

Curley essentially says it was his decision because he didn't consider it a criminal act. He talked at length about discussing it with Schultz and with Spanier, but they deferred to him. Curley says he confronted Sandusky, but believed his story. He also went to the Second Mile he says, but does not detail the outcome of that conversation.

Curley also speaks of going to Joe Paterno's home to with Schultz to discuss the incident the day after McQueary reported it.

But the scariest part is when Curley was asked if he knew of the 1998 incident Sandusky was involved with. He said he didn't.

However....that differed from Schultz's testimony. Schultz recalled meeting Paterno at his home though he did confirm that the decision on what to do was left to Curley.

Spanier was however consulted as well and signed off on everything.

What is disconcerting is this: Schultz said he was aware of the 1998 incident and in some detail. He was aware of the Police investigation and aware that it was somewhat similar to what the were dealing with in Lasch Hall that McQueary had seen.

And Schultz didn't think the two "Similar" incidents warranted getting police...or investigators involved.

Really?

We highly, highly, highly recommend you read the testimony/link above.

In case you missed it, read the full testimony RIGHT HERE

While none of this confirms "Officially" anything in the reported E-Mails, it does allude to things reported in them. It does not directly implicate Paterno in anything, but it seems to infer he may have known more at the time than he let on. Considering Paterno's penchant for at least acting absent minded about some things, it is very conceivable that he didn't remember a lot of it when he testified too.

And if this proves to be the cover-up that it appears to be; these guys need to end up in the same place Sandusky does.

More Sandusky E-Mails May Lead To Confirmed Cover-Up

((HT: CNN))

Not that the HQ is shocked or anything, but the report below is claiming that Penn State tried to figure out a more "humane" way to figure out a solution where the Jerry Sandusky case was concerned...

And it's something that had been hinted at during the trial and shortly after the verdict.

The 2001 incident involving Mike McQueary's stumbling in on an incident in the Penn State showers is the one where the alleged e-mails came forward involving then-President Graham Spanier, then-VP Gary Schultz, and then-AD Tim Curley who were trying to figure out what the best internal approach could be before notifying authorities...

In said e-mails, according to several reports, not only did Spanier, Curley and Schultz express concern over what was reported, but so did former head coach (now deceased), Joe Paterno.

An e-mail from Curley to Schultz and Spanier is truly damning. It describes conversation the former Athletic Director had with Paterno:  "After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps. I am having trouble with going to everyone but the person involved. I would be more comfortable meeting with the person and tell them about the information we received and tell them we are aware of the first situation,"

Read more about the findings from YahooSports RIGHT HERE

Here's Soledad O'Brien subbing for AC on AC360


Not that the HQ is surprised by this new revelation-in-development, but the idea that the university has covered up the whole saga should reflect in the NCAA investigation somehow...

Sandusky Verdict: Done but Penn St not out of the woods

Welcome to your new home Jerry

By now if you have a TV or listen to the radio, you know that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of multiple crimes against children and will spend the rest of his...and several other lives incarcerated.

And many of you have seen "Summary" stories on your local newscast about it. And they had reaction from the community with people saying "I'm glad this is over" "We can move on now".

Uh...no. It ain't over yet.

While Sandusky's part in all this is, Penn State's is only beginning to come to the forefront. One of the big reasons this happened was the school and many of the administrators reluctance to do anything about him when provided evidence of a problem.

And for the school, it could make things a whole lot worse.

It's already cost former President Graham Spanier his job and former coach Joe Paterno his. Former AD Tim Curley and former VP Gary Schultz are facing charges for not reporting potential abuse. And former FBI Director Louis Freeh is wrapping up a Board of Trustees investigation into how the school handled this.

If some of the evidence that came to light in Sandusky's case carries over, it could get ugly. Reports have already been broadcast that Spanier, Schultz and Curley along with others kept a file on Sandusky. And it included the Mike McQueary incident. According to the report Spanier and Schultz decided it wouldn't be "Humane" to subject Sandusky to an investigation at that time.

Which begs a "HUGE" question: "If they knew about this, how does he keep his access to the school and the school continue to support him and his charity?"

And yes, the NCAA is sniffing around the school too. The common refrain is they are going to look for "Lack of Institutional Control". Yes, we think the school should be punished...and punished hard for this, but ultimately, the NCAA will do nothing. This is a criminal investigation, something not really in their sphere of influence.

Oh...for good measure, there are more victims coming to light. Many of you asked about why Matt Sandusky's revalation at the end of the case wasn't part of the trial. The answer is simple: It didn't need to be.

And yes, investigators are talking to other victims. Really, the only question there is: Is there a need for another trial. The answer is: Probably not. 

So, to keep this relatively short dear reader; just know that there are many more layers left in this. There will be much to report and a lot to talk about. We will do our best to try to ask the questions and offer opinions those in the local media can't.

Report: Sandusky had access to Presidents box and other stuff

((ht: PennLive.com))

Jerry Sandusky

Really?

According to a report in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, accused child molester and former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was seen in the Penn State presidents box for a game 1-week before details of his indictment were released.

The Patriot-News also says that former LB Brandon Short says he was told by two different people that Sandusky was a last minute addition to the game where Joe Paterno took the title of winningest football coach in college ever.

However, Penn State tells the paper it never happened.

Read the Patriot-News report RIGHT HERE

You know...somehow this report seems to be pretty darn believable. Why? Because we don't believe pretty much anything that comes out of the mouth of a Penn State PR person.

And this just reinforces what everyone has believed from the get-go about this story: Penn State leadership either knew and ignored or covered for Sandusky.

Yeah...we said it.

And oh..by the way...investigators from the state attorney generals office are apparently re-interviewing Penn State football staff members both current and former to see what they knew.

Read more about that from the Patriot News RIGHT HERE

And there is more:

The Centre Daily-Times says that former AD Tim Curley, who is battling perjury charges in this story is battling lung cancer. His wife tells the paper that "One half of Tim's lung was removed".

Read the entire story from cetredaily.com RIGHT HERE

And that is the latest going on with this ongoing story. A story that looks like it is heading towards a mid-summer trial of some sorts. Really, the big question at this point...aside from Sandusky and his victims, appears to be who else is going to be caught up and/or be considered culpable in what appears to be either the biggest oversight in administrative history or a concerted effort to turn the other cheek, close your eyes and plug your ears story in decades.

McQueary testifies about what he saw Sandusky do

Mike McQueary

((ht: various))

And the buildup to the inevitable trial of former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky continues.

The latest. On Friday afternoon in a Harrisburg, PA courtroom, the preliminary hearing for Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and former VP Gary Schultz, who are accused of lying to the grand jury about what they knew.

The key testimony of the day. That of current PennState assistant Mike McQueary who apparently came across Sandusky doing something that didn't seem to be right with a 10-12 year old boy in the shower at the teams locker room facility.

McQueary told the courtroom he heard slapping sounds when he walked into the shower area and then saw Sandusky and the boy. He said Sandusky's hands were around the boy's waist.

McQueary added he never described the encounter as "rape" or "intercourse", but he believed based on what he saw and heard that was going on.

After he left the area, McQueary said he went home and told coach Joe Paterno what happened the next day. Paterno, in his statement to the grand jury said McQueary came to him and reported he saw something of a "Sexual Nature" but Paterno didn't press for details because he knew McQueary was very upset about what he had seen.

Paterno said he would pass on what he was told, but it was a week and a half later before McQueary would meet with Curley and Schultz and he told them the same thing. He said he believed both men took it seriously and was confident because of Schultz's position of overseeing campus police, the incident would be investigated.

It wasn't.

They both told the grand jury that McQueary never portrayed the seriousness of what he'd seen.

Sandusky's odd legal team has been trying to tear down McQueary's testimony and Curley and Schultz's lawyers also say it isn't enough to make the case legit.

The judge in the case didn't see it that way. District Judge William C. Wenner decided he had seen or heard enough.

He sent the case to trial.

Penn State AD and VP step down

Jerry Sandusky

((ht: pennlive.com))

It's only just begun. The drama now swirling around Penn State University after an indictment is released charging  former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky with multiple counts of sexual abuse against young boys has caused two administrators to step away from their jobs.

Athletic Director Tim Curley asked to be put on administrative leave and senior VP of Finance and Business Gary Schultz will return to retirement. Schultz had been in his position on an interim basis though he did work at the school when many of the allegations took place.

Read more on this story from Pennlive.com RIGHT HERE

Both Curley and Schultz are charged with Perjury and failing to report a potential case of sexual abuse. The school's president, Graham Spanier is on recored saying "I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16-years. I have complete confidence in how they handled the allegations about a former university employee."


Spanier may regret those words.

Also on Sunday Penn State head coach Joe Paterno released a statement basically saying he was "Shocked" by the report and that he had no idea about what was going on.

The next step is a press conference by the Attorney General of Pennsylvania on Monday afternoon. Paterno will have his weekly media availability on Tuesday, and that will undoubtedly be heavily attended and Paterno won't be able to avoid the question. Mostly because the story has now been picked up by the national news types and others.

We will continue following this story and update it as the day...and week progresses.

ABC's Good Morning America tried talking to Sandusky at his home on Sunday: