A scathing report on the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State was released today, indicting authorities at top levels of the college for failure to report Jerry Sandusky’s sexual assault of young boys in the university’s football program.
The report, prepared by Louis Freeh, states the following:
Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University—President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President-Finance Gary C. Schultz, Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley and Head Football Coach Joseph V. Paterno—failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities. They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001.”
NPR reports on the release, and a news conference Freeh held this morning:
Freeh said that none of those four men alerted the board of trustees or other authorities — and none of them ever even talked to Sandusky about the first incident they were told of, in 1998. "In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity," Freeh added. The four men showed, he said, a "callous and shocking disregard for child victims." And asked if what they did was illegal, the former FBI director said he would have to leave that to authorities to decide — but added that the report does contain evidence of an "active agreement to conceal" what was happening.
The entire Freeh report is available online.
