On January 18, 2012 the NY Times published a story titled “Penn State’s Trustees Recount Painful Decision to Fire Paterno” in which they spoke to 13 of the trustees from The Pennsylvania State University on the firing of Joe Paterno and initial handling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal in November 2011. While those of us close to the case knew even at the time that much of what they said was probably false we now have clarity and are sure about this based on court hearings and the tireless work of many, especially Ray Blehar Ryan Bagwell, and others who publish sites like www.pennstatesunshinefund.org, www.notpsu.blogspot.com, and www.sanduskyreports.com.
The article stated that the trustees “grew weary of hearing criticism” and “had felt blindsided by Spanier’s failure to keep them informed” and that “Spanier had chosen not to keep them informed” about the investigation. What we now know is that many members of the board were personally aware and had been officially briefed in trustee meetings by Spanier and Cynthia Baldwin, and that he was limited in what he could say due to a gag order placed in the case by Judge Barry Feudale. In addition to this it is clear from the University policies that it was Baldwin’s role as general counsel to inform the board about any legal matters, not Spanier’s. Spanier was simply not allowed to share his testimony due to the gag order, in direct contradiction of what the trustees said.
The board also states that they were irked that Spanier supported Curley and Schultz, which is an odd position since at the time there were only allegations of wrongdoing, and only from a one-sided prosecutorial document that attacked institutions which carry some of the heaviest political weight in the state. Trustee Frazier is surely aware of supporting the” brand”, seeing as how he presided over one of the largest lawsuits in history at Merck.
Beyond these items we now also know a lot more about the scandal, and the lies that have been publicized in an attempt to paint PSU and Paterno in the worst light. The indictments and Judge Louis Freeh’s report have been shown to include numerous falsehoods, speculation, and shoddy investigative work. Some key points are listed below:
1. Mike McQuery at no time alleged that he “saw a boy being anally raped”, nor saw any actual molestation at all. He is clear that the majority of his involvement was hearing something and then seeing two people, which let his mind imagine what might be happening.
2. The “most horrific crime” according to Freeh, an alleged molestation of another boy in a shower witnessed by a janitor, quite simply did not happen. The employee alleging the crime was not employed at PSU at the time he claimed to have seen it. In addition the logistics, physical evidence, and times of the alleged crime make it impossible to be true.
3. Freeh most certainly did not “find” the “secret file” that Gary Schultz kept on the 2001 allegation. Schultz did not keep this file secret, several people knew of it’s existence, and Schultz simply did not have possession of it when the subpoena was issued.
4. Forensic IT experts have questioned the authenticity of the emails that Freeh used to allege a conspiracy which included Paterno based on the interspersed code in the versions released. Most notably the infamous Curley line bout “talking with Joe” looks suspicious. Unfortunately to tell for sure the original electronic files must be examined.
5. Freeh was in regular contact with both the Attorney general and the NCAA during his investigation.
6. Sandusky was reported in 2001 to Jack Raykovitz, the CEO of The Second Mile charity, a licensed psychologist and mandated reporter who may have known of other suspect behavior by Sandusky. To date no charges of failure to report have been levied against Raykovitz or Second Mile.
7. The Victims in the initial grand jury report were placed in non-chronological order to make it seem like PSU’s alleged failure to report left more victims in harms way. We now know not one single alleged crime occurred on PSU campus after Sandusky was reported to Raykovitz at Second Mile.
8. Initially Central Mountain High (the school where “Victim 1” Aaron Fisher attended school) officials were praised for their response. However we have learned since that officials actually attempted to undermine the report of the victim to child services.
This is by no means an exhaustive list and you can see many more problems with the case at the websites mentioned above.
Fortunately right now there is still an ongoing investigation by new Attorney General Kathleen Kane. This investigation made the news this past week as Kane stated she has come into the possession of some new email evidence that they thought was previously unrecoverable. It seems as if the next few months will likely produce a scathing report of the initial investigation. It is important to note that unlike Freeh, Kane is allowing people included in the report to view it and respond prior to releasing it to the public.
Also the lawsuit by the Paterno family, faculty, staff, former coaches, and several trustees has been moving forward on several charges, and has been re-filed on others to add PSU as a “nominal defendant” in order to directly rebut the consent decree. The discovery process has now begun.
Finally, the case against Spanier, Curley, and Schultz has proceeded, including a preliminary hearing in which much of the state’s case was almost destroyed by its own witnesses this past July.
It is through the courts and the AG’s office that we will learn the true story of what happened with Jerry Sandusky. Only the light of day of discovery, sworn depositions, and testimony under oath will tell us who knew what, when, and how they handled it. Only this will “find the truth”, which was Coach Paterno’s last dying wish. Not one sided pieces where trustees are allowed to uncritically report lies and half truths.
John Yonchuk
Collegeville, PA
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