Penn State child sex abuse scandal
The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of child sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen years. The scandal began to emerge publicly in March 2011 and broke in early November 2011 when Sandusky was indicted on 52 counts of child molestation, stemming from incidents that occurred between 1994 and 2009.[1] Sandusky was ultimately convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse on June 22, 2012,[2] and was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison.[3] Of the 10 victims who were listed, only eight appeared at trial. All were over the age of 18 by the time they testified. Six were over 21.
Additionally, three Penn State officials – school president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley – were charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, failure to report suspected child abuse, and related charges.[4] The Penn State Board of Trustees commissioned an independent investigation by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, whose report stated that Penn State's longtime head football coach Joe Paterno, along with Spanier, Curley and Schultz, had known about allegations of child abuse by Sandusky as early as 1998, had shown "total and consistent disregard...for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims", and "empowered" Sandusky to continue his acts of abuse by failing to disclose them.[5]: 14 [6][7] Shortly after the scandal broke, Spanier resigned. The board of trustees terminated the contracts of Paterno and Curley.
As a result of the scandal, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) imposed sanctions on the Penn State football program: a $60 million fine, a four-year postseason ban, scholarship reductions, and a vacation of all victories from 1998 to 2011.[8] These sanctions were considered to be among the most severe ever imposed on an NCAA member school. NCAA President Mark Emmert stated that the sanctions were levied "not to be just punitive, but to make sure the university establishes an athletic culture and daily mindset in which football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people."[9][10] The Big Ten Conference subsequently imposed an additional $13 million fine.[11]
The Paterno family retained former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh to conduct a review of the Freeh report, which concluded that the report constituted a "rush to injustice" that could not be relied upon[12][13] and that Freeh's evidence fell "far short" of showing that Joe Paterno attempted to conceal the scandal, but rather that "the contrary is true".[13] In January 2013, state senator Jake Corman and state treasurer Rob McCord sued the NCAA, seeking to overturn the Penn State sanctions on the basis that Freeh had been actively collaborating with the organization and that due process had not been followed. In November 2014, Corman released emails showing "regular and substantive" contact between Freeh's investigators and the NCAA, suggesting that Freeh's conclusions were orchestrated.[14] As part of a settlement, the NCAA restored the 111 wins to Paterno's record on January 16, 2015.[15][10]
On March 25, 2017, Curley, Schultz, and Spanier pleaded or were found guilty of misdemeanor charges of child endangerment.[16] All conspiracy charges against Curley and Schultz were dropped, and Spanier was acquitted of conspiracy, the charges central to Louis Freeh's allegation of a cover-up.[17][18] In June 2017, all three were sentenced to jail terms, fines, and probation for the misdemeanors.[19] Spanier was sentenced to four to twelve months in jail, a $7,500 fine, and two years of probation.[20] Spanier's misdemeanor conviction was overturned by the federal district court, but reinstated by the court of appeals in December 2020.[21][22]
Background[edit]
Jerry Sandusky was an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 1969 to 1999.[23] For the last 23 of those years, Sandusky was the team's defensive coordinator.[24] In 1977, he founded The Second Mile in State College, Pennsylvania, a charity formed to help disadvantaged youth. [25] Sandusky retired from the organization in 2010.[23] In 1998, he was investigated for child sexual abuse but no charges were filed.[26] Sandusky was considered for spearheading the startup of a football program at Penn State Altoona in 1998–99, but the idea was scrapped and he retired in 1999.[27] After his retirement, Sandusky remained a coach emeritus with an office in and access to Penn State's football facilities per his employment contract.[28]
Criminal prosecutions[edit]
Investigation[edit]
In Pennsylvania, a grand jury only recommends criminal charges. It hears all of the available evidence but does not have authority to indict the accused.[29] In the case of Sandusky, the grand jury investigation began in 2009 under commonwealth attorney general and later-governor Tom Corbett. The grand jury subpoenaed records from both Penn State and The Second Mile, and heard testimony from Victim 1 (Aaron Fisher), Mike McQueary, Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Victim 7, Graham Spanier, Victim 4, and Ronald Petrosky (Penn State janitor).[30] This grand jury did not recommend indictment.
Commonwealth attorney general Linda L. Kelly prepared a presentment which included credibility determinations about the testimonies received before the first grand jury for the second grand jury. This second grand jury heard testimony from Victim 3,[30] Victim 5, and Victim 6. Kelly said that during the investigation there was an "uncooperative atmosphere" from some Penn State officials.[31]
Reactions[edit]
Media[edit]
The Patriot-News was the first media outlet to report on the Sandusky grand jury investigation in March 2011.[96] The story did not receive much attention outside of the immediate area,[97] and many readers at the time assailed the newspaper for impugning the reputations of Sandusky and Penn State.[98] Criminal charges against Sandusky were filed in November 2011. In April 2012, crime reporter Sara Ganim and members of the Patriot-News staff were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for their coverage of the scandal.[99]
Under Pennsylvania law of the time, any state employee who learned about suspected child abuse was required to report the incident to his immediate supervisor. In the case of the 2002 incident, McQueary reported the incident to his immediate supervisor, Paterno. In turn, Paterno reported the incident to his immediate supervisor, Curley, and also reported it to Schultz, to whom the University Police Department directly reported. For these reasons, Paterno and McQueary were not implicated in any criminal wrongdoing, since they did what they were legally required to do.[44][100][101][102] However, once the incident came to light, Paterno was criticized for not going beyond the law to report the incident to police, or at least seeing to it that it was reported.[103] Several advocates[104] for victims of sexual abuse argued that Paterno should have faced charges for not going to the police himself when it was apparent Penn State officials were unwilling to act.[105]
After McQueary was identified as the graduate assistant who reported the 2001 incident, he was criticized for not intervening to protect Sandusky's victim (an accusation McQueary has since disputed[106]), as well as for not reporting the incident to police himself.[107][108] On November 7, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said that though some may have fulfilled their legal obligation to report suspected abuse, "somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child." Noonan added that anyone who knows about suspected abuse, "whether you're a football coach or a university president or the guy sweeping the building" has "a moral responsibility to call us."[109] Paterno said McQueary informed him that "he had witnessed an incident in the shower ... but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report."[110] Paterno was uncertain if being more graphic would have made a difference. "And to be frank with you I don't know that it would have done any good, because I never heard of, of, rape and a man," said Paterno.[111][112] When he read the presentment after it became public, he asked his son, "What is sodomy, anyway?"[113]
Further, following reports of the arrests, criticism of Penn State leadership and Paterno himself included calls for their dismissal for allegedly "protecting Penn State's brand instead of a child"[114][115] and allowing Sandusky to retain emeritus status and unfettered access to the university, despite knowledge of the allegations of sexual abuse.[24] In an interview with New York City radio station WFAN, sports reporter Kim Jones, a Penn State alumna, stated that, "I can't believe [Paterno's] heart is that black, where he simply never thought about [Sandusky's 2001 incident] again and never thought about those poor kids who were looking for a male mentor, a strong man in their life."[116] Former sports commentator Keith Olbermann called for Paterno to be immediately fired, saying that "he failed all of the kids—the kid kids and the player kids—he purported to be protecting."[117] In an editorial for the Centre Daily Times, literary critic Robert Bernard Hass, a Penn State alumnus, compared Paterno's downfall to a Greek tragedy and suggested that despite his many good deeds, pride and age contributed to his failure to report the incident to police.[118] The Patriot-News published a rare full-page, front-page editorial in its November 8, 2011, edition, calling for Spanier's immediate resignation as Penn State president; it also called for this to be Paterno's last season coaching Penn State football.[119][120] The same day, an editorial in the Post-Gazette called for the resignations of both Paterno and McQueary.[121]
On November 14, Sandusky gave his first interview after being arrested. In a phone interview with NBC Sports's Bob Costas on Rock Center with Brian Williams, Sandusky denied the allegations, though he admitted showering with boys and inadvertently touching them "without intent of sexual contact".[122] The interview received substantial coverage in the media, particularly regarding the manner in which Sandusky answered Costas when asked if he was sexually attracted to young boys:[123][124][125]
Impact[edit]
At the time of the NCAA sanctions, one columnist had characterized them (scholarship restrictions, a bowl ban, loss of revenue) as a fate "worse than death" for the Penn State football program – noncompetitiveness on the field.[302] In addition to the expected damage to future recruiting from those sanctions, the NCAA had enacted a temporary exception to transfer rules which allowed current scholarship players to leave the tainted program.
Only one high profile player left State College,[303] and the football program did not experience a losing season between Paterno's firing and the first post-sanction bowl game. The football team posted winning records of 9–4 in 2011, 8–4 in 2012, 7–5 in 2013, and 7–6 in 2014. In 2015 the arrival of running back Saquon Barkley heralded 11 win seasons in 2016 and 2017.
Penn State's Aa1 revenue-bond rating was "placed on review for possible downgrade" by Moody's Investors Service because of the scandal's possible effects on the university's finances.[304] After the school was removed from the watchlist in February 2012 and assigned a "negative outlook" within that rating class due to its "ongoing uncertainty", Moody's again considered downgrading the bond rating the following July.[305][306] In October 2012, Moody's downgraded Penn State's bond rating to Aa2 citing "anticipation of the substantial financial impact on the university from the ultimate cost of future settlements and possible judgments".[307] It would not be until February 2016 that Penn State would see its rating restored to Aa1, with Moody's citing a stable outlook and the university's ability to continue operating despite Pennsylvania's delay in enacting 2016 appropriations.[308]
State Farm Insurance pulled its sponsorship of the Nittany Lions football team in July 2012, and asked the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to declare that there is no provision in its policy with Penn State to force the company to help pay for Sandusky's criminal defense bills or any punitive damages that he has incurred.[309]
Penn State reported that the school had spent $3.2 million on investigations, public relations, and legal advice in response to the scandal through the middle of February 2012.[310]
On August 15, 2012, Penn State's regional accreditation was put on "warning" status due to the Sandusky scandal. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which accredits the university, continued to accredit Penn State but demanded a report addressing these.[311] In November, the warning status was lifted as the accreditor was "impressed by the degree to which Penn State has risen, as a strong campus community, to recognize and respond to the sad events."[312]