Penn State Scandal Still Very Much Alive

By Victoria Robertson on January 26, 2016

As many of you are probably aware, the Penn State Scandal involving Jerry Sandusky and a foster home for troubled boys (which later developed into a non-profit organization, known as the Second Mile, meant to help young adults mature into productive community members) was a huge blow to the college community, diminishing the reputation of school officials as well as suggesting an unsafe environment for students.

Photo Via: http://wfmj.images.worldnow.com

Years later, this case is still very much alive, as several Penn State University administrators are accused of not reporting this child sex abuse by Sandusky, resulting in several charges against each of them.

To help refresh everyone’s memory, here is a brief history of the case:

Jerry Sandusky, an assistant football coach at Penn State University, was charged with several accounts of child sex abuse, accusations dating from 1994 until 2008.

On November 4, 2011, a grand jury report was released claiming Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused eight boys over a period of 15 years. Only a month later, the number of victims increased from eight to 10.

The next year, on June 22, Sandusky was found guilty of 45 of the 48 criminal counts related to child sexual abuse, 14 of which are first-degree felonies.

Sandusky was sentenced on October 9, 2012, to no less than 30 years and no more than 60 years in prison. Sandusky still maintains his innocence.

Still, and perhaps one of the more shocking revelations during the investigation, officials at Penn State failed to notify law enforcement upon learning about the incidents, leading to charges of their own including child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

Recently, a Pennsylvania appellate court threw out some of the charges against three specific Penn State administrators: former university president, Graham Spanier, athletic director, Tim Curley, and senior vice president, Gary Schultz.

All three were accused of interfering with the investigation as well as having lied about it to a grand jury.

However, when former university attorney Cynthia Baldwin took the stand, she testified as to what Spanier, Curley and Schultz had told her, resulting in an infringement on the men’s right to legal counsel.

While Baldwin and prosecutors argued that she wasn’t actively representing the three men when she testified, the men argued they believed she was representing them at the time, an argument the appellate court ultimately sided with.

This results in a serious blow to the prosecution as Baldwin was expected to be an important witness in the trial but is no longer able to testify in future proceedings about any privileged conversation she had with the three men.

This ruling also resulted in the throwing out of charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to commit perjury against both Schultz and Spanier.

Charges of obstruction and conspiracy were also thrown out against Curley.

With these new changes, the men still face multiple charges each, though all three have pleaded not guilty to every count.

Curley faces a misdemeanor charge of failing to report.

Spanier faces charges of child endangerment and failure to report child abuse.

Schultz faces two felony counts of endangering welfare of children, one charge of conspiracy to endanger welfare of children and one misdemeanor account of obstruction.

With such a dark history, the college community, those at Penn State specifically, will be glad once this case is finally closed and justice has been served.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format