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Subscribe to RSSDisturbing details emerged at the sexual abuse trial of former assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. During the emotional testimony, the first witness who was identified in court documents as 'Victim 4,' said he was a teenager when the abuse began. NBC's John Yang reports.
Updated at 8:36 p.m. ET: Pennsylvania prosecutors are considering criminal charges against former top Penn State University officials for allegedly concealing what they knew about the conduct of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, law enforcement told NBC News.
As Sandusky's trial began Monday on 52 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years, the sources said investigators had obtained new evidence, including internal university email messages and other documents.
Prosecutors made their first public reference to the material in a court filing Monday, saying they included a file on Sandusky that was “created, maintained and possessed” by former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz.
In addition, prosecutors said, the recently discovered emails “contradict” the testimony of Schultz, former athletic director Tim Curley “and others” before a grand jury about what they knew about an allegation of possible sexual misconduct by Sandusky.
Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial
A spokeswoman for Curley and Schultz said their lawyers had not yet seen the new filing by prosecutors and couldn’t comment on it. Both men were charged with perjury for their testimony regarding Sandusky last November.
Legal sources tell NBC the emails and documents were recently discovered by investigators for former FBI director Louis Freeh, whose firm has been hired by Penn State to conduct an internal investigation into the school’s handling of the Sandusky matter.
The documents, the sources say, show that former university President Graham Spanier and others discussed whether they were obligated to tell authorities about a 2001 allegation involving a late-night encounter in a Penn State shower room between Sandusky and a young boy, both of whom were naked.
The documents allegedly show that university officials even did legal research on whether such conduct might be a crime. But in one email exchange, Spanier and Schultz agreed that it would be "humane” -- to Sandusky -- not to inform social services agencies, two sources said.
Spanier, who was fired last November, hasn't been charged in the investigation. He recently sued Penn State seeking access the emails, saying he needed to inspect them to “refresh his recollection” before granting an interview to Freeh’s investigators. His lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
The allegation had come from then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, who testified he saw Sandusky in a Penn State shower room with a young boy committing what he thought was a sexual act. He was so disturbed, he said, that he called late Penn State coach Joe Paterno at home the next morning. Both Schultz and Spanier testified they didn’t report the McQueary allegation because they viewed it as an account of mere “horsing around” rather than sexual abuse.
McQueary — who is expected to testify for the prosecution at Sandusky's trial — originally testified to a grand jury that he saw Sandusky in the shower with a young boy in March 2002. An email revealed Monday indicates that Spanier, Schultz and Curley discussed what McQueary allegedly saw and whether to report it more than a year earlier.
In a statement to NBC News on Sunday, lawyers for Schultz and Curley said "the information confirms that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz conscientiously considered Mike McQueary's reports of observing inappropriate conduct, reported it to the University President Graham Spanier and deliberated about how to responsibly deal with the conduct."
Schultz, who headed the campus police at the time, previously testified to a grand jury that he knew about another alleged incident involving Sandusky and a young boy in a shower in 1998. That report was investigated by local authorities but never led to charges.
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Give the three of them prison life sentences of felching each other.
Business as usual at Pedophile Sanctuary University.....dear ole PSU.
How many reports does it take for them to realize they had a child molester working for them, oh yeah they told him to not bring anymore boys to the locker rooms, why if they knew nothing why would they tell him that, which he continued to do. They still let him have keys to the athletic dept. I bet they would have never left their children alone with him but it's ok since the children that he was having contact with were not in their elite group of rich kids. Just some poor kids they considered throw away kids that would jump at trips and gifts to stay quiet. What a great place Penn state is, they don't give a crap about their community.
I'll accept the rationale for charging university officials when I see most of the Catholic church hierarchy in all their plumage, mitres, and crooks before the bar.
They should be charged and convicted too. The focus here is on this case though.
And besides, the church is not using my tax dollars.
Your rationale is that if all victims do not get justice, others shouldn't either. Get real.
Nice derail attempt.
I don't think that the Catholic Church, at least in the U S will recover from the abuse scandal. I know many former catholics who don't support the church anymore. Penn State on the other hand won't miss a beat. Just wait until september when they kick it off and all the wide eyed faithful will be in attendence and that phoney lion roar is heard. It will be like nothing ever happened, abused kids? what abused kids? This has been known since the 90s by all the top administrators and the athletic dept including the great Paterno and nothing was done. This goes to show how badly college football needs reform.
Dudes like Sandusky are pro's at their trade of sexual abuse of children. What looks like others might see. He's a outstanding citizen in many ways. What people don't see, he's putting himself in position to sexual abuse children. We had a dude exactly like him in my town. Preying on single mom's, volunteering to have their children over for a night. He volunteered with his Church on taking kids on Church camps. He was a grade school teacher. A total pro at his trade of sexual abuse of children. He knew the exact age of children that wouldn't tell their parents. By telling them their parents would see them bad for what they did with him.That he loved them and wouldn't see them bad. It takes several years for a child to come forward. Many escape because of statue of limitation in certain states of this crime. Each of you should look at your state and pressure the politicians to raise the statue of limitation on this horrible crime.
Someone HAD to have known after all the years that this was going on. Just who and how much is still open to investigation.
But, the saddest part of this whole saga is just how far a college and or a pro team will go to protect what is considered a top coach even at the expense of children.
Lets blame George Bush. PSU is forever a punch line in a joke.
Jerry just may injoy prison......taking it up the azz and all!!!!
Fire up old sparky and fry these guys. All of them. While you are at it dig up Joe and fry him too just for good measure. I was a fan of his from the day he became head coach and a hater from the day I found out that he turned his back on molested children. There is not an excuse known that can justify his behavior as an enabler.
This article sheds light on the aspect that MANY people knew about this not just Paterno. These guys are the real creeps....Paterno heard this information second hand about a guy he know for 30+ years from another guy he did not know as well. He immediately notified his supervisors and assumed it was taken care. How many people would turn in a longtime friend from second hand info??!
The press ruined this guys last days and probably did him in. No matter what you think of him, we who support him have the luxury of knowing his record of decency. You that wanted him crucified have 1 incident that you can't clearly pin him to because it's ridiculous!
decency perhaps. the choice of conscience and the moral thing to do. didn't happen. joe turned the other way or maybe he thought this "thing" really wasn't that serious. too bad he couldn't have seen the terrified expression of these children. what might have happened if some of these kids were children of some of his former players? what choice would joe have made then?
Gilbesm You say:
but before that you said:
You say, it can't be pinned to him, but he reported it. Got to be one, or the other dude.
If Paternos grandson had been raped, how long would this have taken for him to call the police ?
I believe that Joe expected Tim Curley, President Spanier, and Gary Schultz would have resolved this. He did his duty to the university through proper channels. Although Coach Paterno had a huge presence at Penn State, the organizational responsibility fell to Curley and Schultz and Spanier to follow through. They failed. And then two of them lied to the Grand Jury.
We can talk about moral obligations in the past tense forever. Joe wished he had taken action with the police. As I recall he said something to that effect.
We all know so little about the facts because there isn't much more here than accusations. I'm waiting to hear what comes from the trial.
As for favoritism because many of the jurors have ties to Penn State... Trust me when I say that they are not likely to be sympathetic to Sandusky. This whole situation is despicable and they probably feel much the same as many of us. I don't see Sandusky found guilty on all counts. Weird things happen in court and the prosecutors have the toughest challenge. All Sandusky's defense attorney has to do is plant seeds of doubt.
There are 4-5 leadership people at Penn State who are involved in the case. All are dismissed from their jobs, died or retired. I am certain that this university has taken full command of their senses and the trustees with a new president and have fully evaluated and installed the toughest set of guidelines and policies you would find on any campus.
I am watching this trail as much as anyone else. My bet is that Sandusky is guilty of something.That the accusers MUST give credible testimony. AND that the jury MUST deliberate and consider only those facts and testimony presented in court to decide if Sandusky is guilt of certain charges and not guilty of others.
If you ever served on a trial jury you know what I mean. This trial is not being held in the court of public opinion.
good Priest canidates
Lutheran or Mormon Ministers as Candidates?
Mormons usually like little young girls.
All of the officials at Penn State knew what was going on but they put their heads up their ass so they could collect the money from football. The officials should be put in jail so they could be raped, forced to give oral sex, passed around like a sex slave so they know what it feels like to be molested. Joe should be burning in hell now because he knew what was being done to the innocent children, he put football first, God at the end taught him a lesson when he was suffering before he died. He should have suffered more and harder. Jesus could not forgive Joe for his sins
I wish I was on the jury justice would be served.
Ron. You might wanna brush up on your Bible teachings, buddy. Sure sounds you're like playing the part of God, and, if I recall, God frowns on people playing the Judge ( it's a Union thing). As a matter of fact, it sounds like you're suggesting to God in a "left-handed" insulting way, that Jesus would be a loser if he forgave any of these men ( assuming they are as guilty as "you" have Judged).
I neither know, nor do I care if Sandusky is innocent or guilty, but there is one question that must be addressed:
Where is the physical evidence, other than that of an adult male taking a shower with other males - communal showers in gyms were/are very commonplace. When I was in high school the gym showers were communal, and gym participants, including myself, used them without incident.
The only other "evidence" is that of those who verbally claim Sandusky molested them.
That said, from what I have seen and read so far, were I on the jury, I would vote for acquittal.
Mitch
Did you have any sword fights in the shower. Would you let you little boy or girl take a shower with a grown man who is hard.
They have recorded phone conversations of him talking to a boys mom refusing to stop taking naked showers with a young boy who had complained about Sandusky being weird and touching him. Do some research before you go spouting off about something you obviously know nothing about.
"adult male taking a shower with other males" This was a full-grown man showering naked with young boys in a college shower. You really worry me if you think this kind of thing is ok.
Do you look at child porn yourself or are you just a moron?
Ron and Beezy -
Where is this "recording"?
Produce it - or stop citing more heresay.
Ad hominem remarks are a clear sign of those who do not know how to argue. I do not feel that heresay is the proper way to conduct any trial, especially with allegations as old as these are.
For that, a veritable peanut gallery responds with puerile, inane scrawlings, only due to my disagreeing with the herd - I wager Nancy Grace is one of your heroes?
Actual evidence should be required to prosecute any allegation - but lately, that doesn't seem to be the case - just look at trials like the McMartin Preschool case.
America is dying thanks to the ignorant, uneducated people with a lynch mob mentality, and those such as you folks are glaring proof of this.
Please remember that pedophiles are NOT gay. Gay men don't do this sh*t.
Male pedophiles that attack little boys are sick and gay! If a man likes male genitalia, trust me, he is a fag.
Personally, I find what gay men do to be freaking disgusting. They do sh*t though; that's just nasty.
What is an absolute truth is that straight men do not have sex with other males of any age.
JerseyJoe-3715337 -There are gay pedophiles and there are straight pedophiles. The key word here is PEDOPHILE! Just because there are straight pedophiles does not mean that all straight people are pedophiles. Similarly, just because there are some gay pedophiles does not make all gay people pedophiles.
Straight men do not put their meat into other males.
That would make them gay, or a pedophile. The moment they do that willingly as a cognizant adult minded person , they do not fall into the category of straight ever again.
pmdww2 - I totally agree with you. The gay community just has to take responibility for their "bad apples", just like every other group. That's all I'm saying.
thank you pmdww2, these f*cking ignorant a*sh*les here apparently think all gay men are pedophiles. NOT TRUE! there are gay and straight pedophiles as well as gay and straight people who aren't. there are people who are pedophiles who are bi or pan and others who are not pedos but are bi or pan, there are all different types of people, it's not black and white like how SOME people *cought*zipper*cough* don't understand the complexities of human sexual attractions. do some f*cking research before you go spouting bullsh*t out of your f*cking mouth, people like you disgust me. utterly f*cking disgusting.
also, some straight men f*ck a*sh*les! it's just on a bitch, instead of a dood. GET OVER IT, YA C*NT!
I propose that the Stadium be destroyed and the place where it stands be a memorial park for the crimes committed against the innocent complete with a labeled statue of Jerry Sandusky raping a young boy in the shower complete with a list of the names of his victims, and of the co conspirators.
Zipperthecat is close, don't worry about the Federal funds or the PA State funds. Just make it simple and painful
Penn State must be banned from playing Collage football, 5 year ban for every Young man raped. This will hurt them the most in the wallet. Penn State football brings in 10s of $ millions every year. And this is the only reason that the admistrarion looked the other way.
All of them including Joe the pervert protector should be required to give up all of their assets to the victims, including wives children etc of these people who could care less about children. Their grandchildren should know what kind of people they are.
So the very institution that conspired to deny the victims justice is allowed to continue to receive my tax dollars ? NOT ! ! !
The very program that is responsible continuing to generate millions of dollars after 30 or so years is unacceptable.
As punishment, and as a warning shot over the bow of all other publicly funded schools, the punishment should be severe; fitting the crimes as they were extremely severe.
This scumbag was properly reported as having innapropriate contact with young boys....as it should. Ray Gricar, the district attorney responsible for pressing charges chose not to prosecute.. back in 1998. He is to blame for this guy being loose to molest other kids.
And he is MISSING ! His hard drive went missing also. But not one of the police officials' ever did any serious investigating. That was ten years ago? The current Governor was at that time the Attorney General. Do you think he is anxious for this case to be reopened? Naah he is hoping against hope his sordid participation in the run around is never revealed.
And how many young men have felt the cold hard flesh of this monster and his friends because this pedophile was not stopped back then? How many have been ‘fondled' in the basement with ‘Mrs. Jerry Monster’ upstairs frothing at the mouth to hear the details of her husbands 'romances'?
There are quite a few responsible parties. We need some people to go down hard. They will get angry and expose the true breadth of this conspiracy.
All guilty parties should be exposed; every secretary, dean, members on the board of regents, every other coach at the school. Everyone who is guilty of not exposing this, is indirectly responsible for all the rapes that occurred since the time when they first found out about it happening,
Joe Paterno was like a God at Penn State. Regardless of what he did or did not do, the suggestion that his job would have been jeopardized if he had by-passed the hierarchy doesn't hold water. He should have followed up to determine the results of his report. In addition, this involved a long time close associate of Paterno which raises the question as to the real reason for Sandusky's early retirement. There had to be the whispers of this unnatural relationship with these young people before he retired. The inevitable rumors, etc.
Of course Paterno knew about it. The entire coaching staff knew about it.
I'll bet the "who knew list" is much greater than any of us can imagine.
Possibly some of the football players, certainly the entire coaching staff, secretaries, receptionists, the dean, board of directors, (regents), janitors, as well as many of their husbands and wives. Possibly even coaches from competing colleges may have been aware.
If he has been doing this right in the showers, I am sure the lack of caution has gotten him caught a few times.
If this is even close to true, all of you involved through silence are truly as guilty as Paterno.
@JS:
You still don't get it. Paterno wanted the problem to go away. It didn't. He wanted to protect the "brand"...He didn't.
This fiasco will end with an acquittal on all counts. Because it is being tried in Penn State territory, prosecuted by Penn State admirers, juried by Penn State supporters and presided over by a Penn State Judge. Does that help explain the outcome?
Of course Joe is not represented correctly in this article. He was only dismissed as Head Coach, he was NOT FIRED from a position at Penn State. Look it up! He continued to be paid as an employee of Penn State. Lucky for him that he died. Of course the circumstances of his death have never been fully explained. Is it possible he was about to ‘spill the beans’ and the ring leader had him summarily excused? Naaah not at Penn State never !
Joe was as complicit in this despicable activity as the monster Sandusky. Except he didn't 'play around in the shower' with them he knew what was going on… ooooh yes he knew.
Move along folks the wheels of justice have been locked in this matter. Think about this: the issue was raised over ten years ago. The then prosecutor suddenly disappeared, never has been found. His computer was found 'accidentally' in a nearby river bank. Without the hard drive. And he was never treated to an all-out search.. he was 'reported' as 'missing'. But since his body was not found and the drive was missing it became another Ho Hum case for the Attorney General (isn't he now Governor) and the lesser lights in the law enforcement community.
Let's face it people, this is a case about how immoral, how unethical how destructive Penn State and its tentacles are in that area.
There will not be any justice derived from this trial. The sex manic Sandusky will be acquitted, he will then sue everyone involved in his "PERSECUTION" and get mega bucks awarded because of the terribly wronged accusations against him.
That's it folks another cover-up which may or may not be NAMBLA related. But what about Sandusky's wife? Did she not see something strange, something unusual when Jerry went to the basement room and spent hours with the guests? Of course she did. And then later in their boudoir he regaled her with the tales of his conquest.
Sick ? hell yes, but then he is a sick freak who deserves to be imprisoned with some very nasty inmates who are aware of his 'deeds'.
That's why the public needs to boycott all things Penn State, All other schools should drop Penn State games and events from their rosters.
Penn State needs to go down. That is the only way to get other schools to take these kind of things seriously as threats to their very existence.
I'm sorry to all at Penn State that had/have nothing to do with this, but this is how I feel it should be dealt with.
I love all of these apologists. I can't help but wonder how they would feel if it was their son having his head pushed down into Sandusky's crotch. The jury will come to their conclusion but with what is known at this point I feel confident he will be found guilty and will hopefully die in prison.
As for Paterno, I never viewed him as the God like figure that many of the posters do. If he knew this, which it seems he did, and justified letting it go, for whatever reason, may he rot in hell.
Exactly.
Interesting about all of this fuss about the chain-of-command @ Penn State.... At the same time, we have hundreds of men in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church who are far more guilty of the same kind of coverups and enabling of pedophiles. PSU had one known suspected pedophile in Sandusky. The catholic church has had hundreds, if not thousands of pedophiles running rampant for decades, and, at least here in the US, no one except a couple of priests - save one bishop who is now being prosecuted for covering up the worst of institutional pedophilia. The crimes of the catholic church are so widespread that the Feds should build a special prison just for the priestly predators and their enablers. The American catholic church would have to be run from the prison for these felons.
Quite correct spamonwry, but lets not go riding bikes during this discussion. This is about placing the responsibility for the cover up in this case where it belongs.
The religious institutions, and all other institutions that are guilty need to be exposed and so forth too, but that is not the issue here today.
Anyone that wants to talk about other things should just go ride a bike or something like that.
spamonwry,
You are a classless idiot. The number of priests involved in pedophile crimes are less than 1% of all priests. The Catholic Church has well over 400,000 priests throughout the world who serve God faithfully and the people in their congregation. They perform baptisms, weddings, funerals, grant confessions, go to hospital emergency rooms in the middle of the night to give last rites. Most handle two church congregations because of the priest shortage. They also quite often provide a listening ear and counseling on any variety of problems. You could not hold a candle to the average priest and are a very little person to spread the vicious charges you do. If you had any common sense in your pea size brain you would notice that the Catholic Church has far less pedophile incidents than the average cross section of society. Try as you might no can peer deep inside every persons head. Now kindly go to hell.
My, aren't we a bit testy today? Do you really believe yourself; 1% of Catholic priests are pedophiles? Seems kind of a skewed guess on your part. If the figure were that low, then why is the Vatican spending billions of dollars worldwide to hush up their abominable behavior?. Please try posting AFTER you have taken your meds. 1% huh. Larry, you are delusional. The Pope himself has aided and abetted more than the 1% figure you throw out of your backside. People just seem to be getting dumber and dumber each day.
..
well while I agree with public hangings and such I think that all who knew and did nothing should be charged and tried.
I dont care if they took it to their superiors who did nothing they still knew and sat and watched and therefore are just as guilty as those who chose to sweet it under the rug
I dont know who all are involved but the trial will out all with brooms
No where does this article implicate Joe Pa in any way. The Penn State Board of Directors owes Mrs. Paterno a heartfelt and sincere apology. They also should write her a huge check but she has too much class to accept money from a school her and her late husband loved so dearly. I know it sounds awful but I was delighted to hear this sorry board and the leaders who fired Joe Pa by phone without any evidence of wrong doing had received death threats. If ever death threats were deserved this was the place. Shame on each board member who went along with these shenanigans and the horrible treatment they gave the Paterno family after all the years of dedication and service. Then to have the nerve to ban Mrs. Paterno from using the pool she had used for years was even more folly. Hopefully, everyone on that board is tormented for the rest of their life for what they did. Joe Pa went to his grave knowing he was innocent but having a band of idiots tarnish his good name.
Larry-314720
True. However we all know from earlier articles that Joe Paterno was the one who first notified his superiors about the rapes and molestation in the showers.
I have no doubt Mrs. Paterno knew as well; she was Joes wife and confidant.
Perhaps Mrs. Paterno owes an apology to the victims and their families as well.
This may seem like a witch hunt to you, but really this may be the only justice the victims, the families of the victims, and the potential victims of the victims will ever receive justice in any form.
JOE PATERNO WENT TO HIS GRAVE A GUILTY MAN, HE BROKE THE LAW ON THIS ONE ! ! !
I am disappointed in how many people believe the media sensationalism as if the words came straight from God, and then begin to spew their wrath as if THEY personally know ALL of the facts !. I have read all of the comments posted regarding this terrible situation, and without fail the majority of the comments start with the words " I believe that...", or " I'm convinced that", or "It would not surprise ME that...", or " Joe Pa is burning in Hell", or " JoePa went to his grave a guilty man", or " I have NO Doubt that Mrs Paterno knew as well" !!! ".
What a sorry bunch of people. Playing God is not a good practice. Thank God that none of your opinions mean anything except to you and other Latrine Lawyers. What a terrible injustice it would be to have people like you making knee-jerk conclusions based on mob mentality and enforcing punishment on others. Amen.
many of you people just dont get it, like it or NOT, in most of PA Joe Paterno is on the same level of omnipotence as santa claus, would you want to be the one to say santas elves molested kids and santa did nothing, I think Sandusky and all molesters deserve castration, torture, and any abuse you can dream up. but this is an extremely unique set of circumstances with real human emotions and actions on display, ugly as it is. And I also think Santa did what was required of him, but spanier, schulz, curley,....... now they're scum on earth
What many do not realize is Joe Pa was from the very old school where no one even mentioned the word sex in public. Even McQuery admitted to not telling all the details to Joe Pa out of respect and not wanting to embarrass him. Hell Joe Pa probably could not even imagine how a man could molest a child. At the time Sandusky was not Paterno's responsibility as many seem to post. Sandusky was dismissed from the program in 1999. My Grandpa was much like Joe Pa and if you did dare use any language or even the word sex he turned red and you could tell he was much annoyed. These guys are not from the cloth of lewd and shameless speaking of sexual things casually. That is what makes the crime the board committed against Joe Pa even more disgusting. He was a very good man who would have personally kicked Sandusky's sorry arse if he had been the one who saw what happened in the shower. I say that without a doubt.
Kevin, That's an exaggerated statement, Growing up in PA the past 60 years and having lived in Phila, Pittsburgh, Erie, Lancaster and the N.E.... he is NOT God everywhere. There are a lot of haters and detractors... including Pitt fans, etc. You are off base in that regard... People respect Joe and Sue for what they have done to contribute ti=o the university's academic programs and the library. No one will ever forget it no matter how hard people like you try to detract his accomplishments beyond football.
Paterno should be less of the story... not most of it. This is about Sandusky and how the university leadership mishandled this whole situation.
Not reporting child molestation is a crime, oldschool or not.
Zipper... who could disagree with your comment? I think we resolved that a long time ago... Moving on...
OK LG-267159, Getting defensive about your hero, and one of your home state and favorite teams.
I am truly sorry if you don't like what I have to say because your loyalties remain with them. I think that Penn State is the shame of Pennsylvania right now, and all the years of tradition and loyalties and quality education are now mired in pigsty muck that I hope they never shake off because some others will learn, and not let this happen somewhere out there.
Their footballers should find other schools, as should staff and the student body.
The tradition now has stink-finger that should never go away.
The Penn State Board needs to exonerate Joe Pa immediately! Humble yourself, apologize, and beg forgiveness from his family.