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Subscribe to RSSSources tell NBC News that state prosecutors have prepared charges against Graham Spanier, Penn State's former longtime president, as well as more charges for two ex-school officials who have already been indicted. They are accused of lying to a grand jury and trying to cover up the sex-abuse scandal involving convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Former Penn State President Graham Spanier was arraigned and released on bail at a brief court appearance Wednesday on charges he lied about and concealed the child sex abuse allegations involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Spanier, accompanied by his wife, signed paperwork after his bail was set at $125,000 unsecured and left a Harrisburg district justice's office where two co-defendants were arraigned last week.
After the court appearance, Spanier's attorney, Elizabeth Ainslie, proclaimed Spanier's innocence and called prosecutors' claims he was part of a conspiracy of silence "ridiculous."
Spanier, 64, was charged last week with perjury, obstruction, endangering the welfare of children, failure to properly report suspected abuse and conspiracy for his actions in response to complaints about Jerry Sandusky showering with children. Spanier denies the allegations and has claimed he is being framed for political purposes.
Earlier: Penn St.'s ex-president charged in Sandusky scandal
He served as Penn State's president for 16 years but was forced out a year ago after Sandusky was charged along with two of Spanier's top underlings. Spanier is on paid leave as a member of the faculty.
Craig Houtz / Reuters file
Former Penn State University President Graham Spanier, left, and Second Mile founder and former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, attend the Second Mile Celebrity Golf Classic, in State College, Pennsylvania, in 1997.
Along with the charges against Spanier, prosecutors added counts against Tim Curley and Gary Schultz. They were arraigned Thursday. Curley, the athletic director on leave, and Schultz, the school's retired vice president, await trial in January on charges of failure to report suspected abuse and perjury.
The new charges came almost exactly a year after details of the case against Sandusky sent a maelstrom through State College, toppling longtime head coach Joe Paterno and eventually leading to severe NCAA sanctions against the football team.
Sandusky, 68, vigorously contested the charges but was convicted in June of 45 counts of abuse of boys, including violent sexual attacks inside campus facilities. He was sentenced last month to 30 to 60 years in prison.
A grand jury report alleged Spanier testified falsely that he did not know of a 1998 complaint against Sandusky, made by a mother and investigated by university police.
Full coverage of the Sandusky trial
"Spanier was obviously kept in the loop on this matter as Schultz copied him in on emails that discussed the status and conclusion of the investigation," the jury report said.
It also claimed Spanier lied about a 2001 instance of abuse witnessed by a graduate assistant, when he testified that Curley and Schultz described it only as horseplay. Email traffic among the men, jurors wrote, "make clear they are discussing an event that involves the abuse of a child."
Spanier's obstruction charges involve "numerous lies" and hiding "pertinent files and notes," alleged the grand jury report, known as a presentment.
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The report described how he addressed the growing scandal last year with the board of trustees, and how he put out statements supportive of Curley and Schultz after their arrest. The jury report said investigators were immediately able to get important records from the university after Spanier was replaced as president.
"It should be noted that Spanier continues to mislead with numerous public statements that contain demonstrably false statements," the jury claimed.
Spanier's lawyers put out a written statement law week that accused Gov. Tom Corbett, who was attorney general when the investigation began, of orchestrating the charges to divert attention from questions about why it took three years to bring charges against Sandusky. They said there was no factual basis for the Spanier charges.
"Spanier has committed no crime and looks forward to the opportunity to clear his good name and well-earned national reputation for integrity," his defense lawyers wrote. "This presentment is a politically motivated frame-up of an innocent man."
Attorney General Linda Kelly said last week the three administrators had engaged in a "conspiracy of silence" to hide the truth.
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Good start, now for the others including Dottie Sandusky!
The fact that Spanier hid key files in his swimming pool pump house and deleted incriminating e-mails will not sit well with a jury.
Generally not, unless he is tried in Chicago. He would be immortalized there!!
Ya got that right tracy........
These guys are in deep $hit (again)....pardon the pun.
Dottie had to have known. No doubt about it.
Jerry blew and Spanier knew ..........that simple....
( so did Dottie BTW)
Hardly, Lock them up!
Morning Scooter,
I whole hearted agree, while I don't have evidence that Spanker and Spottie are guilty, IMHO, from the circumstantial evidence we have seen, both should be charged as accomplices at the very least.
GM Tracy...although be it a sad one.
Roger that Scooter - I thought I was revisiting the movie Groundhog Day, in a political sense!
Good Afternnon from B'bados, Scooter & Tracy!
The sun is shining here and I was able to sit up and take on sustenance and coffee. My family is healthy so for their future I am prepared to fight any issue that may, and most certianly will, come my way. Hooah!
Looks like Spanker and Spottie both knew while jerry........
its cold grey and miserable here...fits....
@Scooter, sorry to hear that bro, wish I could help.
He is as guilty as Sandusky was. He KNEW and he did nothing because sports are the number one concern of today's universities. Everything else does not count.
He was and is a silent acomplist of crimes against children and for that he should have to set in jail a long time.
So weird - the top leaders/senators/rulers in ancient Rome and Greece were known for this - and it was culturally accepted - here's hoping the U.S. continues to prosecute those who abuse boys in this way.
I don't understand the statement that these charges are "politically motivated?" Whose politics are we talking about here? What elected official stands to gain from this? Seems to me like politics have absolutely nothing to do with this case.
Well John, Gov. Corbett is a politician. He was the DA for that area of PA when the Sandusky case first surfaced. His office dragged its feet in investigating the case - some would say this allowed other young boys to be molested. As the Gov. of PA. he now controls the Board of Trustees of PSU and controlled the selection of Mr. Freeh to make a report. If you read the Freeh Report conclusions and carefully read the evidence (for example the emails) in the Report, you will find that the evidence doesn't support the conclusions. Since Corbett is a politician, one could reasonably assume that he doesn't want his name associated with the case or his reputation damaged. If someone else is scapegoated, then he isn't held responsible.
The rest of the case rests on Mike McQueary's testimony which can never stand alone because it isn't creditable: 1) he changed it too many times to be believed and 2) Dr. Dranov's testimony contradicts what Mike said. Dr. Dranov is physician who graduated Phi Beta Kappa, graduated from a prestigeous Ivy League medical school, is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Urology, is highly skilled in getting historical information from people (his patients) and knows the reporting requirements for sexual abuse of children. He interviewed Mike McQueary on the night McQueary saw Sandusky with a boy in the shower and testified that McQueary told him three times that he didn't see anything of a sexual nature.
Spanier's lawyer has stated that this case involves politics. Knowing the above information, most reasonable people would agree.
PA governor Tom Corbett was allegedly receiving campaign donations from board members of Sandusky's Charity (Second Mile), at the same time he was supposedly "investigating" the sexual abuse claims.
Not saying these men are innocent, but there's a lot more to this story than we know (or probably want to know).
The poor lawyer is just doing what he can with the facts he is handed. If it was a murder on tape he would be challenging the tape. Your lawyer speaks for you until you alocute, (confess to the crime before the judge before getting a reduced sentence.) Then, as the lawyer is made out to be a liar, he stands back and keeps his mouth shut.
poor lawyer?........... the 3rd rated oxymoron...
the first two being
1.Honest Lawyer
2. Honest politician
of course. although when combined they too are often an oxymoron unto themselves...or a "double-oxymoron" if you will
Let justice be done.
Sandusky is going to have '3' buddies in the pen with him. Now they can play bridge . . . takes four. I doubt any of them will get off. The facts are there and their inaction is/was disgusting and criminal. I also think McQueary should be charged since he did not go to the police and Dottie Sandusky needs to be charged and let a jury decide her guilt or innocence. I am wondering if the University has to pay the legal fees of all these men. I hope the victims have begun the process of healing.
He has a "strange" look about him...I think it goes deeper. It's only my opinion, I can be wrong.
Penn State ex-president's lawyer: Charges 'ridiculous'
Actually, 10-30 in the Big House isn't "ridiculous". For the sake of the defendant, let's hope The Lawyer treats the substance more seriously.
As a Penn State alumnus, I hope they throw Spanier, Curley and Shulz in prison for a few decades. At their ages it would be the same as life sentences. Let them rot in a maximum securty joint like Rockview (one of the oldest and hardest prisons in the Commonwealth). What they did - protecting Sandusky and allowing more kids to be hurt - is unconscionable. The victims should bring civil suits against them and get every penny they have - savings, retirement plans, 401k plans, their houses, their cars .... everything.
They ought to put everybody in jail in Pa. just sayin', they're obviously guily of something to live there.
namveteran- I usually don't respond to arrogant posts but you leave me no choice. I have lived in Pa for the last 32 years of my life (first 8 in NY) and I am not guilty of anything and your saying that everyone is guilty of something in this state is rude. Think about it- what if this horrible situation happened in your state would all the people that live there be guilty of something too including yourself? I also happen to live about 40 miles from State College and have many friends who live there and we are all disgusted with this situation and hope everyone involved get punishment but please leave the innocent people alone. Thank you from the great state of PA...