Spanier Facing Charges In PSU Sex Abuse Case
HARRISBURG (KDKA) – A former Penn State official is facing criminal charges in connection with the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.
According to the Attorney General's Office, former Penn State president Graham Spanier will be charged with the following:
- Perjury
- 2 counts of endangering welfare of children
- Obstruct admin law/Other govt function
- Conspiracy – Obstruct Admin law/other govt function – failure to report
- Penalties – failure to report
- Conspiracy – Perjury
- Conspiracy – Endangering welfare of children
The longtime Penn State president was forced to resign in the wake of charges being filed against Sandusky a year ago and has been long identified as a target in an investigation of a possible cover up by university administrators.
"This is not a mistake, an oversight or a misjudgment, " Attorney General Linda Kelly said. "This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials at Penn State, working actively to conceal the truth, with total disregard to the suffering of children."
These charges come nearly a year after the original charges were filed against Sandusky, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz.
Curley and Schultz are both facing perjury charges relating to the Sandusky scandal as well.
Investigators said they lied to the Grand Jury and failed to properly report suspected child abuse.
Currently, their cases are on hold and they have asked a judge to delay their trial while attorneys wait for more evidence to come in.
Prosecutors are apparently continuing the ongoing investigation of the Grand Jury and are focusing on what Spanier knew and when he knew it.
Spanier has said he wished he'd known more about Sandusky and that it would have been his inclination to take a hard line on stopping such behavior since Spanier himself was once a victim of abuse.
Nevertheless, new perjury and obstruction of justice charges were filed against the former university president.
Meanwhile, Sandusky has been transferred to a maximum security prison in Greene County where he'll likely spend the rest of his life after being sentenced to 30-60 years.
According to prison officials, Sandusky will be placed in protective custody because of the nature of his crimes and high profile.
Sandusky said he will continue to pursue an appeal.
Listen to Kelly's press conference here:
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