Pennsylvania State University football coach Joe Paterno allegedly knew years before Jerry Sandusky’s arrest that his assistant was sexually abusing children, a police report has revealed.
New light has been shed on the Sandusky sex case revealing details from former graduate assistant football coach, Mike McQueary, who reported to Paterno that he’d seen Sandusky showering in a locker room with a young boy.
The one-page Pennsylvania state police report, obtained from CNN, says that Paterno allegedly told McQueary in 2001 that the claim against Sandusky ‘was the second complaint of this nature he had received’.
Sandusky was arrested in 2011 and convicted in 2012 for sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years.
Pennsylvania State University football coach Joe Paterno (right in 1999) ‘knew years before Jerry Sandusky’s arrest that his assistant might have been sexually abusing children’, a police report has revealed
New light has been shown on the Sandusky (pictured in 2015) sex case revealing details from whistleblower Mike McQueary, who reported to Paterno that he’d seen Sandusky showering in a locker room with a young boy in 2001
The report has cast doubt on the denials made by Paterno that the legendary coach was unaware of the abuse before the 2001 incident. At the time, Paterno notified the university’s former athletic director, Tim Curley, but did not call police.
A week before Paterno died, the coach testified before a grand jury in 2012 claiming that he ‘had “no inkling” that Sandusky might be a sexual deviant’ until he heard the allegation from McQueary.
Paterno was fired from his position but was never charged with a crime.
It’s believed that Paterno was told of other claims that were similar to the 2001 incident, as early as the 1970s, according to CNN.
An anonymous email in 2010 led investigators looking into Sandusky to contact McQueary, and he proved to be a critical witness at the criminal trials of both Sandusky and Penn State University’s former president Graham Spanier.
When McQueary complained about Sandusky showering with the boy, Spanier, former vice president Gary Schultz and Curley decided to talk to Sandusky and bar him from bringing children onto campus rather than report him to child-welfare authorities, Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte said earlier this year.
They told him if he didn’t get help they would report him, Schulte said.
The report casts doubt on the denials made by Paterno and his family that the legendary coach was unaware of the abuse before the 2001 incident
A week before Paterno died, the coach testified before a grand jury in 2012 claiming that he ‘had “no inkling” that Sandusky (pictured in 1999 with players) might be a sexual deviant’ until he heard the allegation from McQueary
It’s believed that Paterno was told of other claims that were similar to the 2001 incident, as early as the 1970s. Pictured are former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley (left) and Penn State president Graham Spanier (right) in 1995
Spanier, 68, got a sentence of 4 to 12 months, with the first two to be spent in jail and the rest under house arrest for his role in the scandal.
Curley, 63, received a sentence of 7 to 23 months, with three in jail and Schultz, 67, was sentenced to 6 to 23 months, with two months behind bars.
The police report notes, according to McQueary, that Paterno told him that his wife, Sue Paterno, once mentioned to the head coach that Sandusky’s wife, Dottie Sandusky, ‘told her Jerry doesn’t like girls’.
But McQueary never testified publicly about the police report or the new details it reveals.
However, McQueary did testify at least twice about Paterno’s reaction in 2001 to the allegation involving Sandusky, but he was never was asked under oath about the ‘second complaint’.
Last week, Penn State indicated in a new court document that it may sue the charity founded by Sandusky, whose 2011 arrest on child molestation charges destroyed the charity and has cost the university more than $200 million.
Penn State disclosed its intention to eventually sue The Second Mile, also naming as a defendant Jack Raykovitz, who was the charity’s president when Sandusky was arrested six years go.
The civil cover sheet described it as a matter of ‘contractual indemnification’ and said Penn State planned to pursue monetary damages. The filing did not include a complaint that would spell out specific allegations.
The university issued a statement Tuesday that said it acted ‘in order to preserve its rights to pursue claims’ against The Second Mile. It offered no additional comment.
Messages left for Raykovitz and a lawyer who has represented him in the past were not immediately returned.
Last week, Penn State indicated in a new court document that it may sue the charity founded by Sandusky (pictured in 2016), whose 2011 arrest on child molestation charges destroyed the charity and has cost the university more than $200 million
Sandusky (pictured in 2015), 73, is serving 30 to 60 years in prison for sexual abuse of boys, and prosecutors said he used The Second Mile to find many of his victims. He maintains his innocence and is awaiting a judge’s ruling on his request for a new trial
Raykovitz testified about the charity’s handling of the Sandusky scandal in March at the criminal trial of Spanier, which ended with Spanier being convicted of a misdemeanor count of child endangerment.
Raykovitz, a psychologist, said he told several high-ranking board members of The Second Mile about a 2001 encounter that led McQueary to notify Paterno about the incident.
Raykovitz said he was told the 2001 encounter had been investigated and deemed to be unfounded.
He told jurors he advised Sandusky to wear swim trunks if he showered with children in the future.
The Second Mile did not move to keep children away from Sandusky until 2008, when it was notified that Sandusky was the target of an investigation.
Sandusky founded the charity in 1977 as a way to help at-risk youth. Its board included many prominent business, political and civic leaders.
A judge in March 2016 allowed The Second Mile to dissolve after its lawyers said the scandal had evaporated fundraising and rendered it impossible to continue to operate.
At its peak, the charity said it was serving some 100,000 children annually through camps and fundraisers.
Sandusky, 73, is serving 30 to 60 years in prison for sexual abuse of boys, and prosecutors said he used The Second Mile to find many of his victims. He maintains his innocence and is awaiting a judge’s ruling on his request for a new trial.