Now, Penn State's Former President Charged in Sandusky Case
ByThe never-ending saga of Sandusky scandal plunged to a new low with former president of Pennsylvania State University being indicted in Sandusky's child sex abuse case, Thursday.
Spanier was charged by a grand jury with child endangerment, perjury and criminal conspiracy, all felonies, for trying to cover up Sandusky's misdeeds. He also faces misdemeanor counts of failure to report suspected abuse, conspiracy and obstruction of the administration of law, reports Reuters.
Along with 64-yaer-old Spanier, Tim Curley, once the school's athletic director and Gary Schultz, former vice president of Penn State, were also indicted with new charges of child endangerment, criminal conspiracy and obstruction. They were earlier charged with failure to report and perjury to which they have pleaded not guilty.
According to USA Today, prosecutors said all three officials knew of complaints involving Sandusky showering with boys in 1998 and 2001 and failed to take action to stop it.
"This is not a mistake, an oversight or a misjudgment. This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials at Penn State, working to actively conceal the truth, with total disregard to the suffering of children," Attorney General Linda Kelly told a news conference.
The charges involve statements he made to a grand jury in 2011 in which he denied being aware of a university police investigation of Sandusky over a shower incident.
They are mainly based on the Louis Freeh report which has been publicly condemned by Spanier, Faculty Senate and Alumni of Penn state, former coach Late Joe Paterno's family, among others.
The report concluded that the top officials at Penn State deliberately concealed the complaints against Sandusky to protect the school's image.
Following the indictment, Penn State spokesman David La Torre announced that Spanier, who continued to serve as a tenured professor after being fired from his position in the wake of Sandusky scandal, has been placed on a leave, 'effective immediately.'
Jerry Sandusky was convicted in June for molesting over 10 boys in a period of 15 years and was recently sentenced with 30 to 60 years in jail.
Till date, at least three victims of Sandusky have sued Penn State. In early October, former teaching assistant and witness of the trail McQueary also sued the school.