Penn State University Covered Up Child Sexual Abuse. Penn State University has been rocked by accusations that football coaches and university officials failed to report and covered up acts of child sexual abuse, child sex abuse, and child molestation allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach with the Nittany Lions football team. Two high-ranking Penn State officials have already been forced to resign and face criminal charges that they obstructed justice and tried to cover up Sandusky’s despicable conduct. Other Penn State officials, including head football coach Joe Paterno and University President Grant Spanier, have faced scathing criticism for their handling of Sandusky child sexual abuse, child sex abuse, and child molestation allegations.
The personal injury lawyers at Parker Waichman LLP are investigating child sexual abuse, child sex abuse, and child molestation at Penn State University, and we intend to make sure the football coaches and officials who allowed Sandusky’s alleged child sex abuse to continue unchecked are held accountable. If you or a loved one were a victim of Jerry Sandusky, you may be able to file a lawsuit against Penn State, as well as any university official, who hid the allegations of child sexual abuse, child sex abuse, and child molestation made against him. We are currently offering free and confidential lawsuit consultations to Penn State child sexual abuse victims. To learn how we can help you obtain justice and hold Penn State accountable, we urge you to contact one of our experienced and compassionate personal injury lawyers today.
Child Sexual Abuse, Child Sex Abuse, and Child Molestation Accusations Against Sandusky, and Alleged PSU Cover
In November 2011, Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions under Coach Joe Paterno, was charged with sexually abusing eight boys across a 15-year period. Furthermore, Gary Schultz, PSU’s senior vice president for finance and business, and Tim Curley, the athletic director, were charged with perjury and failure to report to authorities what they knew of the child sex abuse allegations, as required by state law in Pennsylvania.
Head Coach Joe Paterno, a revered icon both at Penn State and within the college football community, has also been criticized for failing to report Sandusky’s alleged child sex abuse behavior after it was related to him. In 2002, graduate assistant coach, Mike McQueary, told Paterno that he had witnessed Sandusky committing a horrific act of sexual molestation on a boy who appeared to be no more than 10. The alleged assault occurred in the Penn State football buildings showers, and people familiar with the investigation have said that McQueary reported the graphic details of what he witnessed to Paterno in a face-to-face meeting.
Paterno did report the allegations to his superiors at Penn State, but appears to have done little else. In fact, Sandusky – who was no longer a coach at Penn State at the time of the alleged incident – was allowed to continue using the football building facilities and maintained an office there until 2007. Pennsylvania state law enforcement officials said that while Paterno had met his legal obligation in alerting his superiors, he failed on a moral level by not doing more.
According to the Pennsylvania grand jury report on the Sandusky investigation, Tim Curley testified that after being informed of the allegation, he met with Sandusky and told him he was banned from bringing youth on to the Penn State campus. Yet even after the ban was imposed on Sandusky at Penn State’s main campus, he was allowed to operate a summer football camp for boys on a Penn State satellite campus for six years. It now appears that 2002 may not have been the first time that someone at Penn State was made aware of Sandusky’s questionable behavior with children. In 1998, a report was made to the Penn State police detailing an earlier allegation of inappropriate contact against Sandusky by another boy. The boy, who was 12 at the time, alleged he and Sandusky were showering in the football building on Penn State’s campus when the incident took place. No charges were ever filed in that incident.
Prosecutors have said that the inaction of Paterno, Spanier and other high ranking Penn State officials led to more children being harmed. Those allegedly victimized by Sandusky agree.
“If they would have done something about it in 1998, and then again in 2002 — there was two chances, they dropped the ball and I think they should all be held accountable,” the mother of a boy referred to as Victim Six in a grand jury report, told the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
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