12 July 2012The leaders of US university Penn State showed a "total disregard" for the safety of victims of sex abuser Jerry Sandusky, a report says.Former FBI chief Louis Freeh said: "The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps... to protect the children who Sandusky victimised."Mr Freeh cited the former university president and legendary football coach Joe Paterno, who died last year.
Both were sacked during the probe into assistant coach Sandusky's abuses.Sandusky, who worked on Paterno's nationally lauded football team, was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse in a trial in June.He is expected to serve a life sentence.Louis Freeh's report, released on Wednesday, laid much blame in the hands of four of Penn State's "most powerful people": President Graham Spanier, Vice-President Gary Schultz, athletic director Tim Curley and head football coach Joe Paterno.They "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the university community and authorities," Mr Freeh wrote.The four men, including the university president, knew that Sandusky was under investigation by university police of allegations of child sex abuse on campus as early as 1998.Although no charges were brought that year, Mr Spanier did not inform the university board of the investigation under way at the same time of the board meeting.Sandusky retired from the university a year later, gaining emeritus status, which allowed him unfettered access to campus buildings.Three years after the first allegations, the report found that officials did not take any action to identify a victim seen being abused by Sandusky in the Penn State showers in 2001.In fact, Mr Curley informed Sandusky that another coach, Mike McQueary, had reported seeing the incident. That move further endangered the victim, Mr Freeh concluded.According to emails uncovered by the report, Mr Curley, Mr Schultz and Mr Spanier had initially planned to report the incident to child welfare services, but decided against it.Instead, offering Sandusky professional help and telling him "guests" were not permitted to use campus facilities was deemed a "more humane and upfront way to handle this", as Mr Schultz wrote in an email."Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky's victims," Mr Freeh said in prepared remarks on Thursday.In a statement, Paterno's family said he had made mistakes but had "never interfered with any investigation"."The idea that any sane, responsible adult would knowingly cover up for a child predator is impossible to accept," the statement said. "The far more realistic conclusion is that many people didn't fully understand what was happening and underestimated or misinterpreted events."Mr Freeh also noted that Penn State's policy to comply with a national child abuse reporting act, expanded in 1998, was still in draft form when Sandusky was arrested in 2011.He pointed to the response of a janitor who witnessed another instance of child abuse by Sandusky in 2000 as indicative of the university's protection of the football programme.The janitor did not report the incident at the time fearing "they'll all get rid of us". A second janitor concluded that the university would close ranks to protect the programme, the report says.In an initial response, the board of trustees of Penn State University said it was still considering the report, and would comment further in due course."We expect a comprehensive analysis of our policies, procedures and controls related to identifying and reporting crimes and misconduct, including failures or gaps that may have allowed alleged misconduct to go undetected or unreported," the board said in a statement.
Both were sacked during the probe into assistant coach Sandusky's abuses.Sandusky, who worked on Paterno's nationally lauded football team, was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse in a trial in June.He is expected to serve a life sentence.Louis Freeh's report, released on Wednesday, laid much blame in the hands of four of Penn State's "most powerful people": President Graham Spanier, Vice-President Gary Schultz, athletic director Tim Curley and head football coach Joe Paterno.They "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the university community and authorities," Mr Freeh wrote.The four men, including the university president, knew that Sandusky was under investigation by university police of allegations of child sex abuse on campus as early as 1998.Although no charges were brought that year, Mr Spanier did not inform the university board of the investigation under way at the same time of the board meeting.Sandusky retired from the university a year later, gaining emeritus status, which allowed him unfettered access to campus buildings.Three years after the first allegations, the report found that officials did not take any action to identify a victim seen being abused by Sandusky in the Penn State showers in 2001.In fact, Mr Curley informed Sandusky that another coach, Mike McQueary, had reported seeing the incident. That move further endangered the victim, Mr Freeh concluded.According to emails uncovered by the report, Mr Curley, Mr Schultz and Mr Spanier had initially planned to report the incident to child welfare services, but decided against it.Instead, offering Sandusky professional help and telling him "guests" were not permitted to use campus facilities was deemed a "more humane and upfront way to handle this", as Mr Schultz wrote in an email."Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky's victims," Mr Freeh said in prepared remarks on Thursday.In a statement, Paterno's family said he had made mistakes but had "never interfered with any investigation"."The idea that any sane, responsible adult would knowingly cover up for a child predator is impossible to accept," the statement said. "The far more realistic conclusion is that many people didn't fully understand what was happening and underestimated or misinterpreted events."Mr Freeh also noted that Penn State's policy to comply with a national child abuse reporting act, expanded in 1998, was still in draft form when Sandusky was arrested in 2011.He pointed to the response of a janitor who witnessed another instance of child abuse by Sandusky in 2000 as indicative of the university's protection of the football programme.The janitor did not report the incident at the time fearing "they'll all get rid of us". A second janitor concluded that the university would close ranks to protect the programme, the report says.In an initial response, the board of trustees of Penn State University said it was still considering the report, and would comment further in due course."We expect a comprehensive analysis of our policies, procedures and controls related to identifying and reporting crimes and misconduct, including failures or gaps that may have allowed alleged misconduct to go undetected or unreported," the board said in a statement.
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