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The Freeh Report, Summarized: Everything You Need To Know About The Evidence Against Joe Paterno And Penn State

So, Joe Paterno indeed knew about the 1998 incident soon after it happened.

“By May 5, 1998, Schultz had communicated with Curley about the Sandusky incident. In an email from Curley to Schultz and Spanier at 5:24 p.m. captioned ‘Joe Paterno,’ Curley reports, ‘I have touched base with the coach. Keep us posted. Thanks.’ “

Paterno inquired about the case’s progress about a week later.

“After Curley’s initial updates to Paterno, the available record is not clear as to how the conclusion of the Sandusky investigation was conveyed to Paterno. Witnesses consistently told the Special Investigative Counsel that Paterno was in control of the football facilities and knew “everything that was going on.”

As for President Spanier…

He said he was unaware that Sandusky “continued to run camps at Penn State and have access to children sleeping in Penn State dormitories. ” He also never banned Sandusky from campus, but the report points out that he was “very aggressive” in banning a sports agent for buying $400 worth of clothing for a football player. He said the agent “fooled around with the integrity of the university, and I wonʹt stand for that.”

Later on, he said that “he never heard a report from anyone that Sandusky was engaged in any sexual abuse of children. He also said that if he had known or suspected that Sandusky was abusing children, he would have been the first to intervene.” He claimed that his first knowledge of the 1998 incident was at when he went before the Grand Jury, on April 13, 2011.

The Freeh report refuted this rather convincingly, saying Spanier and the others withheld information. I kid you not, Spanier also said this:

“Spanier told the Special Investigative Counsel in July 2012 that the Grand Jury investigation ‘struck me as a Second Mile issue. This did not strike me as a Penn State issue.’”

The president of Penn State said that Sandusky molesting a child in a Penn State football building shower was not “a Penn State issue.”

He (and the others) also allowed Sandusky to have access, despite all this knowledge of his actions, to have access to University facilities.

“In fact, Sandusky was allowed to have a key for, and continued to work out in, the Lasch Building until November 2011, and had keys to other Penn State facilities. He “still had keys to the Lasch Building when he was arrested in November 2011…As recently as 2010, Sandusky had a ‘sub‐master’ key to the press box at Beaver Stadium, as well as a key for the stadium gates.”

“Sandusky attended six home games in the 2011 season,” in the exclusive Nittany Lion club area of Beaver stadium, which required an invite from senior University officials. He was even at the game played the week before criminal charges were filed against him.

He also was allowed to run “Jerry Sandusky” summer youth football camps from 2008-2010 at the Altoona and Behrend campuses without going through typical University policy. Why? Because “some admired (him) ‘like a god.’ ”

And then there’s this.

“The University continued to conduct business with Sandusky after his retirement. According to University accounting records, Penn State made 71 separate payments to Sandusky for travel, meals, lodging, speaking engagements, camps and other activities from January 5, 2000 through July 22, 2008…

On May 14, 2010, Curley wrote a letter of recommendation for Sandusky for the American Football Coaches Association Outstanding Achievement Award.”

Yes, Tim Curley recommended Jerry Sandusky in 2010.

Now, back to Paterno…

After Paterno told him he wouldn’t become the next head coach (in 1999), “Sandusky and others explored the possibility of starting a Division III football program at the University’s Altoona campus where Sandusky could coach.” Handwritten notes say Paterno encouraged it, but it never got off the ground. In January of 1999, Sandusky wasn’t happy about his future, and was hoping to coach one more year “and then transition into a spot that handles (PSU’s) outreach program. A note in Paterno’s handwriting “relate a conversation, or planned conversation, between Paterno and Sandusky concerning Sandusky’s coaching future.”

Here’s the note:

Paterno said that Sandusky would be allowed to keep his coaching position as long as he remained head coach. But eventually, in June 1999, Sandusky retired, receiving “an unusual lump sum payment of $168,000, an agreement for the University to “work collaboratively” with Sandusky on Second Mile and other community activities, and free lifetime use of East Area Locker Room facilities.” Soon after, Curley made an “emergency re-hire” of Sandusky for the 1999 season. Then in Auguest, “Sandusky is granted “emeritus” rank, which carries several privileges, including access to University recreational facilities.” He didn’t meet the typical requirements for emeritus status, but Spanier used his power to grant an exception, which was originally requested by Schultz.

After Sandusky’s retirement, Paterno called him “a person of great character and integrity” in a press release.

Here’s Paterno’s testimony for the 2011 Grand Jury. First, he was asked:

“Other than the [2001] incident that Mike McQueary reported to you, do you know in any way, through rumor, direct knowledge or any other fashion, of any other inappropriate sexual conduct by Jerry Sandusky with young boys?”

Paterno’s response:

“I do not know of anything else that Jerry would be involved in of that nature, no. I do not know of it. You did mention — I think you said something about a rumor. It may have been discussed in my presence, something else about somebody. I don’t know. I don’t remember, and I could not honestly say I heard a rumor.”

He also told this to a Washington Post reporter:

“I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn’t work out that way… In hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

Paterno “expressed interest in participating” by providing a requested interview from The Special Investigative Counsel in December 2011, but he died before it could take place.

A janitor saw Sandusky assault a boy, but didn’t say anything, because it was “like going against the President of the U.S.”

A janitor saw two assaults, one at the 1999 Alamo Bowl and one in the Lasch showers in 2000. He was afraid “that they’ll get rid of all of us.” He also saw the boy and Sandusky leaving, holding hands. He said that it “would have been like going against the President of the United States in my eyes,” due to Paterno’s overwhelming power. He said that ” ‘football runs this University,’and said the University would have closed ranks to protect the football program at all costs.”

“Sandusky had the boy pinned against the wall and was performing oral sex on him. The janitor immediately told one of his fellow janitors (‘Janitor B’) what he had witnessed, stating that he had ‘fought in the [Korean] War…seen people with their guts blowed out, arms dismembered… . I just witnessed something in there I’ll never forget.’”

“Curley told Sandusky to stop bringing children to the athletic facilities.” According to Sandusky’s defense, Jerry “offered to provide the name of the boy to Curley, but Curley did not want the boy’s name.” Curley didn’t even mention the incident at a board meeting soon after. He then told Second Mile about it, and they called it a “non-incident” and did nothing.

Months later, PSU agreed to sell land to Second Mile, and the board approved it, still unknowing about what McQueary saw. In between that incident and the approval of the sale, Sandusky assaulted “Victim 5″ in the same shower.

“In fact, Schultz approved a press release, issued September 21, 2001 announcing the land sale in which he praised Sandusky for his work with Second Mile.”

Freeh also criticized Penn State’s institutional structure and their limited resources devoted to compliance. The University’s Clery Act policy was also still in draft form as of November 2011. As per their job requirements, Paterno, Curley and McQueary “were obligated obligated to report the 2001 Sandusky incident to the University Police Department for inclusion in Clery Act statistics and for determining whether a timely warning should be issued to the University community.” They did not.

Finally, Freeh ripped Penn State culture and “The Penn State Way.”

“Certain aspects of the community culture are laudable, such as its collegiality, high standards of educational excellence and research, and respect for the environment. However, there is an over‐emphasis on “The Penn State Way” as an approach to decision‐making, a resistance to seeking outside perspectives, and an excessive focus on athletics that can, if not recognized, negatively impact the University’s reputation as a progressive institution.”

The school doesn’t seem to have learned from it’s mistakes. Just. Quite. Yet.

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