[There will be liberal use of the word "allegedly" in this post. If it's not included in a particular sentence, pretend that it is. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and all information is taken directly from the Grand Jury Findings Of Fact.]
A working summary of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, as of 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Much has been debated as to what the administration at Penn State knew, and when they knew it. Not to mention, there has been considerable debate as to what the legal and moral obligations of the principals may have been, and what those individuals did to fulfill them.
First, the incidents themselves. Of the eight victims, four of them were allegedly assaulted while Sandusky was still on the Penn State coaching staff:
Victim #4: According to the Grand Jury Findings Of Fact, he was first singled out by Sandusky in 1996 or 1997. Alleged indecent contact occurred in East Halls showers near Holuba Hall, at Toftrees (where the team stays prior to home games), bowl games, and charity golf events. The Grand Jury alleges that Sandusky supplied the child with gifts including clothes, a snowboard, Nike shoes, golf clubs, hockey equipment, passes for sporting events, football jerseys, registration for soccer camp, cigarettes, money for marijuana and a promise that the child would be guaranteed a spot as a walk-on football player at Penn State.
After the football program moved into the new Lasch Building, the alleged non-hotel indecent contact mainly occurred in the sauna, in a more secluded area of the building.
Victim #5: Met Sandusky through The Second Mile in 1995 or 1996, when the boy was in second or third grade. He testified that he attended at least 15 Penn State football games with Sandusky, and was sexually assaulted in the Penn State locker room showers.
Victim #6: Also met Sandusky through The Second Mile in 1994 or 1995, when the boy was seven or eight years old. He testified that he was assaulted in the Holuba Hall showers in 1998. According to the Grand Jury Findings Of Fact, the victim's mother immediately reported the incident to University Police, who closed the case after a lengthy investigation (which involved another boy and similar circumstances, although he was not listed as a "victim" in the Grand Jury presentation).
The Grand Jury also noted that detectives from University Police and the State College Police Department eavesdropped on two conversations between Sandusky and Victim #6's mother, in which Sandusky admitted to showering with Victim #6 and other boys. When asked if he touched Victim #6's private parts, Sandusky allegedly said, "I don't know...maybe" and stated to Victim #6's mother, "I understand, I was wrong. I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won't get it from you. I wish I were dead."
Despite these admissions detailed by the Grand Jury, Sandusky was not charged with any crime.
Victim #7: Also in the mid-to-late 1990's, the boy was allegedly given field passes to Penn State games and brought to the team's dining hall. He also testified that he stayed overnight at Sandusky's house prior to home games. The victim described more than one occasion in which Sandusky put his hands down the waistband of the victim's pants.
Despite not having contact with Sandusky for two years, the victim testified that he was contacted by Sandusky, Sandusky's wife, and another associate of Sandusky weeks before the victim's Grand Jury testimony.
Events Allegedly Occurring At Penn State, Post-Retirement
Victim #3: Testified that he met Sandusky through The Second Mile in 2000, when he was between seventh and eighth grade. He was allegedly given access to PSU football games and other PSU facilities. He tesified that he was touched inappropriately by Sandusky in PSU shower facilities and at Sandusky's home.
Victim #8: Allegedly found by a Penn State janitor in a sex act with Sandusky in the shower at Lasch, while the team was out of town for a road game. The janitor, who now suffers from dementia, told another janitor at the time of the incident and eventually reported it to his supervisor, Jim Witherite. Witherite described the janitor/witness as "very emotionally upset" and "very distraught". The victim's identity is unknown.
Victim #1: Testified that he met Sandusky when he was 11-12 years old, through a Second Mile camp held on the PSU campus. He testified that he met regularly with Sandusky, staying overnight at his house, attending PSU practices and going to Philadelphia Eagles games. According to the Grand Jury Findings of Fact, Sandusky was caught rolling around on the ground with Victim #1 by a high school wrestling coach. When the mother of Victim #1 notified the high school principal of the activities, Sandusky was barred from the high school, where he was a volunteer football coach.
Also according to he Grand Jury Findings of Fact 118 phone calls were placed from Sandusky's home and cell phones to the home of Victim #1 from January 2008 to July 2009.
Victim #2: Not to downplay the other alleged incidents, but this is the one prominently involving the Penn State administration and Joe Paterno. On March 1, 2002, Sandusky was alleged caught by a PSU football Graduate Assistant (identified by the Harrisburg Patriot-News as current PSU wide receivers coach Mike McQueary) with a 10-year old boy in the showers at Lasch. The next day, the Graduate Assistant called Joe Paterno and went to Paterno's home to describe what he saw at Lasch. On March 3, Paterno called Director of Athletics Tim Curley to his home and relayed what he had been told. According to the Grand Jury Findings of Fact, approximately one and one-half weeks later, the GA is summoned to a meeting with Curley and Gary Schultz, who assure the GA that they would investigate further. Joe Paterno was not at this meeting.
In April, Tim Curley allegedly tells the GA that Sandusky's keys to the locker room were taken away and the incident was reported to The Second Mile foundation. Curley never reports the incident to University Police, or any other police agency. The GA is never questioned by University police and no other entity investigated the matter until the GA testified before the Grand Jury in December 2010.
In front of the Grand Jury in December 2010, Curley testified that the GA notified him of "inappropriate conduct", and described the alleged conduct as "horsing around". When asked if the GA reported sex between Sandusky and the child in 2002, Curley testified "absolutely not." Curley also testified that he informed the executive director of The Second Mile and PSU President Graham Spanier of the incident.
Spanier testified that he approved of the remedial measures taken by Curley, presumably his informing Sandusky that he was no longer permitted to bring youths to Penn State's athletic facilities.
Spanier testified that Curley and Schultz reported the 2002 Victim #2 incident that made a member of Curley's staff "uncomfortable". Spanier described the incident as "Jerry Sandusky in the football building locker area in the shower with a younger child and they were horsing around." He also testified that as of January 2011, he did not know the identity of the GA who originally reported the incident.
Spanier denied that the incident reported to him was described as being of a sexual nature, and noted that Curley and Schultz did not indicate any plan to report the incident to law enforcement, the Commonwealth's Department of Public Welfare, or any county child protective services agency.
Gary Schultz testified that the allegations by the GA were "not that serious" and that he and Curley "had no indication that a crime had occurred." He also testified that he believed that he and Curley asked "the child protection agency" to look into the matter. Despite overseeing University Police as part of his job, Schultz did not seek or receive the lengthy police report of the similar 1998 incident, did not report the 2002 incident to University Police, and nobody at Penn State sought the identity of the child in the 2002 incident.
The GA and Curley both testified that Sandusky was not actually banned from any Penn State buildings, and Curley admitted the ban on bringing children to the campus was unenforceable.
