Spanier facing charges in Sandusky scandal

Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania State Attorney General Linda Kelly has announced charges against former Penn State president Graham Spanier in relation to the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Kelly, at a news conference Thursday, said Spanier has been charged with criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, endangering the welfare of children, failure to report under the Child Protective Services Law and perjury.

Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach, was sentenced last month to 30-60 years in prison for his conviction on charges of child sexual abuse. Sandusky was found guilty in June on 45 counts charging him with sexual abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year period.

The scandal, which broke last November with Sandusky's arrest, brought down the Penn State football program, tarnished the legacy of the late Joe Paterno and scarred the entire university.

Spanier had been the school president for 16 years before his ouster on the same day last November when Paterno was relieved of his duties as head coach.

In addition, Kelly announced further charges against former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. Curley and Schultz had already been charged with perjury and failure to report under the Child Protective Services Law.

"This is not a mistake, an oversight or a misjudgment," said Kelly. "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."

Spanier, Schultz and Curley are accused of concealing information about suspected child abuse involving Sandusky, including on-campus incidents from 1998 and 2001 that were reported and discussed in great detail by those three men.

According to the State Attorney General's release, notes and documents about the 1998 and 2001 crimes were allegedly kept by Schultz in a file drawer in his campus office. Schultz told staff members that they were never to look in that "Sandusky" file. On Nov. 5, 2011 -- the day the original criminal charges were announced against Sandusky, Schultz and Curley -- that file was removed from Schultz's office and delivered to his home.