By Jeremy Roebuck, The Philadelphia Inquirer –
PHILADELPHIA — Attorneys for former Pennsylvania State University President Graham B. Spanier insisted Tuesday their client had never been told of potential sexual misconduct involving Jerry Sandusky.
Their statement comes days after the leaking of several 2001 emails in which Spanier and two other administrators appeared to discuss in detail allegations against the former assistant football coach.
“Selected leaks, without the full context, are distorting the public record and creating a false picture,” attorney Peter Vaira said. “At no time in the more than 16 years of his presidency at Penn State was Dr. Spanier told of an incident involving Jerry Sandusky that described child abuse, sexual misconduct or criminality of any kind.”
The email contents — first reported by CNN — were discovered earlier this year by a group of independent investigators hired by the university in the wake of Sandusky’s arrest.
That panel, led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, uncovered the correspondence dating back to the days in 2001 when graduate assistant Mike McQueary spotted Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a football locker room shower.
McQueary has said he told former head coach Joe Paterno, then-Athletic Director Tim Curley, and Gary Schultz, a former university vice president in charge of police, what he saw. Spanier was later briefed on those conversations. But all four men later told a grand jury that they were not aware of the graphic nature of what McQueary later described. Each said he was under the impression that it was only horseplay.
It remains unclear from the email contents released earlier this month in which Curley, Schultz and Spanier discuss how to respond to McQueary’s allegations whether the men are discussing child rape or something less obviously criminal.
In the documents, Schultz first suggests that they should alert child welfare workers in addition to Sandusky’s child-focused charity, The Second Mile.
But by the next day, Curley suggested an alternative plan formed, he said, after talking with “Joe” — presumably Paterno. The group opted not to immediately alert authorities but talk first with Sandusky instead.
In one excerpt quoted by CNN, Spanier responded that plan seemed more “humane,” though he worried it might leave Penn State “vulnerable” to future liability.
Spanier’s attorneys have since said those excerpts were taken out of context. The former president met with Freeh’s investigators Friday, despite earlier threats that he would not unless he were granted access to full copies of those e-mails.
