Penn State child sex abuse scandal

The Penn State child sex abuse scandal was an incident in which Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions, was charged and convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse of children. Sandusky had located and groomed victims through his charity organization, The Second Mile. Also implicated were several Penn State University officials, whose alleged actions were questioned in terms of whether they met ethical, moral, and legal obligations in reporting any suspected abuse. The scandal broke in early November 2011 when Sandusky was indicted on 52 counts of child molestation. Although Sandusky's abuse may have begun in the 1970s, he was charged with abuse that occurred between 1994 and 2009. Additionally, three school officials (including school president Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley) were charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, failure to report suspected child abuse, and related charges. Shortly after the scandal broke, Spanier resigned. The Penn State Board of Trustees terminated the contracts of Curley and of the longtime head football coach, Joe Paterno.

Jerry Sandusky's criminal trial began on June 11, 2012, at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He maintained his innocence. Of the 52 charges, 4 charges were initially dropped, leaving 48. On June 22, 2012, Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse. Sandusky was sentenced on October 9, 2012, to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison.

The Board of Trustees commissioned an independent investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh and his law firm. The Freeh Report stated that Spanier and Paterno, along with Curley and school vice president Gary Schultz, had known about allegations of child abuse on Sandusky's part as early as 1998, and were complicit in failing to disclose them. In so doing, Freeh stated that the most senior leaders at Penn State showed a "total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims" for 14 years and "empowered" Jerry Sandusky to continue his abuse.

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