STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The U.S. university whose reputation was shaken by a child sex abuse scandal around a former assistant coach was nervously waiting Wednesday for a highly anticipated report on how it handled the molestation accusations.
Penn State University's standing and future depend in part on Thursday's release of the report, which may reveal new details of officials' actions as suspicion surrounding Jerry Sandusky grew. Officials have said they did not participate in a coverup to protect the university and its powerful, lucrative football program, which before the scandal seemed untouched by the ethics violations common in college sports.
The 68-year-old Sandusky was convicted last month of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and awaits sentencing. Prosecutors said he chose the most vulnerable children from his charity for at-risk youth and used gifts and his access to Penn State facilities to abuse them over a 15-year span.
The university trustees who paid for the probe, led by former FBI agent and federal judge Louis Freeh, are especially interested in Sandusky's former boss, legendary football coach Joe Paterno, particularly his actions after a graduate assistant complained to him in 2001 about Sandusky showering in a team locker room with a boy. Paterno was fired after the scandal broke, and he died of cancer in January.
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier, who has not been charged with any crime, could discover whether emails or other records disclose more about his role. School administrators Gary Schultz and Tim Curley already await trial on charges they lied to the Sandusky grand jury and didn't properly report child abuse.
Lawyers for the young men who testified against Sandusky, and others planning civil lawsuits, will be reading the report closely.
"I would hope the Freeh report ... addresses the university as a whole -- and how this culture was handled or mishandled correctly -- and comes to some closure on that," trustee Ryan McCombie said Tuesday.
Paterno's family issued a statement late Tuesday saying leaks have made them question the fairness of the Freeh group's process. They defended the Hall of Fame coach, saying he did not know Sandusky was a child molester and did not prevent a proper investigation.
Spanier's lawyers on Tuesday broke a months-long silence to deny suggestions that he participated in a coverup. They said Spanier was never informed that Sandusky may have been abusing children.
Both Spanier and Paterno were ousted by school trustees a few days after Sandusky's arrest in November.
Freeh and his team of lawyers and former law enforcement officials interviewed more than 400 people, asking questions that went beyond Sandusky and the child sex abuse scandal and into the relationship between football program and the university administration.
Freeh said in November that he would not interfere with the state's criminal probe but promised to conduct his review in "a thorough, fair, comprehensive manner, leaving no stone unturned, and without any fear or favour."
Michael Boni, who represents the young man called Victim 1 who testified against Sandusky, said the Freeh report will "help inform" the direction of civil litigation.
"Maybe what's been leaked out is most of it, I have no idea," he said. "I certainly hope not."
