Freeh Report on Penn State is now available

p. 62 Freeh report on PSU

  


The Freeh Report on PSU is now available at: www.thefreehreportonpsu.com 

FREEH REPORT ON THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITYThe independent report by Louis Freeh and his law firm, Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP, into the facts and circumstances of the actions of The Pennsylvania State University surrounding the child abuse committed by a former employee, Gerald A. Sandusky, is available by clicking on the Download the Report link below. Mr. Freeh’s statement is also available by clicking on the Download the Press Release link below.

The report comes from Louis Freeh a former FBI investigator, who was hired by Penn State to do an independent study on the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.  The point was to see where the University fell short if at all.  CNN calls the report BLISTERING.

P. 55 Freeh Report on Penn State

From the press release:

II. Findings

Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State.  The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.   Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest.  

In critical written correspondence that we uncovered on March 20th of this year, we see evidence of their proposed plan of action in February 2001 that included reporting allegations about Sandusky to the authorities.  After Mr. Curley consulted with Mr. Paterno, however, they changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the authorities.  Their failure to protect the February 9, 2001 child victim, or make attempts to identify him, created a dangerous situation for other unknown, unsuspecting young boys who were lured to the Penn State campus and football games by Sandusky and victimized repeatedly by him.  

Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child’s identity, about what McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001.  

The stated reasons by Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley for not taking action to identify the victim and for not reporting Sandusky to the police or Child Welfare are: 

(1) Through counsel, Messrs. Curley and Schultz have stated that the “humane” thing to do in 2001 was to carefully and responsibly assess the best way to handle vague but troubling allegations.

(2) Mr. Paterno said that “I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was.  So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did.  It didn’t work out that way.”

(3) Mr. Spanier told the Special Investigative Counsel that he was never told by anyone that the February 2001 incident in the shower involved the sexual abuse of a child but only “horsing around.”  He further stated that he never asked what “horsing around” by Sandusky entailed. 

Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large. 

Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky’s victims.

The Freeh report is 200 pages long. If you all do not realize by now, I am a sports fanatic. I actually remember when Sandusky was up for the head coach position at Penn State. The University was trying to force Joe Paterno out. Then all of a sudden, Sandusky retired. Little did I know that all of this was going on. 

I actually went to high school with a guy who played at Penn State during this time. I wonder what he has to say about all of this...

You should read the report for yourself. I especially hope that those who felt that JoePa didn't know, will take time to read the report...and see for yourself.

I felt JoePa knew all along, but either was like 80% of the population, struck dumb by the horror of it all, or cared more about the football program than anything.  Football (not unlike many other sports) can form a cult-like complex with people. If you have never been involved with sports, there is no way you would ever understand that at all.  It does not make sense logically.  But if you dig deeper into what toll playing or coaching a sport at such a high level takes on a person's psyche, maybe you would understand.