[Updated: 11/7, 5:36 a.m.] A former football coach at Penn State was arrested on Saturday on charges of sexually abusing eight boys during a period that overlapped with his time at the university, the Associated Press reported, and two top Penn State administrators charged in connection with the case will step down, the university announced this morning.
The former coach, Jerry Sandusky, 67, retired as defensive coordinator in 1999, but some of the alleged abuse dated from the mid-1990s, according to The Patriot-News, a newspaper in Harrisburg, Pa., which noted he was once seen as a possible heir to Joe Paterno, the legendary Penn State coach. Mr. Sandusky, released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts, could not be reached for comment.
None of the alleged victims have been identified, as Penn State students or otherwise. After he left the university, Mr. Sandusky worked at the Second Mile, a nonprofit organization that helps at-risk children and that he founded in 1977.
The two administrators—the athletic director, Timothy M. Curley, 57, and the vice president for finance and business, Gary C. Schultz, 62—were charged with failing to report what they learned of the alleged abuse and with perjury when questioned before a grand jury. Mr. Schultz’s job includes supervision of the campus police. Lawyers for Mr. Curley and Mr. Schultz said they were innocent of the charges.
Mr. Curley asked to be put on administrative leave so he could have time to defend himself against the charges, the university said, and Mr. Schultz will retire. The announcement followed an executive session of the university’s board on Sunday that stretched into early this morning.
Penn State’s president, Graham B. Spanier, released a statement on Saturday supporting the two men and predicting their exoneration. “I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 years,” the AP quoted Mr. Spanier as saying. “I have complete confidence in how they handled the allegations about a former university employee.”
In the university’s statement today, Mr. Spanier announced a series of steps to “increase the safety and security within our facilities and make everyone aware of the protocols in place for handling these issues.” Among those steps, the university board’s chairman, Steve Garban, said outside lawyers would be hired to conduct “an independent review of the university’s policies and procedures related to the protection of children.”
