After Freeh Report, Legal Expert Says Indictment of Spanier Appears ‘Inevitable’

Louis J. Freeh’s report on the Sandusky scandal—released this morning—produces a mountain of evidence that the former Penn State president Graham B. Spanier knew more about the allegations of sexual assault than he let on in his 2011 testimony before a grand jury, said John M. Burkoff, a University of Pittsburgh law professor and expert on criminal law in Pennsylvania. And it strains credibility that the president could have forgotten how much he knew, Mr. Burkoff said.

“The Freeh report is a scathing indictment of Graham Spanier and others who fostered a culture at Penn State that valued football over possible child sexual-assault victims,” Mr. Burkoff said. “It certainly appears to me that an actual indictment of Spanier would appear now to be all but inevitable.”

Two former high-ranking Penn State officials—Gary C. Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business, and Timothy M. Curley, athletics director—have already been charged with perjuring themselves before the grand jury. In May Mr. Spanier sued Penn State for access to the e-mail messages turned up by Mr. Freeh’s investigation.

View our complete coverage of the Freeh report here.