Jerry Sandusky Retirement Package Revoked By Penn State University, Pension Remains The Huffington Post By Tyler Kingkade 7/18/12
Jerry Sandusky has been downgraded.
Penn State University has officially revoked the retirement package of Sandusky, a convicted pedophile, according to the Daily Collegian. Sandusky, a one time assistant football coach at PSU, retired in 1999 and received a lump sum payment of $168,000. The Freeh report, released last week, noted this was a highly unusual amount.
Another bizarre condition of Sandusky's retirement included giving him "emeritus" status, which allowed him generous privileges. At the time of his retirement, Sandusky was an assistant physical education professor and assistant football coach positions, which wouldn't qualify him eligible for the emeritus rank. He was given wide access to use facilities on campus, including the locker rooms and showers where he was found to repeatedly molest and rape young boys.
University spokesman Dave La Torre gave further details to the Collegian:
He said the following portions of Sandusky’s retirement package have been revoked: four free football season tickets for the rest of his life and the opportunity to purchase four more within the 35-yard lines; two men’s and women’s basketball season tickets for the rest of his life; lifetime use of a locker, weight rooms, fitness facilities and training room in the East Area locker room; a five-year agreement, subject to renewal, between Sandusky and Penn State to work collaboratively in community outreach programs such as The Second Mile that “provide positive visibility to the University’s Intercollegiate Athletics Program,” as well as a 10-year agreement, subject to renewal, giving him an office and telephone in the East Area locker room.
Sandusky was found guilty on June 22 of 45 criminal counts relating to the assault of 10 boys over a 15-year period. La Torre said he's unclear about when the university officially revoked the retirement package.
La Torre told The Huffington Post Sandusky's emeritus was officially removed....
The $168,000, in addition to 71 separate payments made between 2000 and 2008 by Penn State to Sandusky for items including travel, meals and speaking engagements, will not be revoked, the Collegian reports.
However, Sandusky will still be collecting nearly $5,000 a month through his pension from taxpayers. Some lawmakers have said they want to review any possible options to cut Sandusky off from his pension, but they acknowledge that would be unlikely.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/jerry-sandusky-retirement-package-revoked-psu_n_1679879.html
Sandusky fallout: NCAA 'death penalty' possible for Penn State
By Michael Muskal July 18, 2012
With Penn State University expected within days to respond to NCAA concerns about how the school handled reports involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and allegations of child sexual abuse, the real question for sports fans is whether, and how, the celebrated football program will be punished.
The NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports, is not likely to act quickly enough for there to be any action before the football season opener scheduled for Sept. 1 against Ohio University. The Nittany Lions have the dubious pleasure of opening at home, at Beaver Stadium. That stadium has been the focus of protests about a statue of Joe Paterno, the late head football coach, who was portrayed in less-than-flattering terms in the recent university-sponsored report on the Sandusky scandal....
The NCAA, for its part, has taken nothing off the table, including the so-called death penalty, shutting down the program for at least a year, said its president Mark Emmert in a PBS interview Monday. Emmert said he’s “never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university.”....
The Freeh report blamed top university officials for failing -- not once, but twice -- to act on reports that Sandusky had sexually abused boys in the showers of the school’s football training facility. The officials acted to keep the reports in-house, despite legal requirements that they tell outside authorities, because they feared the impact of bad publicity on the school. The report also discussed a culture of fear that prevented anyone from acting against someone affiliated with the school’s powerful football program.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ncaa-penn-state-death-penalty-20120718,0,4725237.story
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Three men say they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in '70s or '80s, Assault: Children With Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Victims of Violence, Analysis Shows
Three men say they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in '70s or '80s
By NBC News staff 7/16/12
Three men have told police they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in the 1970s or 1980s, according to a local report Monday.
Sources close the Sandusky case say they are the first people to allege abuse before the 1990s by the 68-year-old convicted pedophile, The Patriot-News reported.
In the early 1970s when one of the men said he was abused, the former Penn State assistant football coach would have been in his late 20s.
Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 counts of child sex abuse against 10 victims. As the case unfolded, more alleged victims came forward – including Sandusky's adopted son – to say they were also abused.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/16/12772779-three-men-say-they-were-abused-by-jerry-sandusky-in-70s-or-80s
Assault: Children With Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Victims of Violence, Analysis Shows
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. July 16, 2012
Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to be victims of violence than other children, according to a new report commissioned by the World Health Organization.
The report, published in The Lancet on Thursday, found that disabled children were 3.6 times more likely to be physically assaulted and 2.9 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.
The most common victims of sexual assault were those with mental illness or retardation, and institutionalized children were attacked more often than those living at home.
Last week’s report was a meta-analysis of 17 other studies that collectively gathered evidence on 18,374 children, all of them living in wealthy countries, from the United States to Europe to Israel. About 3 percent of children in rich countries and up to 6 percent in poor ones have disabilities.
“Physical violence” included threats and spanking that left marks on the skin. A study published about 10 years ago estimated that 53,000 children under age 18 are murdered each year. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/health/policy/children-with-disabilities-are-victimized-more-often.html
People with disabilities: the forgotten victims of violence
Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sarah Brennenstuhl
Three decades have passed since the UN declared 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons. The theme of the commemoration was “full participation and equality”. Progress towards this goal has been sadly deficient as evidence suggests that individuals with disabilities experience exceptionally high levels of violence. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960077-4/fulltext
By NBC News staff 7/16/12
Three men have told police they were abused by Jerry Sandusky in the 1970s or 1980s, according to a local report Monday.
Sources close the Sandusky case say they are the first people to allege abuse before the 1990s by the 68-year-old convicted pedophile, The Patriot-News reported.
In the early 1970s when one of the men said he was abused, the former Penn State assistant football coach would have been in his late 20s.
Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 counts of child sex abuse against 10 victims. As the case unfolded, more alleged victims came forward – including Sandusky's adopted son – to say they were also abused.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/16/12772779-three-men-say-they-were-abused-by-jerry-sandusky-in-70s-or-80s
Assault: Children With Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Victims of Violence, Analysis Shows
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. July 16, 2012
Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to be victims of violence than other children, according to a new report commissioned by the World Health Organization.
The report, published in The Lancet on Thursday, found that disabled children were 3.6 times more likely to be physically assaulted and 2.9 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.
The most common victims of sexual assault were those with mental illness or retardation, and institutionalized children were attacked more often than those living at home.
Last week’s report was a meta-analysis of 17 other studies that collectively gathered evidence on 18,374 children, all of them living in wealthy countries, from the United States to Europe to Israel. About 3 percent of children in rich countries and up to 6 percent in poor ones have disabilities.
“Physical violence” included threats and spanking that left marks on the skin. A study published about 10 years ago estimated that 53,000 children under age 18 are murdered each year. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/health/policy/children-with-disabilities-are-victimized-more-often.html
People with disabilities: the forgotten victims of violence
Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sarah Brennenstuhl
Three decades have passed since the UN declared 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons. The theme of the commemoration was “full participation and equality”. Progress towards this goal has been sadly deficient as evidence suggests that individuals with disabilities experience exceptionally high levels of violence. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960077-4/fulltext
Monday, July 16, 2012
Freeh Report on The Pennsylvania State University, Woman Says George Zimmerman Molested Her
Freeh Report on The Pennsylvania State University
The 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 video replay of the press conference held on July 12, 2012 is available by clicking on the Watch the Announcement button below.http://thefreehreportonpsu.com/
REMARKS OF LOUIS FREEH IN CONJUNCTION WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF PUBLICATION OF REPORT REGARDING THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Philadelphia, PA, July 12, 2012 – Louis Freeh today issued prepared remarks in conjunction with today’s publication of his report of the investigation 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. Mr. Freeh will summarize these remarks during his press conference at 10 a.m. today.
....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.
....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.
....Their callous and shocking disregard for child victims was underscored by the Grand Jury, which noted in its November 4, 2011 presentment that there was no “attempt to investigate, to identify Victim 2 or to protect that child or others from similar conduct, except as related to preventing its reoccurrence on University property.”
....From 1998–2011, Penn State’s “Tone at the Top” for transparency, compliance, police reporting and child protection was completely wrong, as shown by the inaction and concealment on the part of its most senior leaders, and followed by those at the bottom of the University’s pyramid of power. This is best reflected by the janitors’ decision not to report Sandusky’s horrific 2000 sexual assault of a young boy in the Lasch Building shower. The janitors were afraid of being fired for reporting a powerful football coach. http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/Press_Release_07_12_12.pdf
Freeh Report PDF http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/REPORT_FINAL_071212.pdf
Woman Says George Zimmerman Molested Her For More Than A Decade Trymaine Lee 07/16/2012
A woman with close ties to George Zimmerman and his family told investigators that members of Zimmerman’s family were boastfully proud racists and that for more than a decade Zimmerman sexually molested her.
“It started when I was six,” the woman told investigators during an interview on the morning of March 20. “We’d all lay in front of the TV and we had pillows and blankets and he would reach under the blankets and try to do things and I would try to push him off but he was bigger and stronger and older,” the woman said, audibly weeping in the Florida State Attorney's Office interview recording released Monday. “It was in front of everybody and I don’t know how I didn’t say anything, I just didn’t know any better.”
The woman, identified in various reports and in taped interviews with investigators as witness 9, said that from the age of six to 19 Zimmerman repeatedly fondled her....
The molestation continued for years during visits between the families, she said. The Zimmermans lived in Virginia and moved down to Florida -- where the woman lived with her family -- not long after George Zimmerman graduated from high school. The last incident occurred in Lake Mary, Fla., where Zimmerman had moved into a house owned by his family ahead of their arrival from Virginia.
“It's not just me that he did these things to,” she said. The witness said that she talked to another woman who she claims was also molested by Zimmerman, but would not come forward. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/george-zimmerman-_n_1676729.html
The 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 video replay of the press conference held on July 12, 2012 is available by clicking on the Watch the Announcement button below.http://thefreehreportonpsu.com/
REMARKS OF LOUIS FREEH IN CONJUNCTION WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF PUBLICATION OF REPORT REGARDING THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Philadelphia, PA, July 12, 2012 – Louis Freeh today issued prepared remarks in conjunction with today’s publication of his report of the investigation 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. Mr. Freeh will summarize these remarks during his press conference at 10 a.m. today.
....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.
....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.
....Their callous and shocking disregard for child victims was underscored by the Grand Jury, which noted in its November 4, 2011 presentment that there was no “attempt to investigate, to identify Victim 2 or to protect that child or others from similar conduct, except as related to preventing its reoccurrence on University property.”
....From 1998–2011, Penn State’s “Tone at the Top” for transparency, compliance, police reporting and child protection was completely wrong, as shown by the inaction and concealment on the part of its most senior leaders, and followed by those at the bottom of the University’s pyramid of power. This is best reflected by the janitors’ decision not to report Sandusky’s horrific 2000 sexual assault of a young boy in the Lasch Building shower. The janitors were afraid of being fired for reporting a powerful football coach. http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/Press_Release_07_12_12.pdf
Freeh Report PDF http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/REPORT_FINAL_071212.pdf
Woman Says George Zimmerman Molested Her For More Than A Decade Trymaine Lee 07/16/2012
A woman with close ties to George Zimmerman and his family told investigators that members of Zimmerman’s family were boastfully proud racists and that for more than a decade Zimmerman sexually molested her.
“It started when I was six,” the woman told investigators during an interview on the morning of March 20. “We’d all lay in front of the TV and we had pillows and blankets and he would reach under the blankets and try to do things and I would try to push him off but he was bigger and stronger and older,” the woman said, audibly weeping in the Florida State Attorney's Office interview recording released Monday. “It was in front of everybody and I don’t know how I didn’t say anything, I just didn’t know any better.”
The woman, identified in various reports and in taped interviews with investigators as witness 9, said that from the age of six to 19 Zimmerman repeatedly fondled her....
The molestation continued for years during visits between the families, she said. The Zimmermans lived in Virginia and moved down to Florida -- where the woman lived with her family -- not long after George Zimmerman graduated from high school. The last incident occurred in Lake Mary, Fla., where Zimmerman had moved into a house owned by his family ahead of their arrival from Virginia.
“It's not just me that he did these things to,” she said. The witness said that she talked to another woman who she claims was also molested by Zimmerman, but would not come forward. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/george-zimmerman-_n_1676729.html
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Paterno Won Sweeter Deal Even as Scandal Played Out, Penn State takes first steps to recover after Sandusky scandal
Paterno Won Sweeter Deal Even as Scandal Played Out
By JO BECKER
July 14, 2012
In January 2011, Joe Paterno learned prosecutors were investigating his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for sexually assaulting young boys. Soon, Mr. Paterno had testified before a grand jury, and the rough outlines of what would become a giant scandal had been published in a local newspaper.
That same month, Mr. Paterno, the football coach at Penn State, began negotiating with his superiors to amend his contract, with the timing something of a surprise because the contract was not set to expire until the end of 2012, according to university documents and people with knowledge of the discussions. By August, Mr. Paterno and the university’s president, both of whom were by then embroiled in the Sandusky investigation, had reached an agreement.
Mr. Paterno was to be paid $3 million at the end of the 2011 season if he agreed it would be his last. Interest-free loans totaling $350,000 that the university had made to Mr. Paterno over the years would be forgiven as part of the retirement package. He would also have the use of the university’s private plane and a luxury box at Beaver Stadium for him and his family to use over the next 25 years.
The university’s full board of trustees was kept in the dark about the arrangement until November, when Mr. Sandusky was arrested and the contract arrangements, along with so much else at Penn State, were upended. Mr. Paterno was fired, two of the university’s top officials were indicted in connection with the scandal, and the trustees, who held Mr. Paterno’s financial fate in their hands, came under verbal assault from the coach’s angry supporters.
Board members who raised questions about whether the university ought to go forward with the payments were quickly shut down, according to two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
In the end, the board of trustees — bombarded with hate mail and threatened with a defamation lawsuit by Mr. Paterno’s family — gave the family virtually everything it wanted, with a package worth roughly $5.5 million.... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/sports/ncaafootball/joe-paterno-got-richer-contract-amid-jerry-sandusky-inquiry.html
Penn State takes first steps to recover after Sandusky scandal
Penn State trustees, taking ‘full responsibility’ for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, announced initial steps to recover the university's tarnished reputation. Some say much more will have to be done, especially changing a campus culture in which sports coaches are idolized.
By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / July 14, 2012
It’s likely to take years for Penn State to fully recover from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal that has blotted the reputation of the university and its most senior officials, including legendary head football coach Joe Paterno.
But in its first meeting since the blistering investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh, the university’s board of trustees has taken initial steps in that direction.
The board – which itself was criticized in the Freeh report for failing to create an environment in which much of the abuse might have been prevented – has begun by accepting what board chair Karen Peetz calls “full responsibility” for its failures.
Notably, the federal Clery Act of 1990 requiring the compilation and reporting of crime statistics, including sexual offenses, had never become policy at Penn State. Under the Clery Act – named for a young woman sexually assaulted and murdered in a Lehigh University dorm room in 1986 – Penn State officials were obliged to report Sandusky’s known activities to law-enforcement officials.
"Our hearts are heavy and we are deeply ashamed," said trustee Ken Frazier. "We failed to ask the tough questions. We failed to push the issue." http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0714/Penn-State-takes-first-steps-to-recover-after-Sandusky-scandal
By JO BECKER
July 14, 2012
In January 2011, Joe Paterno learned prosecutors were investigating his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for sexually assaulting young boys. Soon, Mr. Paterno had testified before a grand jury, and the rough outlines of what would become a giant scandal had been published in a local newspaper.
That same month, Mr. Paterno, the football coach at Penn State, began negotiating with his superiors to amend his contract, with the timing something of a surprise because the contract was not set to expire until the end of 2012, according to university documents and people with knowledge of the discussions. By August, Mr. Paterno and the university’s president, both of whom were by then embroiled in the Sandusky investigation, had reached an agreement.
Mr. Paterno was to be paid $3 million at the end of the 2011 season if he agreed it would be his last. Interest-free loans totaling $350,000 that the university had made to Mr. Paterno over the years would be forgiven as part of the retirement package. He would also have the use of the university’s private plane and a luxury box at Beaver Stadium for him and his family to use over the next 25 years.
The university’s full board of trustees was kept in the dark about the arrangement until November, when Mr. Sandusky was arrested and the contract arrangements, along with so much else at Penn State, were upended. Mr. Paterno was fired, two of the university’s top officials were indicted in connection with the scandal, and the trustees, who held Mr. Paterno’s financial fate in their hands, came under verbal assault from the coach’s angry supporters.
Board members who raised questions about whether the university ought to go forward with the payments were quickly shut down, according to two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
In the end, the board of trustees — bombarded with hate mail and threatened with a defamation lawsuit by Mr. Paterno’s family — gave the family virtually everything it wanted, with a package worth roughly $5.5 million.... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/sports/ncaafootball/joe-paterno-got-richer-contract-amid-jerry-sandusky-inquiry.html
Penn State takes first steps to recover after Sandusky scandal
Penn State trustees, taking ‘full responsibility’ for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, announced initial steps to recover the university's tarnished reputation. Some say much more will have to be done, especially changing a campus culture in which sports coaches are idolized.
By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / July 14, 2012
It’s likely to take years for Penn State to fully recover from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal that has blotted the reputation of the university and its most senior officials, including legendary head football coach Joe Paterno.
But in its first meeting since the blistering investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh, the university’s board of trustees has taken initial steps in that direction.
The board – which itself was criticized in the Freeh report for failing to create an environment in which much of the abuse might have been prevented – has begun by accepting what board chair Karen Peetz calls “full responsibility” for its failures.
Notably, the federal Clery Act of 1990 requiring the compilation and reporting of crime statistics, including sexual offenses, had never become policy at Penn State. Under the Clery Act – named for a young woman sexually assaulted and murdered in a Lehigh University dorm room in 1986 – Penn State officials were obliged to report Sandusky’s known activities to law-enforcement officials.
"Our hearts are heavy and we are deeply ashamed," said trustee Ken Frazier. "We failed to ask the tough questions. We failed to push the issue." http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0714/Penn-State-takes-first-steps-to-recover-after-Sandusky-scandal
Friday, July 13, 2012
Sandusky inquiry remains very active, Survivorship Webinar “From Fragmentation to Integration”
Sandusky inquiry remains 'very active'
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY 7/13/12
Pennsylvania prosecutors are developing "new information" in their continuing investigation into former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and how the university handled the initial allegations against the now-convicted pedophile, a spokesman for the state attorney general said Friday.
Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for Attorney General Linda Kelly, described the inquiry as "very active" after Thursday's release of a scathing internal investigation of the university headed by Louis Freeh. The former FBI director found that top Penn State officials concealed information related to Sandusky's abuse of children dating back to 1998.
Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse last month and is in a central Pennsylvania jail awaiting formal sentencing.
Some of the information being reviewed by prosecutors, according to court documents filed in a Harrisburg court last month, are e-mails and other correspondence that reference an incident in 1998 in which Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing a boy in a university shower-room. The correspondence, which references communication involving university President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley, now on leave, retired university vice president Gary Schultz and head football coach Joe Paterno, was only recently turned over to prosecutors, according to court papers.
Some of the information was turned over to prosecutors by investigators working for Freeh. The cache includes e-mail references to Paterno's apparent knowledge of the incident in 1998. That information was not available to prosecutors when Paterno told a grand jury he was not aware of any allegations of misconduct involving Sandusky apart from an incident in 2001, when Paterno was told by football assistant Michael McQueary that Sandusky was involved in sexual activity with a young boy in a university shower-room....
Frederiksen declined to elaborate on the focus of the criminal inquiry, but he said Freeh's report "reinforces our findings that there was an effort by top administrators at Penn State to conceal the truth."....
Attorneys for Spanier, Curley and Schultz have challenged Freeh's report, saying their clients did not conceal information about Sandusky's activities. Paterno's son, Jay, said Freeh's conclusions were based on "incomplete information." "Joe did not cover up for Jerry Sandusky or conceal information," the son said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-13/sandusky-inquiry-penn-state/56203642/1
Survivorship Webinar “From Fragmentation to Integration” Dr. Cathy Kezelman Saturday, June 16 3 pm Pacific Time -
This webinar will depict my personal psychotherapeutic journey to explore the process of recovery from an extreme dissociative state, which was characterised by a complete amnesia for 10 years of my childhood and fragmentation of my self onto integration and recovery. Despite my therapist providing a safe reliable and contained space it took me a long time to trust her or appreciate that she could keep me in mind. She was empathic, compassionate and skilled and the relationship we developed was core to my survival and my recovery. Over years she bore witness to the dissociated fragments of trauma returning to my consciousness and the intense emotions which were overwhelming me. Through a committed analytical psychotherapeutic process she guided me from terror and confusion through chaos and onto acceptance and understanding.
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/survivorship-webinar-from-fragmentation-to-integration-dr-cathy-kezelman/
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY 7/13/12
Pennsylvania prosecutors are developing "new information" in their continuing investigation into former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and how the university handled the initial allegations against the now-convicted pedophile, a spokesman for the state attorney general said Friday.
Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for Attorney General Linda Kelly, described the inquiry as "very active" after Thursday's release of a scathing internal investigation of the university headed by Louis Freeh. The former FBI director found that top Penn State officials concealed information related to Sandusky's abuse of children dating back to 1998.
Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse last month and is in a central Pennsylvania jail awaiting formal sentencing.
Some of the information being reviewed by prosecutors, according to court documents filed in a Harrisburg court last month, are e-mails and other correspondence that reference an incident in 1998 in which Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing a boy in a university shower-room. The correspondence, which references communication involving university President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley, now on leave, retired university vice president Gary Schultz and head football coach Joe Paterno, was only recently turned over to prosecutors, according to court papers.
Some of the information was turned over to prosecutors by investigators working for Freeh. The cache includes e-mail references to Paterno's apparent knowledge of the incident in 1998. That information was not available to prosecutors when Paterno told a grand jury he was not aware of any allegations of misconduct involving Sandusky apart from an incident in 2001, when Paterno was told by football assistant Michael McQueary that Sandusky was involved in sexual activity with a young boy in a university shower-room....
Frederiksen declined to elaborate on the focus of the criminal inquiry, but he said Freeh's report "reinforces our findings that there was an effort by top administrators at Penn State to conceal the truth."....
Attorneys for Spanier, Curley and Schultz have challenged Freeh's report, saying their clients did not conceal information about Sandusky's activities. Paterno's son, Jay, said Freeh's conclusions were based on "incomplete information." "Joe did not cover up for Jerry Sandusky or conceal information," the son said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-13/sandusky-inquiry-penn-state/56203642/1
Survivorship Webinar “From Fragmentation to Integration” Dr. Cathy Kezelman Saturday, June 16 3 pm Pacific Time -
This webinar will depict my personal psychotherapeutic journey to explore the process of recovery from an extreme dissociative state, which was characterised by a complete amnesia for 10 years of my childhood and fragmentation of my self onto integration and recovery. Despite my therapist providing a safe reliable and contained space it took me a long time to trust her or appreciate that she could keep me in mind. She was empathic, compassionate and skilled and the relationship we developed was core to my survival and my recovery. Over years she bore witness to the dissociated fragments of trauma returning to my consciousness and the intense emotions which were overwhelming me. Through a committed analytical psychotherapeutic process she guided me from terror and confusion through chaos and onto acceptance and understanding.
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/survivorship-webinar-from-fragmentation-to-integration-dr-cathy-kezelman/
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Abuse Inquiry Faults Paterno and Others at Penn State
Abuse Inquiry Faults Paterno and Others at Penn State
By KEN BELSON July 12, 2012
In 1998, officials at Penn State, including its president and its legendary football coach, were aware Jerry Sandusky was being investigated by the university’s police department for possibly molesting two young boys in the football building’s showers. They followed the investigation closely, updating one another along the way.
One of those officials, Gary Schultz, articulated in dire terms what the incidents might suggest:
“Is this opening of Pandora’s box?” Mr. Schultz wrote in notes that he would keep secret for years. “Other children?”
The officials did nothing. No one so much as spoke to Mr. Sandusky.
Last month, Mr. Sandusky, for three decades one of Joe Paterno’s top coaching lieutenants, was convicted of sexually attacking 10 young boys, nine of them after the 1998 investigation, and several of them in the same football building showers.
Louis J. Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the F.B.I. who spent the last seven months examining the Sandusky scandal at Penn State, issued a damning conclusion Thursday:
The most senior officials at Penn State had shown a “total and consistent disregard” for the welfare of children, had worked together to actively conceal Mr. Sandusky’s assaults, and had done so for one central reason: fear of bad publicity. That publicity, Mr. Freeh said Thursday, would have hurt the nationally ranked football program, Mr. Paterno’s reputation as a coach of high principles, the Penn State “brand” and the university’s ability to raise money as one of the most respected public institutions in the country....
Mr. Freeh, in a formal report to the university’s board of trustees that ran more than 250 pages, offered graphic evidence of the implications of what he termed “a pervasive fear” of bad publicity:
In 2000, a janitor at the football building saw Mr. Sandusky assaulting a boy in the showers. Horrified, he consulted with his colleagues, but decided not to do anything. They were all, Mr. Freeh said, afraid to “take on the football program.”
“They said the university would circle around it,” Mr. Freeh said of the employees. “It was like going against the president of the United States. If that’s the culture on the bottom, then God help the culture at the top.”
Indeed, Mr. Freeh’s investigation makes clear it was Mr. Paterno, long regarded as the single most powerful official at the university, who persuaded the university president and others not to report Mr. Sandusky to the authorities in 2001 after he had violently assaulted another boy in the football showers....
“The facts are the facts,” Mr. Freeh said. “There’s a whole bunch of evidence here. And we’re saying that the reasonable conclusion from that evidence is he was an integral part of this active decision to conceal. I regret that based on the damage that it does, obviously, to his legacy.”....
One new and central finding of the Freeh investigation is that Mr. Paterno, who died in January, knew as far back as 1998 that there were concerns Mr. Sandusky might be behaving inappropriately with children. It was then that the campus police investigated a claim by a mother that her son had been molested by Mr. Sandusky in a shower at Penn State.
Mr. Paterno, through his family, had insisted after Mr. Sandusky’s arrest that he never knew anything about the 1998 case. In fact, he had testified under oath before the grand jury hearing evidence against Mr. Sandusky that he was not aware of the 1998 investigation.
But Mr. Freeh’s report asserts that Mr. Paterno not only knew of the investigation, but followed it closely. Local prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge Mr. Sandusky, and Mr. Paterno did nothing.
Mr. Paterno failed to take any action, the investigation found, “even though Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30 years and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno’s.”
“In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity,” the most powerful leaders of Penn State, Mr. Freeh’s group said, “repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the board of trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large.”....
Mr. Freeh said that by allowing Mr. Sandusky to remain a visible presence at Penn State following his retirement from coaching in 1999, he was essentially granted “license to bring boys to campus for ‘grooming’ as targets for his assaults.”
The Freeh investigation also determined that Mr. Sandusky, upon his retirement shortly after the 1998 investigation, received both an unusual compensation package and a special designation of “emeritus” rank that carried special privileges, including access to the university’s recreational facilities. With respect to money, Mr. Spanier, the president, approved a lump-sum payment to Mr. Sandusky of $168,000.
Mr. Freeh’s investigators interviewed two senior and longtime university officials who said they had never heard of this type of payment being made to any retiring employee....
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/sports/ncaafootball/13pennstate.html
By KEN BELSON July 12, 2012
In 1998, officials at Penn State, including its president and its legendary football coach, were aware Jerry Sandusky was being investigated by the university’s police department for possibly molesting two young boys in the football building’s showers. They followed the investigation closely, updating one another along the way.
One of those officials, Gary Schultz, articulated in dire terms what the incidents might suggest:
“Is this opening of Pandora’s box?” Mr. Schultz wrote in notes that he would keep secret for years. “Other children?”
The officials did nothing. No one so much as spoke to Mr. Sandusky.
Last month, Mr. Sandusky, for three decades one of Joe Paterno’s top coaching lieutenants, was convicted of sexually attacking 10 young boys, nine of them after the 1998 investigation, and several of them in the same football building showers.
Louis J. Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the F.B.I. who spent the last seven months examining the Sandusky scandal at Penn State, issued a damning conclusion Thursday:
The most senior officials at Penn State had shown a “total and consistent disregard” for the welfare of children, had worked together to actively conceal Mr. Sandusky’s assaults, and had done so for one central reason: fear of bad publicity. That publicity, Mr. Freeh said Thursday, would have hurt the nationally ranked football program, Mr. Paterno’s reputation as a coach of high principles, the Penn State “brand” and the university’s ability to raise money as one of the most respected public institutions in the country....
Mr. Freeh, in a formal report to the university’s board of trustees that ran more than 250 pages, offered graphic evidence of the implications of what he termed “a pervasive fear” of bad publicity:
In 2000, a janitor at the football building saw Mr. Sandusky assaulting a boy in the showers. Horrified, he consulted with his colleagues, but decided not to do anything. They were all, Mr. Freeh said, afraid to “take on the football program.”
“They said the university would circle around it,” Mr. Freeh said of the employees. “It was like going against the president of the United States. If that’s the culture on the bottom, then God help the culture at the top.”
Indeed, Mr. Freeh’s investigation makes clear it was Mr. Paterno, long regarded as the single most powerful official at the university, who persuaded the university president and others not to report Mr. Sandusky to the authorities in 2001 after he had violently assaulted another boy in the football showers....
“The facts are the facts,” Mr. Freeh said. “There’s a whole bunch of evidence here. And we’re saying that the reasonable conclusion from that evidence is he was an integral part of this active decision to conceal. I regret that based on the damage that it does, obviously, to his legacy.”....
One new and central finding of the Freeh investigation is that Mr. Paterno, who died in January, knew as far back as 1998 that there were concerns Mr. Sandusky might be behaving inappropriately with children. It was then that the campus police investigated a claim by a mother that her son had been molested by Mr. Sandusky in a shower at Penn State.
Mr. Paterno, through his family, had insisted after Mr. Sandusky’s arrest that he never knew anything about the 1998 case. In fact, he had testified under oath before the grand jury hearing evidence against Mr. Sandusky that he was not aware of the 1998 investigation.
But Mr. Freeh’s report asserts that Mr. Paterno not only knew of the investigation, but followed it closely. Local prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge Mr. Sandusky, and Mr. Paterno did nothing.
Mr. Paterno failed to take any action, the investigation found, “even though Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30 years and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno’s.”
“In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity,” the most powerful leaders of Penn State, Mr. Freeh’s group said, “repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the board of trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large.”....
Mr. Freeh said that by allowing Mr. Sandusky to remain a visible presence at Penn State following his retirement from coaching in 1999, he was essentially granted “license to bring boys to campus for ‘grooming’ as targets for his assaults.”
The Freeh investigation also determined that Mr. Sandusky, upon his retirement shortly after the 1998 investigation, received both an unusual compensation package and a special designation of “emeritus” rank that carried special privileges, including access to the university’s recreational facilities. With respect to money, Mr. Spanier, the president, approved a lump-sum payment to Mr. Sandusky of $168,000.
Mr. Freeh’s investigators interviewed two senior and longtime university officials who said they had never heard of this type of payment being made to any retiring employee....
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/sports/ncaafootball/13pennstate.html
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Sandusky Sex Abuse Report: Investigation Into Penn State University's Role In Child Molestation Case To Be Published Thursday, 14 moms sue LA schools in child abuse case
Sandusky Sex Abuse Report: Investigation Into Penn State University's Role In Child Molestation Case To Be Published Thursday
Reuters By Ian Simpson 07/10/2012
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - An investigation into Penn State University's role in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal will be published on Thursday, and the family of late football coach Joe Paterno has questioned its fairness and confidentiality.
The head of the eight-month probe, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, said on Tuesday its report would be published online at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on Thursday. He will hold a news briefing at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania State University's trustees hired Freeh and his law firm to investigate the school's handling of explosive allegations involving Sandusky, a former assistant coach in the high-powered football program, and university officials.
Sandusky, 68, was convicted last month of 45 counts of child molestation involving 10 boys. Some of the sexual abuse took place at Penn State football facilities.
The charges involving Sandusky prompted the firing in November of university President Graham Spanier and head coach Paterno, who won more games than any other major college football coach. Paterno died of lung cancer in January at age 85.
At the heart of the Freeh probe is how Paterno and other Penn State officials reacted to allegations by Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant. McQueary told them in 2001 he had seen Sandusky in a sexual position with a boy in a football locker room, but neither police nor children's services were informed.
Former Athletic Director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, a former university vice president, face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse stemming from the alleged cover-up. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/11/sandusky-sex-abuse-report-penn-state_n_1663691.html
14 moms sue LA schools in child abuse case By Jonathan Lloyd, NBCLosAngeles.com 7/11/12
Attorneys representing 14 mothers of students at Miramonte Elementary School announced Tuesday the filing of a lawsuit that alleges the school district did not protect their children from a teacher accused of lewd acts involving children.
The lawsuit claims the Los Angeles Unified School District was negligent in the case of former teacher Mark Berndt, charged with lewd acts involving at least 20 children at the school.
Berndt was arrested in January.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday morning, claims the children were sexually abused by Berndt between 2002 and 2011, and that the LAUSD "was negligent and did not protect their children from sexual abuses; and that the Los Angeles Unified School District completely ignored previous complaints," according to a statement from attorney Luis A. Carrillo.
The charges against Berndt involve 23 children who were 7 to 10 years old. His arrest stemmed from an investigation that began after a film processor -- mandated by state law to report child abuse -- provided photos to sheriff's deputies....
Deputies recovered more than 100 similar photos at Berndt's home, according to investigators. The film processor later discovered more photos....
Berndt pleaded not guilty.
His arrest was followed by another Miramonte Elementary teacher and the dismissal of the entire school staff. Martin Bernard Springer is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/11/12684038-14-moms-sue-la-schools-in-child-abuse-case
Reuters By Ian Simpson 07/10/2012
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - An investigation into Penn State University's role in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal will be published on Thursday, and the family of late football coach Joe Paterno has questioned its fairness and confidentiality.
The head of the eight-month probe, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, said on Tuesday its report would be published online at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on Thursday. He will hold a news briefing at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania State University's trustees hired Freeh and his law firm to investigate the school's handling of explosive allegations involving Sandusky, a former assistant coach in the high-powered football program, and university officials.
Sandusky, 68, was convicted last month of 45 counts of child molestation involving 10 boys. Some of the sexual abuse took place at Penn State football facilities.
The charges involving Sandusky prompted the firing in November of university President Graham Spanier and head coach Paterno, who won more games than any other major college football coach. Paterno died of lung cancer in January at age 85.
At the heart of the Freeh probe is how Paterno and other Penn State officials reacted to allegations by Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant. McQueary told them in 2001 he had seen Sandusky in a sexual position with a boy in a football locker room, but neither police nor children's services were informed.
Former Athletic Director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, a former university vice president, face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse stemming from the alleged cover-up. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/11/sandusky-sex-abuse-report-penn-state_n_1663691.html
14 moms sue LA schools in child abuse case By Jonathan Lloyd, NBCLosAngeles.com 7/11/12
Attorneys representing 14 mothers of students at Miramonte Elementary School announced Tuesday the filing of a lawsuit that alleges the school district did not protect their children from a teacher accused of lewd acts involving children.
The lawsuit claims the Los Angeles Unified School District was negligent in the case of former teacher Mark Berndt, charged with lewd acts involving at least 20 children at the school.
Berndt was arrested in January.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday morning, claims the children were sexually abused by Berndt between 2002 and 2011, and that the LAUSD "was negligent and did not protect their children from sexual abuses; and that the Los Angeles Unified School District completely ignored previous complaints," according to a statement from attorney Luis A. Carrillo.
The charges against Berndt involve 23 children who were 7 to 10 years old. His arrest stemmed from an investigation that began after a film processor -- mandated by state law to report child abuse -- provided photos to sheriff's deputies....
Deputies recovered more than 100 similar photos at Berndt's home, according to investigators. The film processor later discovered more photos....
Berndt pleaded not guilty.
His arrest was followed by another Miramonte Elementary teacher and the dismissal of the entire school staff. Martin Bernard Springer is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/11/12684038-14-moms-sue-la-schools-in-child-abuse-case
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