US News

Penn St. ‘hush’ puppy

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Former Penn State president Graham Spanier was charged yesterday with hushing up child sex- abuse complaints against Jerry Sandusky, making him the third school official to be accused of crimes in the alleged coverup.

Prosecutors also added counts against the two former underlings, Timothy Curley and Gary Schultz, who were already charged with lying to the grand jury that investigated the former Penn State assistant football coach.

Spanier was charged with perjury, obstruction, endangering the welfare of children, failure to properly report suspected abuse and conspiracy. Curley and Schultz face new charges of endangering the welfare of children, obstruction and conspiracy.

“This was not a mistake by these men, this was not an oversight,” said state Attorney General Linda Kelly. “It was not misjudgment on their part. This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials to actively conceal the truth.”

Curley and Schultz have repeatedly asserted they are innocent, and Spanier’s attorneys have insisted he was never told there was anything of a sexual nature involving Sandusky and children. Messages left for their respective attorneys yesterday were not immediately returned.

“All three of these men knowingly testified falsely and failed to provide important information and evidence,” Kelly said.

The charges were filed with a suburban Harrisburg district judge, who said the defendants were expected in his courtroom no earlier than today.

Sandusky, who spent decades on the Penn State staff and was defensive coordinator during two national championship seasons, was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years.

He was transferred on Wednesday to a maximum-security prison, where he is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence. He will turn 69 in January.

Curley, 58, the athletic director on leave while he serves out the last year of his contract, and Schultz, 63, who has retired as vice president for business and finance, were charged a year ago with lying to the grand jury and with failing to properly report suspected child abuse. Their trial is set for early January in Harrisburg.

Spanier, 64, of State College, had been university president for 16 years when he was forced out after Sandusky’s November 2011 arrest.

Prosecutors said Spanier, Curley and Schultz knew of complaints involving Sandusky showering with boys in 1998 and 2001.

“They essentially turned a blind eye to the serial predatory acts committed by Jerry Sandusky,” Kelly said.