STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary sought legal counsel Monday, a week after being identified as an eyewitness to alleged child sexual abuse by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
Also Monday, the charity allegedly used by Sandusky to meet young boys announced the resignation of its CEO.
McQueary, who was placed on paid administrative leave Friday, told a grand jury that he witnessed Sandusky having sexual intercourse with a young boy in the locker room shower in 2002.
McQueary, at the time a 28-year-old graduate assistant, notified coach Joe Paterno of what he saw, but the allegations were never reported to police by the university.
McQueary consulted Monday with the Harrisburg, Pa., law firm Strokoff & Cowden, which touts its expertise in employment claims, the Patriot-News reported. Despite public outcries for his firing, McQueary may fall under the protection of state whistleblower laws, since he reported the abuse to his superiors.
A member of Penn State’s board of trustees said last week McQueary would have to be “treated differently” since he was an eyewitness to the alleged abuse.
The scandal has resulted in the firing of Paterno, while university president Graham Spanier resigned. Athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz stepped down from their positions after being charged with perjury and failing to report the alleged abuse.
The Second Mile, which was founded by Sandusky in the late 1970s to help disadvantaged children, sought to distance itself from the alleged incidents of abuse Monday, announcing the resignation of CEO Jack Raykovitz.
The organization vowed to cooperate with the investigation, but maintained that Sandusky’s alleged abuse of children “occurred outside Second Mile programs and events.”
Sandusky, 67, was charged last weekend with 21 felony counts for allegedly abusing eight male minors over a period of 15 years. He denies the charges.
The grand jury report in the case alleged that Sandusky used the charity to pick out his victims.
“We will conduct an internal investigation to assess our internal policies, procedures and processes and make recommendations regarding the organization’s future operations,” read a statement from The Second Mile.
The charity said it hopes to release its findings by the end of the year.
Raykovitz had served as CEO for the past 28 years. The day-to-day operations of The Second Mile will now be overseen by David Woodle, the Board of Directors’ vice chairman.
Sandusky was freed last week on $100,000 unsecured bail by District Judge Leslie Dutchcot, who had volunteered for The Second Mile in the past.
The report Sunday raised questions about Dutchcot’s suitability to rule on the matter.
But a source close to the case said Dutchcot took only a small role at events organized by The Second Mile in 2008 and 2009 and had never met Sandusky, who by then had stopped participating in the charity drives, according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
Sandusky resigned from The Second Mile in Sept. 2010.
The Attorney General’s office raised no concerns about a potential conflict of interest in Dutchcot’s bail decision, according to the Patriot-News report.
Prosecutors had requested a $500,000 bail for Sandusky and that he be required to wear a leg monitor, but Dutchcot ruled he be freed without having to post any money unless he failed to show up for court.