HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Former Penn State University president Graham Spanier faces charges in connection with the Jerry Sandusky child molesting scandal, Pennsylvania's attorney general announced on Thursday.
Linda Kelly said Spanier has been charged with perjury, criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, endangering the welfare of children and failing to report the incident to child protective services as required by law.
"This is not a mistake, an oversight or a misjudgment," Kelly said. "This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials at Penn State, working to actively conceal the truth, with total disregard to the suffering of children."
Sandusky, a former assistant coach to the iconic American football squad at Penn State, was sentenced last month to between 30 and 60 years in prison after being convicted on charges of child sexual abuse.
Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 charges of sexual abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year span. The scandal erupted last November with Sandusky's arrest and tarnished the reputation of the nationally known college gridiron program.
Spanier had been Penn State's president for 16 years before being removed on the same day that university trustees also fired legendary coach Joe Paterno as coach of the gridiron squad.
Paterno died last January after complications due to lung cancer.
New charges were also filed against former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, who had already faced charges of perjury and failure to report to child services regarding knowledge of on-campus incidents from 1998 through 2001.
Kelly said notes about the crimes were kept by Schultz in a desk drawer in his office but the file was taken to his home the day charges were filed against him.
