Second Mile Leaders Knew About Sandusky’s Conduct With Boys, Says Report

The executive director and two trustees of the charity founded by Jerry Sandusky, the former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach, decided in March 2001 that a claim of Mr. Sandusky showering with a young boy in a Penn State locker room was a “nonincident,” according to a new report released today.

That report, the product of an investigation by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, outlines the university’s response to allegations against Mr. Sandusky, who was convicted in June of child sexual abuse, and the close ties between Penn State and Mr. Sandusky’s youth charity, the Second Mile.

Tim Curley, Penn State’s former athletic director, told the charity’s executive director about the incident, according to the report, which does not name the charity leader. He said that he had met with Mr. Sandusky, who claimed nothing inappropriate had happened in the shower, despite reports from a witness. Mr. Curley asked the executive director to reinforce to Mr. Sandusky that he could no longer bring children on campus.

The executive director spoke with Mr. Sandusky, who at the time was a paid consultant for the nonprofit, earning about $57,000 a year plus travel expenses. The executive director later met with the two trustees, who decided there was “no need to do anything further,” according to the report.

University Ties

By July of that year, Penn State’s board was considering selling a parcel of land to the charity for the same price it had paid in 1999, about $168,500. The Penn State board approved the transaction in September 2001.

“The University’s visible support of the Second Mile provided Sandusky with numerous opportunities to bring young boys to campus and to interact with them through various camps and activities,” Mr. Freeh writes in the report.

Mr. Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999, but his retirement contract said that he would “work collaboratively” with Penn State on Second Mile programs. He later held charity events at several Penn State campuses.

In 2011, about 75 percent of the Second Mile’s board members were Penn State alumni, including Wendell Courtney, the outside legal counsel for Penn State from 1980 to 2010 and legal counsel for the Second Mile from 2008 to 2011.

The Second Mile said in a statement it would not comment on the report because it focused primarily on Penn State.

“We did cooperate with the investigation team and based on an initial review of the report we have nothing to add to the specific statements regarding The Second Mile,” the statement said.

The Second Mile filed for court approval to transfer its assets to another youth organization in May.

You can read the full report and see more coverage at The Chronicle of Higher Education.