STATE COLLEGE,
Pa. (AP) -- Joe Paterno's family released its response to Penn
State's report on the Jerry Sandusky scandal Sunday, attacking Louis
Freeh's conclusion that the coach hid sex abuse allegations against his
longtime assistant.
In a report commissioned
by the family, former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick
Thornburgh said the investigation by former FBI director Freeh resulted
in a "rush to injustice." That report, authorized by the university,
found that Paterno and three former administrators covered up child
sexual abuse allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Those findings last July were unsupported by the facts, said the family critique released.
"The
lack of factual report for the ... inaccurate and unfounded findings
related to Mr. Paterno, and its numerous process-oriented deficiencies,
was a rush to injustice and calls into question the credibility of the
entire Report," Thornburgh was quoted as saying in the family's
analysis, posted on the website paterno.com.
Months in the making, the report was billed as an independent analysis of the work by Freeh, who defended his report Sunday.
"I
stand by our conclusion that four of the most powerful people at Penn
State failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children
for over a decade," he said in a statement issued through a spokesman.
The
family's report concluded that observations related to Paterno in the
Freeh report was unfounded, and were a disservice to Paterno, the
university community and Sandusky's victims "and the critical mission of
educating the public on the dangers of child sexual victimization."
The
central claim that Paterno "was engaged in a conspiracy ... there's
simply no basis anywhere in the report for that finding. That in my view
renders the whole report of very little value," Thornburgh said in an
interview with The Associated Press. "There's simply nothing in this
record, in the Freeh report, that indicates he was involved in any way."
Freeh's
findings also implicated former administrators in university president
Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president
Gary Schultz. Less than two weeks after the Freeh report was released in
July, the NCAA acted with uncharacteristic speed in levying massive
sanctions against the football program for the scandal.
"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," Freeh wrote in releasing the
report.
The former administrators have
vehemently denied the allegations. So, too, has Paterno's family,
though a detailed counter-offensive began in earnest this weekend.
The
family's findings said that Paterno never asked or told anyone not to
investigate or report an allegation made against Sandusky 12 years ago,
Saturday, Feb. 9, 2001.
Paterno also never
asked or told anyone not to discuss or hide information reported by
graduate assistant Mike McQueary about the 2001 allegation, the critique
said, and followed university protocol in reporting information to
superiors and left it to them to "to investigate and report as
appropriate."
Thornburgh said he found the
report at points to be inaccurate, speculative and fundamentally flawed
about the role - if any - played by Paterno.
Appearing
on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program Sunday, Paterno family attorney
Wick Sollers said it was too early to talk about legal action, though
they were "evaluating all the legal options at this stage of the game."
Paterno's widow, Sue Paterno wrote in a letter Friday to former players that she sought a "full record of what happened."
The
treatment of Paterno - fired over a late-night telephone call - as well
as the handling of the Freeh report and the resulting NCAA sanctions by
university leadership remain sensitive topics with some unhappy groups
of alumni, ex-players and community residents.
Penn
State said Sunday that Freeh was brought in to conduct an independent
investigation of the school's response to the allegations, and not
actions of entities unrelated to Penn State. Freeh offered 119
recommendations to strengthen governance and compliance, the majority of
which have been implemented, the school said.
"It
is understandable and appreciated that people will draw their own
conclusions and opinions from the facts uncovered in the Freeh report,"
the school said.
Freeh, in his report, said
his team conducted 430 interviews and analyzed over 3.5 million emails
and documents. The former federal judge said evidence showed Paterno was
involved in an "active agreement to conceal" and his report cited email
exchanges, which referenced Paterno, between administrators about
allegations against Sandusky in 1998 and 2001.
According
to Thornburgh's findings, Freeh's report relied primarily on about 30
documents, including three notes authored by Paterno, and 17 emails.
Four emails referenced Paterno - none sent by the octogenarian coach who
notoriously shunned modern electronic technology.
Sandusky,
69, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison in October after being
convicted last summer of 45 criminal counts. Prosecutors said assaults
occurred off and on campus, including the football building.
His
arrest in November 2011 triggered the turmoil that led to Paterno's
firing days later. Under pressure, Spanier left as president the same
day. Curley was placed on administrative leave, while Schultz retired.
Spanier,
Curley and Schultz are awaiting trial on obstruction and conspiracy,
among other charges. They have maintained their innocence.
Critics
have said that Freeh's team didn't speak with key figures including
Curley, Schultz and Paterno, who died in January 2012 at age 85.
Spanier spoke to Freeh six days before the report was released July 12.
Freeh
said he respected the family's right to conduct a campaign to "shape
the legacy of Joe Paterno," but called the critique self-serving.
Paterno's attorney was contacted for an interview with the coach, he
said, and Paterno spoke with a reporter and biographer before his death
but not Freeh's team. Paterno's attorney did provide documents.
Curley
and Schultz declined numerous requests for interviews, Freeh said. They
have been facing criminal charges since November 2011.
Freeh
on Sunday cited grand jury testimony by Paterno in 2011 in which
Paterno said McQueary relayed to him the 2001 allegation against
Sandusky of a "sexual nature" with a child.
He
referred to a key point in the July report in which he said the
administrators drew up a plan that called for reporting Sandusky to
state public welfare officials in 2001. Curley later write in an email
that he changed his mind "after giving it more thought and talking it
over with Joe," according to Freeh's findings.
Said
Freeh on Sunday: "These men exhibited a striking lack of empathy for
Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and
well-being, especially by not even attempting to determine the identity
of the child" in the 2001 allegation.
The
Paterno family report said Freeh chose not to present alternative and
"more plausible" conclusions about Paterno's actions. Their attorney,
Wick Sollers, responded Sunday that Freeh didn't take the time to read
the family's critique, or address accusations of procedural
shortcomings.
Sollers said he met with Freeh's
team and pledged full cooperation. Joe Paterno's cancer diagnosis
prevented he coach from being interviewed, but son and former assistant
coach Jay Paterno spoke with Freeh's group.
"A
failure to consider the facts carefully is exactly the problem our
expert analysis highlights," Sollers said. "Everyone, including Mr.
Freeh, should take the time to study this report."
Besides
Thornburgh, Sollers also brought in former FBI profiler and special
agent Jim Clemente, described as a child molestation and behavioral
expert; and Dr. Fred Berlin, a psychologist from Johns Hopkins Hospital
whose profile lists him as the founder of the institution's Sexual
Disorders Clinic. The analysis included information from lawyers for the
former school administrators.
Freeh's report
ignored decades of research and behavioral analysis over how to
understand and investigate child victimization cases, the critique said,
and expert analysis showed Sandusky "fooled qualified child welfare
professionals and law enforcement, as well as laymen inexperienced and
untrained in child sexual victimization like Joe Paterno."
According to the family review, Paterno's last written words before his death focused on Sandusky's victims.
"Good
side of scandal - it has brought about more enlightenment of a
situation (sexual abuse of young people) in the country," the Paterno
family report said.
The NCAA improperly relied
on the report and never identified a rules infraction based on
Sandusky's crime, let alone NCAA jurisdiction over ensuring competitive
balance, the family analysis said. An NCAA spokeswoman said the
organization stood by its previous statements and declined comment
Sunday.
A four-year bowl ban and steep
scholarship cuts were included among the sanctions, while 111 wins
between 1998 and 2011 under Paterno were vacated. It meant Paterno no
longer holds the record for most wins by a major college coach.
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