Records Suggest PSU Officials Knew In 2001 That Sandusky Shower Incident Involved More Than Just "Horsing Around"

The meeting supposedly took place in 2001 in response to the now infamous shower incident reported by Mike McQueary. As we learned from CNN, Penn State's trio (VP Gary Schultz, president Graham Spanier, and athletic director Tim Curley) had initially devised a three-pronged approach to dealing with the situation—speak with Sandusky, inform the Second Mile, and alert child welfare authorities—but dropped those plans after Curley met with Joe Paterno.

Now we're learning a little more. According to The Chronicle Of Higher Education, the three also met with attorneys to discuss the situation.

Top Pennsylvania State University officials held a three-hour meeting to discuss Jerry Sandusky in 2001 over concerns about the former coach's behavior with a boy in the football showers. A law-firm billing record from that conversation describes a "report of suspected child abuse," according to a person with knowledge of an independent investigation into the matter.

Since details of the Sandusky investigation first surfaced, Schultz and Curley have insisted that McQueary reported only "horsing around" on Sandusky's part. "Suspected child abuse" is well north of "horsing around."

The Chronicle also obtained documentation that further illustrates the power Joe Paterno wielded over the campus. According to the documents, Paterno had a text sent out to his players forbidding them from responding to a Penn State code of conduct complaint in a 2007 incident involving six football players bursting into a dorm room and beating up fellow students. The text said that any player who responded to the complaint would be "thrown off the team."

According to the Chronicle, university general counsel Wendell V. Courtney routinely acted on Paterno's behalf, at one point removing documents from a file after the school had received a search warrant for any and all documents related to the break-in.

Meanwhile, the Paterno family has called for the release of all emails related to the case so as to stop the supposed smears directed at Joe Paterno. A full report from Louis Freeh's investigation is expected in the coming weeks.

Records Suggest Penn State Officials Knew Sexual Nature of Sandusky Encounter [Chronicle of Higher Education]