Governor Tom Corbett

Chris Friend of the Friendly Fire Zone is questioning the actions of Gov Tom Corbett with great effect.

Corbett’s Response On Sandusky Fails To Answer Questions!

Gov. Corbett Could Have Stopped Sandusky --- But Didn’t

SMSSS highly recommends these articles by Chris Friend questioning the actions of the PA Governor in the   Sandusky Affair. READ THEM

Was the close financial and personal relationship between The Second Mile and Centre County Children & Youth Services (CYS) pivotal in allowing Jerry Sandusky to escape prosecution in 1998 OR did someone with even more influence and power engineer a cover up that allowed Jerry Sandusky to continue to abuse children so The Second Mile could survive? 

The Second Mile Sandusky Sex Scandal Weblog post 1998: So Close to an End for Sandusky - raised the questions:

1)Who authorized the switch from CYS (Centre Co. Child & Youth Services) to DPW (Pa Dept of Pub Welfare) in the 1998 Sandusky "victim 6" investigation? -  That investigation was taken over by DPW because of conflicts of interest between The Second Mile & CYS since CYS including a counselor named Seasock did evaluations and work for The Second Mile. But who made that happen?

2) Who authorized CYS counselor Seasock to interview and evaluate victim 6? Since CYS was evidently conflicted and DPW in charge why would a CYS evaluator who worked with The Second Mile be authorized to make that evaluation? What makes this even more odd is that Centre Co. DA Karen Arnold specifically ordered that not to happen? So whoever did this went around Arnold's express orders and allowed Counselor Seasock access and his report to be accepted by DPW investigator Jerry Lauro. 

3) Who ordered the Seasock interview to be accepted over a Doctor of Psychology's evaluation that was very unfavorable to Jerry Sandusky? Prior to the Seasock interview Dr. Alycia Chambers evaluated victim 6 when contacted by his mother. Her evaluation was described in the Freeh Report: Chambers made a report to the PA child abuse line and consulted with colleagues. Her colleagues agreed that the incidents meet all of our definitions, based on experience and education, of a likely pedophile’s pattern of building trust and gradual introduction of physical touch, within a context of a ‘loving, special relationship. 
.
We know this from the Freeh Report page 43  Dr. Chambers who contacted CYS knew of a second boy who like victim 6 had showered with Sandusky 
.

May 4-6, Police Report, Initial Investigation and Psychological Evaluation

On May 4, Victim 6's mother called Alycia Chambers, a licensed psychologist who had been working with her son, to see if she was overreacting to Sandusky’s showering with her son. The boy told Schreffler what happened with Sandusky the previous evening, and added that a 10-year-old friend of his had been in a shower with Jerry on another occasion where Sandusky similarly squeezed the friend. Chambers made a report to the PA child abuse line and consulted with colleagues. Her colleagues agreed that the incidents meet all of our definitions, based on experience and education, of a likely pedophile’s pattern of building trust and gradual introduction of physical touch, within a context of a ‘loving, special relationship

Yet Dr. Chambers evaluation was never given to investigator Lauro of DPW. Instead he received this report from the CYS counselor who was not authorized by DA Arnold -  

Seasock said he identified some "gray areas," he did not find evidence of abuse and had never heard of a 52-year-old man "becoming a pedophile. Seasock stated Sandusky "didn't fit the profile of a pedophile and that he couldn't find any indication of child abuse. Counselor John Seasock,opined that "there seems to be no incident which could be termed as sexual abuse, nor did there appear to be any sequential pattern of logic and behavior which is usually consistent with adults who have difficulty with sexual abuse of children." Seasock’s report ruled out that the boy "had been placed in a situation where he was being ‘groomed for future sexual victimization. 

Well we now know for certain that Counselor John's Seasock's evaluation was precisely wrong about Jerry Sandusky and Dr. Chamber's evaluation was precisely correct. So who "lost" Chambers report? Who arranged the Seacock interview? and Who substituted Seasock's report for Chambers? 

Jerry Lauro says that if he "had seen Chambers report, I would not have stopped the investigation", which he thought at the time fell into a "gray" area and involved possible "boundary issues. 

This is quite obvious: A CYS counselor (Seasock) who worked doing evaluations for The Second Mile somehow gets around an objection by DA Arnold and does an interview with victim 6 that is very favorable to Jerry Sandusky and completely in error. His report is substituted for a very damning and completely accurate report by Dr. Alycia Chambers. The Seasock report causes investigator Lauro to conclude that Sandusky is not a pedophile and that no criminal behavior is involved in the 1998 investigation. Thus the investigation is closed and Sandusky remains free to perpetrate his abuse against young boys. 

So who was in the position to do the things that caused this disaster for Joe Paterno and Penn State? Who saved Sandusky from being labeled a potential pedophile or prosecution in 1998?
.

The person who might know something is B.K. (or Brandon, according to Schultz's handwritten notes).  The Victim for whom Linda Kelly didn't bring charges because he was overseas in the military.  And, curiously, who the investigators knew about in 1998, interviewed him once, and never had a follow-up.   There was a third Victim (5) who knew Victim 6 and BK.   Same time frame of abuse, but V5 was not interviewed in 1998.   My guess is that BK named Victim 5 and CYS quashed the investigation.
.

Exhibits 2H and 2I appear to be notes between Gary Schultz and Police Chief Harmon.
.
Exhibit 2H, 5/4/98, Schultz knew about the second child, "Brandon, Age 10, also @ Nittany Gardens" (BK) and that the "Mother asked Brandon" and that "Children and Youth Services have been notified and will talk to Brandon tonight."
.

Exhibit 2I 5/5/98 notes interviews with Victim 6 and Brandon.  "Similar accounts"   Page 3 of note says "Local child abuse people meeting at 9:00 today to decide what to do."   Page 4 states "Is this opening Pandora's Box?"   and "Other Children?" 
.

If CYS told Det Schreffler they may have another Victim, and he relayed it up the chain to Harmon who told Schultz - why would Schultz write "Other victims" after the first two, unless there was a third?

The local child abuse people are CYS.  They have similar accounts of two victims, and possibly another victim (Victim 5) that they've been informed of.  These are the people who were originally called off the case due to a conflict of interest with Second Mile.
.

Did CYS deep six the investigation after learning of V5 from Brandon (BK) because if they interview Victim 5, they are now at 3 victims and counting.  They might dismiss two victims as a "gray area" with Sandusky, but there's no chance they'd be able to write off Sandusky showering with 3 kids. And what of the other boy known to Dr. Chambers? Is this a fourth child known to CYS in 1998? 
.

There are conflicting reports on whether or not Second Mile was informed of 1998. Jerry Lauro of DPW said he made no official report to Second Mile, but the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported SM was informed.  With CYS involved, it is a certainty that SM got wind of the 1998 investigation.
.

So, it's seems CYS and Second Mile were ignoring the welfare of the kids to keep the money flowing between the two groups. If Sandusky is outed as a potential pedophile in 1998 the damage to The Second Mile could easily be fatal. So who were the chief beneficiaries of The Second Mile? 

.
One of course is Dr. Jack Raykovitz - he and his wife received $233,000 a year in salaries and obviously other perks of the office. 
.
Two is Tom Corbett who eventually gleaned over 600K in campaign donations from The Second Mile board members.

.

So let's take a look at Gov Tom Corbett and his associations and what they might reveal Did Corbett and AG Kelly cover for The Second Mile in an attempt to keep campaign cash rolling in for the future. 

Candidate number one: Governor Tom Corbett. 

TOM CORBETT AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY GRICAR

In 1998, according to the recently released two-year grand jury report into the charges, the then Centre County District Attorney, Ray Gricar, had reviewed allegations against Sandusky, including a police report of two conversations secretly recorded by police of Sandusky admitting to the mother of an 11 year-old boy inappropriate behavior with her son.Despite this, and additional evidence from a “lengthy” internal investigation by Penn State into Sandusky, District Attorney Gricar, with a reputation for rectitude and integrity, decided not to press charges against Sandusky.

A reasonable question is whether a straight-arrow DA like Gricar, a Republican, when confronted with an unprecedentedly explosive case involving a major Pennsylvania institution and personage, would turn to a superior to confer on the case. A person to whom Gricar might naturally turn would be the Pennsylvania Attorney General. In 1998, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania was D. Michael Fisher, a Republican in the Tom Ridge administration In 2004, the Attorney General for the state of Pennsylvania was current Gov. Tom Corbett. With mounting evidence against Sandusky, did Gricar confer with the Attorney General Corbett about prosecution of Sandusky?  The Governor should answer that question.

CORBETT'S CAREER AS A REPUBLICAN ATTORNEY WITH CONNECTIONS AT THE TOP.

In the early 1980's, Tom Corbett served President Ronald Reagan as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and was also named as one of the first members of President Reagan's National Drug Task Force. In 1989, when President George H. W. Bush appointed him to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. 

In the 1990's, Corbett provided criminal law and policy expertise to then-Congressman Tom Ridge, later filling several key roles in Governor Ridge's administration. Corbett planned the Governor's successful special session on crime and was appointed to chair the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, shaping criminal justice policy and working to improve drug and alcohol prevention and rehabilitation programs across the state. 

In 1995, Corbett was appointed by Governor Ridge as Attorney General to fill the unexpired term of Attorney General Ernie Preate. In 1997, Corbett returned to the private practice of law in Pittsburgh. In 1998 he joined Waste Management as their Assistant General Counsel for Government Affairs.

An open letter to Pennsylvania’s governor, who refuses to answer disturbing questions about his role investigating the Penn State sex scandal: from Chris Freind an independent columnist, television/radio commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, 

Dear Gov. Corbett: Since there are a number of questions which you have failed to answer concerning your investigation of Jerry Sandusky, on behalf of the media and the public, I respectfully ask for clarification in the following areas:

1) Based on a decade’s worth of evidence of Sandusky’s predatory activities, why did it take the Attorney General’s Office three years to arrest him? I fully understand that it takes time to conduct an investigation, but as numerous prosecutors have stated, you could have arrested him quickly and continued building the case.

Tragically, it is probable that Sandusky continued to molest victims during your epic investigation, as predators do not stop preying unless forced to do so. Had he been arrested early, (standard procedure in many cases with a lot less evidence), Sandusky would have had to post bail, had restrictions placed upon him, and, most important, been under an ultra-intense media and community spotlight - every minute of every day until his trial.

In short, children would finally have been safe. And contrary to your assessment, this would have created a much more favorable environment for additional witnesses to come forward, knowing their bigger-than-life demon could hurt them no more. Arresting Sandusky quickly would have in no way jeopardized the strength of the case.

2) Why was the investigation so understaffed? Yes, you just now claimed - after eight months - that media reports are wrong that only one investigator was assigned the case for the first 15 months. The real number, as you now state, was a whopping two. We know you were busy with Bonusgate, but political corruption never threatens anyone’s physical well-being, particularly defenseless children.
And the two investigators assigned were narcotics agents. While Sandusky’s heinous crimes were many, drug offenses were not among them.

Upon becoming governor, you placed state police on the case. You could have made that same request to Gov. Ed Rendell, and, given the stakes, there is virtually no possibility he would have refused. And since you are a former United States attorney, you undoubtedly realized that federal assistance was also available.

3) Do you believe ethical and moral lines were crossed when, after investigating Penn State as Attorney General, you then participated as a member of the Board of Trustees upon becoming governor? In other words, knowing full well that the investigation was still in full swing, conducted by your handpicked attorney general successor, you nonetheless chose to sit on the very board you had been - and still were - investigating! Did you ever consider recusing yourself from board activities until the investigation was concluded? 

4) As governor, why did you personally approve a $3 million taxpayer-funded grant to Sandusky’s Second Mile charity, given your knowledge that Sandusky was under investigation for multiple child rapes? Vetoing the charitable grant would have simply been viewed as another financial cutback in a budget full of slashed programs.

So one has to ask if the $640,000 in campaign donations from board members of the Second Mile, along with their businesses and families, had anything to do with your actions?

The media talks about Penn State’s Big Four casualties: Joe Paterno, former President Graham Spanier, Senior Vice President Gary Schultz, and Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley. But perhaps they are missing the biggest: Tom Corbett.

He has always claimed to hold himself to a higher standard, and has roundly criticized Paterno and others for not doing more to stop Sandusky. But when it came down to it, when Corbett had the power to put a speedy end to Sandusky, he didn’t.

BE SURE TO VISIT CHRIS FRIEND'S FRIENDLY FIRE ZONE FOR MORE