Thursday, October 16

Feather's Resignation Breaks Media Blackout of Porn Perps' Roles in Sandusky Case

Up until today's resignation of Feathers, the media avoided mentioning any of the porn perpetrator's roles in the Sandusky case.

By Ray Blehar


Feathers: Looking at porn while
children were being abused?
Former OAG Supervisory Agent, Randy Feathers, who supervised the Sandusky investigation, resigned his position on the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and parole.  Feathers' resignation letter clearly identified his role in the Sandusky investigation, which up until this point had rarely, if ever, been mentioned by the media.

Until yesterday.

Both PennLive and the Pittsburgh Tribune reported Feathers role in the Sandusky case, however philly.com, the Inquirer, and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette continued their media black outs.

Apparently, the media does not want the public to know that OAG officials involved in the Sandusky case were spending time ogling porn, while children were being abused.

Richard Sheetz, who the media referred to as a former OAG official and member of the Lancaster County DA's office, was in the approval chain of the Sandusky grand jury presentment. The press has also neglected to mention his role in the delay in the arrest of Sandusky.


Glenn Parno, referred to in the press as the Deputy Chief Counsel with the Department of Environmental Protection, was also in the approval chain of the Sandusky presentment.


One truly has to wonder why the media would be so unwilling to reveal that those who were exchanging porn emails at work also had a role in the  "inexcusable" delays in bringing Sandusky to justice.

Feathers' Factually Challenged Retirement Letter

None of the aforementioned media outlets bothered to post or link Feathers' retirement letter to their articles,  nor have any challenged Feathers' accusations of Kane (which has been par for the course so far).  Feathers'  factually challenged resignation letter follows (my emphasis added):


HARRISBURG (Oct. 15) –This morning I have submitted my retirement letter to Governor Corbett as a Board Member of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole (PBPP) effective October 30, 2014.

It is essential to note that my retirement should not be taken as an acknowledgment of the degree of wrong-doing of which I have been accused by Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.  In fact, I have been denied basic due process by not being allowed to observe or be provided details as to the content of the emails upon which General Kane has attributed to me.

To give a complete understanding of my difficult relationship with General Kane, one must understand that I met, at her request, with General Kane’s representatives during her probe into the Sandusky investigation.  I was the supervisor of the Sandusky investigation during my tenure with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. I gave General Kane my utmost cooperation, which yielded, to her disappointment, no findings that the Sandusky investigation was conducted in any manner other than totally professional and in accordance with the highest law enforcement protocol.  My interaction during General Kane’s investigation created substantial conflict between myself and her office, as I would not agree with her erroneous presumptions regarding this investigation.  I became certain that General Kane's priority was not an objective overview of our years of hard work, but rather a politically motivated effort to smear reputations during an election year.

General Kane's accusations, particularly the timing in relation to Governor Tom Corbett's re-election, and subsequent to my hostile interaction during her Sandusky probe are further proof the current accusations are politically motivated.

I never initiated any of the referenced pornography nor did I ever view any pornographic videos.  These accusations date back more than five (5) years and my efforts to hire an independent forensic expert to exonerate myself have not been answered. 

My decision to retire is primarily motivated by my knowledge that I can no longer be effective in my current position with the PBPP.   I hold the PBPP and its employees in the highest regard, and I will not allow their important essential service of protecting the citizens of Pennsylvania to be further compromised.

I have spent my entire career in law enforcement, initially as a police officer in the District of Columbia, then in my hometown of Altoona and then as an Agent, promoted to Supervisor with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.  I have received numerous accolades and honors throughout my career.

If this current matter is the personal cost I must pay for putting Jerry Sandusky, a convicted pedophile who operated undetected for over twenty years, in prison for the remainder of his life, then I say the protection of the public is worth this personal ordeal.

I thank the citizens of Pennsylvania for the honor I have been provided to serve them.
###   


Separating Fact from Fiction

Feathers (fiction):   I gave General Kane my utmost cooperation, which yielded, to her disappointment, no findings that the Sandusky investigation was conducted in any manner other than totally professional and in accordance with the highest law enforcement protocol.

Fact:  The Moulton investigation (and my Report 3) found that the Sandusky investigation had numerous failings with regard to protocols for child abuse investigations and any other routine criminal investigation. First and foremost, the investigation did not use a multi-disciplinary investigative team, as required by statute (23 Pa.C.S. § 6365. (c) Investigative team).  In addition, the Sandusky investigators did not obtain timely search warrants and failed to follow up on investigative leads.


Feathers (fiction): If this current matter is the personal cost I must pay for putting JerrySandusky, a convicted pedophile who operated undetected for over twenty years, in prison for the remainder of his life, then I say the protection of the public is worth this personal ordeal.


Fact:  Victims 9 testified that he was abused through his sixteenth birthday, which occurred in July 2009 during the Sandusky investigation.  In addition, another victim (D.F.) has come forward alleging that he too was abused during the time frame of the Sandusky investigation.  Agent Feathers' supervision of the case and the investigative failures, especially the failure to form a multi-disciplinary team, contributed to the delay in arresting Sandusky.  


From the statute:


"The investigative team shall consist of those individuals and agencies responsible for investigating the abuse or for providing services to the child and shall at a minimum include a health care provider, county caseworker and law enforcement official."


Including a child-care caseworker from Centre County would have likely uncovered the existence of the 1998 Sandusky investigation and police report, which was the key evidence that broke the case.


Feathers Questions Veracity of E-mail Evidence

One of the more interesting aspects of Feathers' reluctant retirement was his request to have an independent forensic expert examine the e-mail evidence, as stated in the letter below.


Oct 3, 2014

Honorable Kathleen Kane
Pennsylvania Attorney General
16th Floor,  Strawberry Square
Harrisburg PA 17104

Dear General Kane:

This is in response to your allegations regarding inappropriate emails during my employment with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office.

I am requesting the opportunity to have an independent forensic expert review the information which form the basis of your allegations against me.  


              Respectfully,


              Randy P. Feathers
              1101 S Front Street
              Harrisburg PA 17104


While this is a perfectly reasonable request, one has to wonder if Feathers motivation for the independent review has anything to do with the processing and handling of email evidence in the Sandusky case. 

According to the independent report of Geoffrey Moulton, the Penn State emails were turned over to the Pennsylvania State Police on 7 July 2011 (see page 158).  However, PSU IT employeee, John Corro, testified (see pages 89-90) that he turned over the emails in April 2011.  

OAG forensic expert Braden Cook testified (see page 67) that the Penn State (Schultz) emails were missing from the inventory of items and were provided to him in March 2011 (later corrected to March 2012).  Cook never testified to the date they were originally received by the OAG. In all, no less than six dates were provided for the turning over of the emails, which were considered the most important evidence in the Conspiracy of Silence case.

Braden Cook was praised by Geoffrey Moulton for his role in reconstructing the e-mail evidence that had been deleted by OAG officials and is now at the center of the "porn gate" scandal.  

 Given the above, Feathers should be granted his request for an independent forensic examination.

The Rest

Porn gate has claimed three individuals who had a role in the Sandusky case, however at least two others have escaped unscathed -- so far.

Frank "Moral Obligation" Noonan, the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner, has been spared from being forced out of his office for the flimsy reason that he didn't open, respond, or forward any emails.  Pennsylvania NOW rightfully called for his resignation for his failure to put a stop the email exchanges.  One has to wonder what Noonan has as leverage to keep him from being removed.  The Edwin Edwards quote is apropos..."either a dead girl or a live boy."

Frank Fina has only escaped the publicity of porn gate because of his maneuver to have a Montgomery County judge bar Kane from mentioning his name publicly.  

Rest assured, these men have only won temporary victories.  

Porn gate is just a warm-up for the feature act that will come later.





7 comments:

  1. A Second Mile Protection Plan?
    Chief Justice Castille has publicly stated that only one Justice was linked to 234 sexually-explicit emails. News reports have stated that a hand-full of judges were involved in the email exchanges. The Office of the Attorney General reported that 4,000 emails involving judges were identified. The disclosures indicates a failure in our criminal justice system where judges and law enforcement are fraternizing via sex, or more? Bribery and extortion issues are certainly possible.

    The secrets behind Corbett's "Second Mile Protection Program" could be exposed if the fraternization went beyond the sharing of pornography. As Ray pointed out, many of the players identified to date are linked to the Sandusky investigation debacle.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ray, another much-needed illumination of the cockroaches! Very interesting how Randy Feathers tries to pass the buck with his statement, "..a convicted pedophile that operated undetected for over twenty years..". Feathers is somehow trying to paint himself as the one that came in and made the difference in getting Sandusky convicted. When in reality, he was just another player within that twenty some odd years that helped cover-up the crimes. Only over twenty years, give or take a year or two right? How many children, and how much abuse does one year of Sandusky equal? Sickening!

    I also find it very interesting that we are supposed to take Governor Corbett's word that Frank Noonan didn't open or forward any of those emails? Has there been forensic proof of this found? And let's suppose Noonan didn't view any of the hardcore porn that he received, the question still remains, why was he even on an interoffice porno mailing list to begin with? And, as a Police Commissioner, why didn't he even investigate why he was receiving over 300 graphic porn emails?

    Ray, you also point out that we should wonder what leverage Frank Noonan has that is allowing him to keep his job. This should be looked at very closely. Because I believe there is a whole of dirt to be found in the fact that the Ray Gricar case was recently transferred to Frank Noonan. Also, I can't help but surmise that this unprecedented "manhunt" of Noonan's is related to his being caught "with his Porngate britches down". It may be an assault on the state budget as retaliation against Kane for implicating him and Fina in Porngate. And worse yet, it may even be considered a form of extortion against Kane. The expensive manhunt will end if Kane "overlooks" Noonan and Fina's hardcore porn club on state time. At the very least, something is not on the level with the "manhunt", and it's an expression of Noonan's power to control the media and intimidate those that are trying to expose him. I hope Kane has help to get this out in the open, because it looks like Noonan is pulling every dirty trick in the book save himself.

    Ray, any ideas as to why Attorney General Kane doesn't comment publicly on Noonan's mahunt? Is she perhaps not wanting to lend credence to the story by appearing with Noonan on television to "warn" the public?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Truthseeker,
      It does seem that the "manhunt" is dragging out under Noonan and is possibly being used in an attempt to deflect attention away from Porngate.

      I think Kane is smart not to talk about the manhunt of Frein...let it run its course. It's five weeks and counting.

      Delete
  3. It's hard to believe lawyer Feathers would retire if he was completely innocent, and his account never contained any porn emails.

    I think Curley, Schultz and Spanier deserve an independent forensic examination of their emails far more than Feathers because they are facing felony charges.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pornocopia may be a better name. What did Fina and the AG know about McQueary's sexting? I can't believe that VanNatta knows more that the cops. Seems that the only person without porn on his computer was Jerry Sandusky!
    Still no explanation why McQueary associated slapping sounds with sex (like a Pavlov dog).

    And then there is McQueary's gambling problems. How did this slip under Joe Paterno's Pave Paws Radar in the 1990's...or did it?? Who in the Athletic Department knew?

    As for Fina, he knew he could get away with suborning perjury. Looks like he was right. Some of the testimony of v9,v10, and Petrosky was bald face perjury. My cat could smell that out, but my cat is very good at smelling rats....and chomping on them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gregory,
      I haven't come across any evidence that indicates the OAG knew about sexting. Gambling -- yes.

      DVN Jr's report said his teammates knew, but there is no evidence that the Athletic Department did. Other evidence shows that Erickson, et al, were informed about Mike's gambling (by the OAG). Mike told the OAG about it at some point during the course of the Sandusky/Conspiracy of Silence investigations.

      Fina got some help from Judge Cleland regarding the allowance of questionable testimony and now the Mont Co judge in keeping his name out of the paper on PornGate.

      The noose is closing around these guy's necks. Someone is going to spill soon.

      Delete