Monday, November 12

Different Narrative of Scandal Emerges At Town Hall

by Ray Blehar

PITTSBURGH, PA:   On Saturday, in  a small dowtown theatre in the Arts District, a different narrative of the Sandusky Scandal emerged.   Last November's grand jury presentment created the false narrative that a Penn State cover-up allowed a 14 year spree of molestation. 

That narrative was laid to rest for all in attendance. 

A chronology of Sandusky's alleged crimes (at the time of the presentment) shows not only that the majority of the crimes occurred before Penn State officials learned of the 2001 incident, but that Sandusky's abuse apparently stopped for a period of four years after PSU (and the Second Mile) confronted Sandusky.



Had the Attorney General reported Sandusky's crimes in this order, it is very likely the the focus would have been on the gap in abuse and why the police could not find any victims from February 2001 (the McQueary incident) until 2005 (when Aaron Fisher reported his abuse started.).

Obviously, it would be a question the AG would want to avoid, considering the AG and Governor are already under fire for a slow-roll investigation.  Had the information been presented chronologically, some investigative reporter (if any still exist today) would have eventually stumbled on the fact that the police and AG investigators did not find ANY of the victims during this three year investigation. 

Instead, the inflammatory version of events in the grand jury presentment brought with it an emotional response and debate over what transpired at Penn State. 

The AG's diversion almost worked.

Police Did Not Find Any of the Victims

While many in the press, including  Pulitzer prize winning reporter, Sara Ganim, questioned the slow pace of the Sandusky investigation, most believed the investigation picked up steam when police commissioner Frank Noonan increased the number of state police investigators from one to eight in early 2011. 

However, all that really meant was seven more investigators weren't finding any victims.

The victims in this case were found as follows:
  • Aaron Fisher (V1) - self-reported in 2008
  • Victim 2 - found through anonymous e-mail tip to Centre County DA
  • Victim 6 - found by news reporter, Sara Ganim
  • Victims 3, 4, 5, and 7 - identified by mother of Victim 6 using book Touched
  • Victim 8 - found through call from janitor to police
  • Victims 9 - mother contacted the police in 2008, son denied abuse. Then self-reported in 2011 (after November grand jury presentment).
  • Victim 10 - self-reported in 2011 (after November grand jury presentment).
Read it as many times as you like, you won't find an instance where the police found any of the victims.  Had it not been for the lucky breaks in the case, including the e-mail tip on McQueary and Sara Ganim's  provision of police contact information to the mother of Victim 6 (see page 35 of the transcripts), it is unlikely that this case would have ever made it to trial.

This information calls into question not only the investigative skills of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Detectives assigned to the OAG, but the competency of Police Commissioner Frank Noonan and then-AG Tom Corbett, who failed to properly oversee the investigation.

Investigative Missteps

Information in the press and in the recently released book, Silent No More, show an investigation that could be described as disjointed at best and incompetent at the worst.  

The police investigation began in December 2008 with state troopers Cavanaugh and Akers interviewing Aaron Fisher.  In February 2009, trooper Lear was called in to replace Cavanaugh and Akers, and Lear believed that he was permanently assigned to the case.  Lear interviewed Fisher on March 19, 2009.

On March 12th, the case made it to the desk of senior deputy attorney general, Jonelle Eschbach, who would be handling the case at the state level.  Eschbach made it clear that even though she was handling the case, she had superiors that she had to answer to, namely AG Tom Corbett.

While few have questioned the assignment of the case to the AG's office, it truly was an unusual turn of events. There was no apparent reason why the case could not have been referred back to Clinton County after Centre County DA Madiera identified a conflict of interest. 

In June 2009, Lear was taken off the case and was replaced by trooper Scott Rossman, who was assigned to the barracks at Rockview, near State College.  Rossman would not say why he was assigned to the case, only that he was assigned by the AG's office and that he would be permanently assigned to the case.  On June 22nd, Rossman was joined by Detective Tony Sassano from the AG's office.

By November 2009, the state police had yet to identify any other victims. 

This result should not have been unexpected. 

The police were relying on Fisher to identify other potential victims, rather than using their authority to search Sandusky's home and the Second Mile, or to access the records of Second Mile participants or to access the 1998 police report from Penn State. 

According to Mike Gillum, the psychologist for Clinton County CYS, the AG's office informed them in June 2009 that they had learned of another incident that involved Sandusky in 1998.  The AG's office did not retrieve the police report, regarding the 1998 incident, from Penn State until January 3, 2011. 

Also in January 2011 Detective Sassano finally got around to getting a warrant for the records of Second Mile.   Previously, the grand jury subpoenaed the employee records of Seond Mile for the employees last names beginning with the letter "S."  Unfortunately, that box of records was missing. 

However, to hear Detective Sassano tell it (as he did at the Sandusky trial), it was lists from Second Mile and their geographic radius search that resulted in the identification of victims.  We now know this to be untrue.

Finally, according to public records, the police did not obtain a search warrant for Sandusky's home until June 21, 2011.   This search undoubtedly did not find any victims.

To say that this was an unsuccessful investigation would be an understatement.

Corbett Not Concerned About Upcoming Probe

According to the Wall Street Journal,  "Kathleen Kane, the newly elected attorney general of Pennsylvania, said she will follow through on a campaign vow to investigate why it took the office of the attorney general nearly three years to build a criminal case against convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky." 

According to many, including astute political observers, her promise to investigate the pace of the AG's investigation was a key to her landslide win, with a margin of nearly 800,000 votes.

Corbett continues to accuse his critics of Monday morning quarterbacking, but seems to be veering away from his original story of the difficulty in developing leads in favor a more legally oriented strategy.  Corbett stated, "there is no communication from me to anybody to slow down an investigation. there is no communication from anyone to me that they were going to slow down for any political reason, and I wouldn't want them to." 

Corbett also stated,  "But for a true investigation there has to be some sort of criminal act. I know I didn't commit any criminal act. None. Zero."

It's clear to me that Governor Corbett is missing the point of the probe.  The citizens of Pennsylvania aren't primarily concerned about his guilt or innocence. 

The citizens want to know why children were unnecessarily endangered for three years. 


26 comments:

  1. Ray, do you think it's a coincidence that no victims were identified during the same years in which TSM files disappeared from the storage facility?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A State and Regional Director of the Second Mile owns an off-site records storage facility and shredding co. Why hasn't anyone asked where the records went missing from.

      Delete
  2. Jessi, the police didn't find any victims. The missing SM files are irrelevant.

    Read between the lines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How and why the records went missing is relevant. Was someone hindering prosecution.

      Delete
  3. Ray:

    Excellent!!

    This whole persecution of PSU comes back to Corbett. The pace and failures of the investiation come back to just a few possibilities:

    He wants us to accept that it was not political then it must be because he was incompetent. Either way when the media initially called him on it he needed a scapegoat to distract the foucs from being him. Joe and PSU were much better options.

    Check out the link to what is sometimes referred to as the "Child Molester Investigative Bible" A manual put out by the US Dept of Justice, Center for Missing and Exploited Children" (by the way it was published in 2010 in concert withthe FBI) I think Noonan might have access to some help from them.

    http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC70.pdf

    It reads like the Jerry Sandusky biography. A lot of info but the descriptive similarities are uncanny.

    It points out 2 CRITICAL steps. SEARCH the subjects residence and computer AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and work in a MULTI DISCIPLINE Task Force to develop the best case as efficently as possible.

    As you point out the AG (Corbett)and his Chief of Investigations (Noonan), (both career Leaders from the US Dept of Justice and FBI who produced the "Bible") seemed to have missed those steps.

    Yet they claim to have provided the investigators Everything they wanted. What about the Leadership inserting themselves into the decisions? I have been and continue to look for a serial crime case where law enforcement let the suspect in the community, unmonitered for years. I'm still batting "zero" at finding one.

    As to his response of "I know I did not commit any criminal act" maybe the new AG investigation will have an answer to that.




    ReplyDelete
  4. Ray, if the media would have built this same simple timeline which can be built from data in the Freeh report (but misstated in the Freeh summary), they would have realized that there is not one known victim that was abused on the campus of Penn State following the McQueary incident.

    However, the constant damning statement heard from media members and their followers is: "if Joe (and PSU administrators) would have taken morally correct action, boys would not have been abused on the campus of Penn State over a 10 year period".

    This timeline shows that definitely not to be true. So to Bobby Bowden, Jim Boeheim, and others who would have "handled it differently", what would they have done that would have prevented anything prior to 2001? And how could they have prevented the 2005-2008 incidents that did not occur on PSU property?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Frank,
    I'll do you one better. The media could have constructed this timeline the day the grand jury presentment went public. Unfortunately, everyone was so emotionally upset over the horrific crimes that WE all lost our ability to think rationally, mostly because we were all distracted by the McQueary shower incident and the falsehood that he witnessed a rape.

    This whole thing is BS and I've proved it.

    Ray

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mike,
    Thanks for the kind words. Yes, Corbett and the AG's office failed miserably. The media also failed miserably.

    There are no investigative journalists left in America.

    I'll be in touch.

    Ray

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ray,

    Thanks for the article and all your great work on the Second Mile Scandal. I’m with you guys on the Second Mile scandal but have some questions.

    The timeline certainly indicates a failing of law enforcement on this and backs up that many entities dropped the ball along the way.

    I’ll admit that trying to keep up with the different victims and timing makes my hair hurt but the list makes me wonder about a couple of things. I find it hard to believe that Sandusky didn’t abuse anyone for four years and wonder where the victims from that time might be. We know he was around and not in jail so had to be doing his deeds.

    Maybe I’m missing something, but a couple of other things in the article bother me. One is the list indicates that as many as five occurrences happened while he was employed by Penn State and could have happened on campus. That just ties Penn State into the case a little more. The other is that the “haters”, professional second guessers and those who haven’t bothered with the facts in the case may look at this and say “see, if Paterno, Curly, Schultz and/or Spanier” had been screaming from the rooftops in this case after the McQueary report, Sandusky would have been stopped then. This despite the fact it would have been illegal and opened them up to lawsuits if they’d done so and been wrong.

    I still wonder why Second Mile and its people and the Clinton Country school people involved in the Aaron Fisher case haven’t been investigated, charged and indicted for their failure to report and part of the alleged cover up. Couldn’t possibly be politics could it?

    Jeff

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jeff,
    You can't stop what you don't know about. It doesn't matter if the incidents happened on campus or not. And for the record, some of the abuse did and some didn't. So, 2001 is the first time PSU officials have a first hand account of someone catching Sandusky in the act. They reported it.

    The evidence from the 1998 case says just the opposite of your contention that "screaming it from the rooftops" would have resulted in a different outcome. DPW and CYS derailed the 1998 investigation. That is the conclusion that reasonable people come to when they are confronted with the facts that both organizations had a report from a PhD licensed psychologist that Sandusky was exhibiting grooming behaviors -- and they got a second opinion from an unlicensed counselor to end the investigation.

    So, Gary and Wendell both contend that they contacted CYS is 2001. It's a good bet CYS buried their report.

    All I can say is the AG wanted this focused on PSU, and as a result, TSM and CMHS haven't gotten charged. Politics? Maybe. Personal vendetta? Maybe that too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ray,

    Thanks to you and all the contributors with this amazing amount of information, almost daily. However, is this info. getting traction in any venue where it will sway public opinion or provide the defense with incontrvertible evidence in the upcoming criminal proceedings. The media does not appear to care,Corbutt is deflecting and Raykovitz etal are hiding in their rabbit holes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I noticed the gap after 2001, myself, and thought it was due to Sandusky getting the word from Second Mile that he was on the verge of being caught. It seems to me that he was even more on the verge of being caught in 1998 when several agencies investigated him, and that didn't seem to slow him down.

    Predator profiles suggest that predators don't stop, they can't stop themselves, and he didn't, after 1998. So, my question is - was he able to contain himself for a couple of years after 2001? or did he go someplace else, and those victims haven't come forward, they're not actually related to Second Mile (or PSU)?

    yeah, it's rhetorical... but if there are other victims out there... maybe somebody needs to find them...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dolly,
      In my post about the mother of Victim 6, I mentioned Victims 11-17 as possible victims uncovered before they found out about Victim 2. Amendola asked for information about these victims, however, the judge issued a gag order on any information not brought to trial. If I had to speculate, those victims are contemporaries of Aaron Fisher, who were found early in the investigation and not victims in the 2001 to 2005 timeframe. I agree that there are other victims out there from 2001 to 2005.

      Delete
  11. Ray,

    Nice work on the timeline & highlighting how the victims were found. The numbering only made sense to me if it’s the order in which they testified. I came up with a similar timeline, all from the GJPs, back in April. I'm sure you know once the final charges were brought, at least a few dates changed. Notably, the dates for victim 5 moved forward 3 years. If true, and if that was a result of additional counseling, so be it. But his dates didn't change (publically) until after McQueary's 2002 date moved back to 2001. That led me to believe the attorney for victim 5, knowing there was uncertainty in the dates, wanted them 3 years later, after McQueary's report, providing an increased chance of a beneficial settlement from PSU.

    I have wondered for some time why & at whose direction did Noonan add investigators in early 2011. He became the PA Police Commissioner through appointment by Governor Corbett, right after Corbett was inaugurated. But, the investigating was within the office of the Attorney General. Once Corbett was inaugurated, Bill Ryan was the attorney general. As attorney general he was the state's chief law enforcement officer, and his office controlled the investigation. So, were officers added at Bill Ryan's assistance? Linda Kelly was not confirmed by the state senate until May 2011, when she assumed the position of attorney general. At that point, by Linda Kelly's own statements, much of the investigation was complete.

    When did Wendell Courtney contend that CYS was contacted in 2001? I have not seen a source on that one. In fact, I recall an article from Nov 2011 where Courtney is quoted as stating if he had received a report he would have reported it. Thus, implying he never received a report. But we now know the billing statement in the Freeh Report refutes that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I know Gary Schultz contended in his Grand Jury testimony that he thought the child organization (same one contacted in 1998, so either CYS or DPW) was contacted in 2001. And it seemed the prosecutor, in his questioning, confused Schultz by stating his (PSU) police department did the entire 1998 investigation (implying that neither CYS nor DPW was involved). What is interesting to me, is if there was a report to CYS or DPW that was determined to be unfounded, then the records would have been destroyed within the year; and yet, the statute of limitations for failure to report isn't one year, which would be consistent, rather it is 10 years. The prosecutor did seem to chastise Schultz for not having police involved, but in the case of Victim 1, the first thing was a report to Clinton County CYS, who then involved the police.

    I could be reading too much into the perjury hearing trial transcript from 12/16/2011, but Sassano answered a question in a somewhat odd way, and there was really no follow-up. On page 170 of the transcript: "Q. Did you ask him [Lauro] whether, besides records, he had any personal knowledge of a report in 2002 or about 2002? A. Yes. I believe we also subpoenaed records from DPW reference to the 2002 matter and they have them." So what does that answer mean? DPW received a subpoena and they have the subpoena. Or DPW received a subpoena and they have records from an incident from "2002 or about 2002"? Was a report made?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Police chief Thomas Harmon testified directly at the perjury hearing. On page 127, he is asked whether he is aware of a number of psychologist reports issued during the 1998 investigation. (I assume by asking about "A number of reports", Harmon should already know about Seasock, so the question is aimed at whether he knows of Dr. Chambers report.) The commonwealth immediately objected to the question, but the court permitted it. Harmon stated "No, I'm not" aware of a number of psychologist reports. Was Harmon lying, or did Shreffler never bring Chambers report to Harmon's attention? If Harmon did not know, he could not brief Schultz accordingly (Shreffler wasn't briefing him). So was Schultz ever aware of the Chambers report? If so, when? Did Schultz retrieve the police report from the imaged archives in 2001 (which Harmon stated were available)? If you take a close look at the police report that NBC received in 3/2012, you will notice there is mention in the body of the report what Seasock's conclusions were. Chambers report is mentioned in the body of the report, too; however, none of her conclusions were in the body of the report. It seems with that, and without reading every page of the report, nothing would help someone easily find her damaging conclusions.

    What ever happened to Trooper Rossman blatantly committing perjury at the JS trial on 6/19/2012? He denied having a conversation with Corporal Leiter, about testimony given that morning, while Leiter admitted to the conversation?

    McQueary has testified that he saw JS in the football buildings after 2001, but never with a boy. How often did Paterno see JS? And what exactly did Curley tell Paterno? I found one article from March 2005 where Paterno stated to JS: "I thought we got rid of[sic] you".
    http://articles.mcall.com/2005-03-24/sports/3583585_1_posluszny-penn-state-jerry-sandusky

    ReplyDelete
  14. I know Gary Schultz contended in his Grand Jury testimony that he thought the child organization (same one contacted in 1998, so either CYS or DPW) was contacted in 2001. And it seemed the prosecutor, in his questioning, confused Schultz by stating his (PSU) police department did the entire 1998 investigation (implying that neither CYS nor DPW was involved). What is interesting to me, is if there was a report to CYS or DPW that was determined to be unfounded, then the records would have been destroyed within the year; and yet, the statute of limitations for failure to report isn't one year, which would be consistent, rather it is 10 years. The prosecutor did seem to chastise Schultz for not having police involved, but in the case of Victim 1, the first thing was a report to Clinton County CYS, who then involved the police.

    I could be reading too much into the perjury hearing trial transcript from 12/16/2011, but Sassano answered a question in a somewhat odd way, and there was really no follow-up. On page 170 of the transcript: "Q. Did you ask him [Lauro] whether, besides records, he had any personal knowledge of a report in 2002 or about 2002? A. Yes. I believe we also subpoenaed records from DPW reference to the 2002 matter and they have them." So what does that answer mean? DPW received a subpoena and they have the subpoena. Or DPW received a subpoena and they have records from an incident from "2002 or about 2002"? Was a report made?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jimmy W,
    I think the change of timeframe for Victim 5 had more to do with the state's impending charges vs. Spanier. It's clear from reading the trial transcripts that many witnesses were coached, and, if you attended the event in Pittsburgh, there was no greater changing story than that of Ronald Petrosky (the hearsay witness for Victim 8).

    According to Silent No More, the book from Aaron Fisher and Mike Gillum, this increase in investigators didn't seem to make much impact. From the trial, we know that Cpl. Leiter was helping trooper Rossman. The first I heard of Leiter in the fold was the fall of 2010 when he got involved with V6. Leiter also interviewed Vs 1, 4, 5 and 7, according to press reports. But outside of Leiter, no other cops or investigators testify. So, if they did add seven more investigators, only ONE of them found victims. I guess I stand corrected :-)

    See page 84 of the Freeh Report regarding Courtney's e-mail to Baldwin where he recalled someone (but not him) contacting CYS. Even so, the only record Courtney would have had is a record of contact that he'd have kept in his files. The complaint form re: child abuse is typically filled out by CYS and sent to DPW.


    ReplyDelete
  16. Police chief Thomas Harmon testified directly at the perjury hearing. On page 127, he is asked whether he is aware of a number of psychologist reports issued during the 1998 investigation. (I assume by asking about "A number of reports", Harmon should already know about Seasock, so the question is aimed at whether he knows of Dr. Chambers report.) The commonwealth immediately objected to the question, but the court permitted it. Harmon stated "No, I'm not" aware of a number of psychologist reports. Was Harmon lying, or did Shreffler never bring Chambers report to Harmon's attention? If Harmon did not know, he could not brief Schultz accordingly (Shreffler wasn't briefing him). So was Schultz ever aware of the Chambers report? If so, when? Did Schultz retrieve the police report from the imaged archives in 2001 (which Harmon stated were available)? If you take a close look at the police report that NBC received in 3/2012, you will notice there is mention in the body of the report what Seasock's conclusions were. Chambers report is mentioned in the body of the report, too; however, none of her conclusions were in the body of the report. It seems with that, and without reading every page of the report, nothing would help someone easily find her damaging conclusions.

    What ever happened to Trooper Rossman blatantly committing perjury at the JS trial on 6/19/2012? He denied having a conversation with Corporal Leiter, about testimony given that morning, while Leiter admitted to the conversation?

    McQueary has testified that he saw JS in the football buildings after 2001, but never with a boy. How often did Paterno see JS? And what exactly did Curley tell Paterno? I found one article from March 2005 where Paterno stated to JS: "I thought we got rid of[sic] you". http://articles.mcall.com/2005-03-24/sports/3583585_1_posluszny-penn-state-jerry-sandusky

    ReplyDelete
  17. Steve,
    We are working to get this information into the right hands...those of Kathleen Kane.

    Ray

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ray,

      "Pie in the Sky" She takes the oath of office. Drops the charges against S/S/C. Begins investigating Corbett, Second Mile. Exonerates JVP. Destroys Freeh report. Castigates media. Also, I believe in Sana Claus.

      Delete
  18. Jimmy W,
    Harmon's truthfully answering the question as it was asked -- because Seasock was not a psychologist, Harmon could only be aware of one report (Chambers). Chambers report was attached to the police report, so Harmon knew about it.

    Seasock's conclusions, and discussion with Schreffler, are a CYA move by Schreffler. He's on the record to not agreeing with Seasock.

    I have no idea what the cops shared with Schultz, outside of the notes of the conversations and e-mails.

    Rossman and Leiter both lied. Amendola should have put it in his appeal, but didn't. I'm thinking something's not quite right with Sandusky's defense team. They don't seem particularly interested in getting their client a new trial. Their appeal was pathetic.

    I have no idea how often Joe saw Jerry, but I do know that Jerry got to Lasch early to work out and was usually gone before Joe arrived.

    Have no idea what you mean about Curley telling Paterno??? With regard to what???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ray,
      Sorry I wasn't clear when I questioned what exactly Curley told Paterno. I am simply wondering what exactly Curley told Paterno in late February 2001, and what impression Paterno was left with. I found that quote from 2005 where Paterno told JS "I though we got rid of you". If late February 2001 was the last time Paterno & Curley spoke about how to handle the 2001 incident, how did they end that discussion? Recall that Curley gave it more thought after speaking with Joe, before the plan was changed.

      Back to Harmon. I do see your point about how he answered the question, and that Seasock wasn't licensed in 1998. However, Shreffler identified both Seasock and Chambers as psychologists in the 1998 police report. Whether licensed or not, Seasock was at least serving the role of a psychologist. My point is, Harmon outright committed perjury or was at least evasive. Or, the third option, was Chambers report and it's implications weren't brought to his attention.

      Delete
  19. Jimmy W,
    There isn't documentation of the discussion between Curley and Paterno regarding the 2001 incident. Sources have told me that Joe checked the PSU policies on what to do before he talked to Curley. Same sources say that Paterno approached Harmon about it, but Harmon waved him off. If those sources are correct, then Harmon's wave off of Joe might (repeat might) be an indication that the incident was being investigated by CYS. It is a good questiion for the attorneys of Curley and Schultz to ask.

    Also, knowing Joe's preference for following our justice system of people being presumed innocent (see Rashard Casey), it is likely that he agreed that Curley should talk to Jerry first and get the story from him before taking any other actions. Joe would not have been the type to just blindly follow a 3 step plan if he got information that made steps 2 and 3 unneccessary.

    Harmon was being evasive with his response to that question.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whoa! I knew from the Posnanski book that Paterno reviewed policies to figure out what to do, before calling Curley. But I never heard he talked to Harmon (and obviously, never heard Harmon waved him off). If true, very interesting. This still makes me wonder how far up the PSU chain the Chambers report made it & where did it stop - Shreffler, Harmon, Schultz, Curley or Spanier, BOT members?

      Delete
  20. I don't think Chambers' report was seen by anyone other than the police (Schreffler, Weaver, and Harmon). Weaver is rarely mentioned, however, he signed off on the police report as Schreffler's supervisor.

    ReplyDelete