Thursday, January 24

Press Release: Freeh Report Suffers Another Blow

MUCH-MALIGNED FREEH REPORT SUFFERS ANOTHER BLOW

US Government Analyst Blames Freeh’s Investigation for Keeping Pennsylvania’s Children In Harm’s Way



 JANUARY 23, 2013, WASHINGTON, DC --- For the last six months, the investigation and subsequent report penned by Louis Freeh have come under fire for being light on facts, heavy on supposition and lacking the legal teeth to provide any of the answers about Penn State’s role in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.  A new report released today by U.S. Government analyst Ray Blehar concludes something far worse: the Freeh Report’s analysis of the 1998 investigation of Jerry Sandusky completely missed the fact that Sandusky had full access to children during the investigation and, as trial records indicate, was likely abusing Victim 4 at the time of the investigation.

Blehar’s report exposes that no safety plan was put in place during the 1998 investigation of Sandusky.  Law enforcement records referenced in the report confirm that Sandusky continued to interact with children throughout the investigation.  Sandusky was observed at the baseball practices of two of the children who were the subjects of the investigation, prompting the mother to again summon the police.   The report also notes that no formal safety plan was put in place during the 2008 – 2011 investigation.

The report contends that root cause of the Freeh Report's many flaws was its failure to reference Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law (CPSL).

“When the 1998 investigation is evaluated for compliance with the CPSL, it is quite obvious that the state (DPW) and county (CYS) agencies failed on several fronts,” explained Blehar. As a result of the omission, the Freeh Report failed to recommend any type of review of the DPW’s and Centre County CYS’s investigative procedures, which could lead to needed improvements in child protection.

“So, here we sit, more than six months after Freeh’s press conference, with no more safeguards in place to protect the children of Pennsylvania than we had when Sandusky was evaluated 14 years ago,” said Blehar. “Nothing has been done to prevent another predator like Jerry Sandusky from roaming the streets of Pennsylvania."

The report also confirms that Centre County Children and Youth Services (CYS) failed to notify The Second Mile of the 1998 investigation of Jerry Sandusky.  Further, CYS failed to provide a “status determination” to the charity at the close of the investigation.  These notifications, required by law, may have had a profound impact on the charity’s response to the 2001 report of an incident of Sandusky showering with a child on Penn State’s campus.  

By law, the 1998 investigation should have been conducted by DPW officials from the outset, due to Sandusky’s status as an “agent” of the county.  But since it was not, the DPW investigator, Jerry Lauro, did not personally interview any of the alleged victims. As a result, Lauro was only able to read the transcripts of interviews conducted by the police and CYS, denying him first hand knowledge of the emotional states of the children. 

Blehar said the Freeh investigation provided a golden opportunity to illuminate real and serious issues regarding child welfare in the state of Pennsylvania. Instead, he concluded the Freeh Report turned out to be of little diagnostic quality in determining the reforms needed to keep children safe, and stated, “The fact of the matter is really quite simple: this is NOT a Penn State problem; it’s a Pennsylvania state problem.”



Ray Blehar has 27 years of experience as an analyst and investigator. He is currently employed as a senior requirements analyst for the U.S. government in Washington, DC.  Blehar has served on the Board of Examiners for the U.S. Senate Productivity and Maryland Quality Awards program.  In this role, he examined the most important aspects of organizational governance, including legal, ethical and societal  responsibilities, strategic planning, customer relationship management, operations management, human resource management, and business performance.  Blehar holds certifications as a Quality Improvement Associate with the American Society of Quality and as a team facilitator through the Army Management and Engineering College. 
               Blehar's report, the first in a series on the Sandusky Scandal, can be accessed at:



 Note:  I will be presenting this information and other information related to my second report on the Sandusky Scandal (regarding NCAA sanctions) this Friday, January 25th, at the Radison Hotel Valley Forge, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania from 7PM to 930PM.  Also, I will do a similar presentation on Sunday, January 27th, at the Sunset Room, Washington National Harbor at 1 PM.

14 comments:

  1. In other words, because Freeh et al concentrated on Penn State as being the "bad guys" who fell down in their duty to the children, nobody has realized that the Pennsylvania
    Department of Public Welfare and Centre County
    Children and Youth Services were breaking the Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law? That the law states they needed to have restrained JS' contact with all children, but especially those that were being investigated, and they didn't do that?

    I knew they fell down on the job, but this is big!

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    1. And that they could have and should have investigated the other kids that were in contact with JS, and they didn't. Thus resulting in allowing those children to be molested as well.

      Any chance these people could get more $ out of Pennsylvania than out of Penn State if they sued the government? or is that feasibly an impossibility? thinking that a lawsuit against the state might make news....

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    2. Dolly,
      The state can't be sued, but in a case like this, if the blame is put on the state, it is not unusual for the state to establish a victim funds for paying settlements. But, that sucks, because who is paying for it??? The taxpayers! Not the people who failed the kids.

      Ray

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    3. This is important for several reasons:
      1. Freeh's investigative team completely WHIFFED on citing the law for conducting child abuse investigations. So, nothing they say about 1998 is worth a damn.

      2. CYS and DPW screwed up in 1998 and in 2008 -- no safety plans either time and in both cases, Sandusky was messing with kids while under investigation.

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  2. Brilliant Ray! Especially getting a media outlet to pick up on it. I know you have been working long and hard on this and put lots of BS and T into it. For the children!

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    1. NR,
      Thanks. Hopefully, we'll get people to understand that the Freeh Report didn't do a damn thing about fixing the system that protects the kids.

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    2. Yes, but the Board of Trustees didn't commission Freeh to investigate the DPW, because that would have tended to be inculpatory vis. a vis. Penn State officials.

      After all, how could PSU administrators (or Paterno) be held to the cover-up if DPW itself had taken a pass?

      The Party line was: we fired Paterno and Spanier, and that was RIGHT and JUST, and we want you to produce a report which justifies that decision, while limiting our exposure and the exposure of Penn State, the Second Mile, and the Commonwealth to as few people as possible; prefereably people who have already been indicted.

      Which they did.

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  3. I'm just wading my way through your analysis and my blood is boiling already.

    I sat at the Freeh press conference in July. I watched Twitter light up immediately with the Executive Summary. I saw Freeh lob those grenades of untruths & half-truths at the Media in that ballroom. I listened to the inane questions from those reporters.

    It is soooo irresponsible of a man who is a "respected" Judge, former FBI & LE Official to so cavalierly toss rumor, innuendo & spin out into the Public Consciousness like that and NEVER address the real issue about how our Commonwealth failed these kids. Freeh should have immediately turned over his findings on the 1998 failures to the State. Instead he weaves a different story, diverting attention from the real crimes.

    I can say that because here we sit 14 months later from that day in November 2011....with still NO IDEA how a child molester was approved as an adoptive & foster parent by our Commonwealth, kids having been placed in his home for years.

    Nor do we have any idea why a State Licensed & Audited Children's Charity continually gave this same man unauthorized, unfettered, individual access to its clients for years and years..standard protocol of working with minors be damned.

    Instead, the Media has gyrated about on football. This is beyond depressing.

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    Replies
    1. Thinking about the case, I think the only reason so many people know about it is because the name "Joe Paterno" was attached to it. Just goes to show that the media knew what would get a reaction.

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  5. Dear Ray, my first comment was not clear enough for you to understand- First, thankyou for such a wonderfull presentation in king of prussia last night. You did an outstanding job! i was talking to you after the presentation and i am interested in looking at your two 'timelines' of all the victims with the dates as presented and then the revised timeline after all of your analysis. that was one of the most powerful parts of the evening. it clearly showed in your revised timeline after conducting your research that the abuse stopped after 2001 as i recall. i really want to study those two timelines. So can you respond and let us know where those two powerpoint timelines are located on your blog? thanks again! keep up the great work!

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  7. John,
    Thanks for the kind words.

    Check the latest blog. Links to the presentation and other information are posted there.

    And here is a timeline of the police investigation.

    http://www.notpsu.blogspot.com/2012/11/sandusky-investigation-was-bible-on-how.html

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  8. There is another tier of harm created by the impact of the 1998 breaking news, as it was, and it absolutely was, and what it had on innocent people. These agencies, although they pretended not to know what was taking place as far as the investigations and what was being investigated, once given his "blessings" by Wendell Courtney, proceeded forward in a very unprofessional manner. Very rash decisions were made against innocent people who were not in any way known to be connected to the scandal - except through the result of unjustified consequences of this mass hysteria. To destroy a student's education when entering their 4th year of college, over their being the person on the end to click the shutter of a camera, after the agency employees lined the children up for pictures - and lied about their role in it - this is irreprehensible! These agencies further destroyed lives in an effort to cover themselves from liability, placing the blame on innocent persons - simply out of their own need to add drama to a horribly out of control situation, to satisfy their need for contributory gossip. These agencies are manipulators of their own agendas, manipulators of lies and must also be forced to face the consequences they inflicted on others for intentional contributory harm while in their state of self-imposed disorganization, dysfunctional rage, and panic. The multiple levels of harm inflicted by these agencies when they chose their first concern to be to cover their backsides - MUST be addressed!

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