Documents confirm The Second Mile leaders
lied to members and kept them – and the public -- in the dark about Sandusky’s abuse
allegations.
By
Ray Blehar
July 14, 2017, 9:01 AM EDT. Updated 12:42 PM on July 14, 2017.
A limited and heavily redacted trove of documents obtained
by PSU alumnus Ryan Bagwell confirmed that leaders of The Second Mile (TSM) charity kept board members and others in
the dark about Jerry Sandusky.
Bagwell’s documents, obtained via FOIA requests of the United
States Department of Justice (USDOJ), include interviews with two
apparent PSU employees and six other individuals associated with TSM. Two of the TSM interviews are so heavily
redacted that they are unintelligible.
As a result, there are four usable interviews from TSM associated
persons
Those interviews confirm that TSM’s leadership:
- Did not disclose the 2008 allegations were sexual in nature;
- Stated that the 2008 allegation did not involve a TSM child;
- Did not disclose the 2001 abuse allegations about Sandusky until
after the November presentment was released;
- Deceived members about Sandusky’s post-2009 role at the charity;
and
- Endangered the welfare of children – a criminal offense.
Not Sexual In Nature
The charity told three of the four individuals that the 2008
allegations were not sexual in nature and
that it involved a complaint from a disgruntled mother and/or disgruntled child.
According to the Sandusky trial transcripts, the 2008 accuser, Aaron
Fisher, initially reported on November 20, 2008, that he had been in bed with
Sandusky on numerous occasions and had (sexual) contact over clothes for a
three year period. This information was
documented in Clinton County CYS’s intake report. CYS caseworker Jessica Dershem confirmed, at
the trial, that Fisher estimated 30 incidents of contact over clothing at
various hotels.
According to the Moulton Report, on November 20, 2008, Clinton
County Children and Youth Services Director, Gerald Rosamilia contacted TSM to inform it of sexual abuse allegations against a
charity member. Then TSM Vice-President
for Development, Katherine Genovese, correctly guessed it was Sandusky. According to various press reports,
Genovese related that the charity had to tell him to “back off certain kids before” and that he had gotten “too close” to children.
Based on the evidence, it is clear that charity leaders were
dishonest about the sexual nature of the 2008 allegation against Sandusky.
Not A TSM Child
Universally, the interviewees associated with TSM stated charity
officials denied that a TSM child was
involved in the 2008 allegations against Sandusky.
Obviously, that was a lie.
Aaron Fisher, the victim who reported Sandusky in 2008 had been a
member of TSM since he was 8. Around
the time of Fisher’s abuse report, Sandusky had been haranguing him about
helping with TSM’s golf tournament.
TSM issued a public statement in March
and Dr. Jack Raykovitz penned an op-ed in April
2011 that led the public to believe that the Sandusky investigation did not
involve the charity or its programs and that there had never been any prior abuse
allegations.
Raykovitz penned an Op-Ed regarding TSM's non-involvement in Sandusky matter. |
2001 Allegations
Three of the four individuals remarked that they were “shocked”
and/or “surprised” to learn of the 1998 and 2001 allegations against Sandusky when
the various news stories broke.
In April 2011, after the Patriot
News broke the story of the Sandusky grand jury,
charity leaders told the other board members that the grand jury
investigation would be discussed privately and communicated later.
When the grand jury presentment was leaked, causing a media firestorm,
the interviewees mentioned being shocked to learn about the 2001 incident. One of the interviewees added that at the
November 13, 2011 board meeting, 4 or 5 board members were angry that they
weren’t notified contemporaneously.
Another interviewee, who understood the expungement requirements
for unfounded child abuse reports, added that “all of this could have been
avoided” if the 1998 and 2001 incidents were reported – presumably to the TSM
Board of Directors.
Sandusky’s Resignation and
Retirement
Three of the four also had conflicting information regarding
Sandusky’s role with the charity after 2009.
One interviewee recalled attending the fall of 2009 meeting when
Sandusky announced he was resigning due to “family matters.” However, two of the others believed that
Sandusky was part of the charity until he “retired” in 2010.
IRS records reveal that the charity last paid Sandusky for his “consulting”
work for the year ending August 31, 2008 and that he was no longer listed as a
director for the year ending August 31, 2009. He was not paid or listed as a director after
the year ending August 31, 2009.
When Sandusky “retired” in 2010, the publicity surrounding the
news was that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
From the September 17,
2010, Altoona Mirror:
In a letter addressed to
friends of the organization, Sandusky said he is retiring from his day-to-day
involvement from the organization he founded in 1977 to help Pennsylvania
children develop self-esteem and reach their full potential.
Sandusky said he was doing
so "to devote more time to my family and personal matters."
Sandusky’s 2010 retirement came as a surprise to two interviewees.
Endangering Children
While Sandusky was an unpaid volunteer starting in 2009, the
charity kept his status under wraps and let the public, donors, employees, and
some board members continue to believe that he was fully part of the charity. One interviewee recalled the first he was
informed of Sandusky’s abuse allegations was when he learned that Sandusky lost
his ChildLine clearance in late 2009 – after he dropped his appeal.
At that point, Sandusky should have been excluded from all charity
activities and not allowed any contact with children.
The interviewee also recalled Sandusky’s fall 2009 resignation and
that the argument surrounding Sandusky’s status with the charity was “heated.” Some argued that all ties should be severed,
while others recommended Sandusky be kept on for fundraising purposes.
The “executive committee” of TSM recommended communicating the
abuse allegations against Sandusky to the regional offices in order to “protect
the kids,” but according to the interviewee, the TSM State Board of Directors
quashed the idea
Note that in November 2009, The State Board of Directors included Senator Jake
Corman, former PSU Board of Trustees member and fundraising expert, Cliff Benson, Bruce Heim, Robert Poole, and Dr. Jack Raykovitz (who all knew
of the 2001 allegations), and several other big corporate donors.
One of the corporate donors, Louie Sheetz, stated:
"I know the people who run the golf outing said, 'He's a
big reason why people come -- to see him.' That makes sense, in my opinion.
That's not involved in programming,"
As reported by notpsu.blogspot.com
on May 31, 2017, Sandusky continued to contact children after the 2009 decision
that he would exclusively be a fundraiser and not be involved in programming.
In summary, the evidence reveals a course of conduct – a felony --
by charity officials’ decisions in 2001 and 2009 to allow Sandusky’s continued
access to children.
Whether or not the USDOJ in Harrisburg passed this information onto the OAG to support charges for Endangering the Welfare of Children remains unknown. However, if it did then it is clear the OAG did nothing with that evidence.