PS4RS 4/29/2016 Statement: AG Not Pursuing Appeal

Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship Calls Case Against Penn State Admins “Ill-Conceived;”  Asks for Formal Second Mile Investigation April 29, 2016 — Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship (PS4RS) is pleased that the Pennsylvania Attorney General has today recognized the futility of pursuing the most serious charges against the Penn State administrators who were indicted in connection with the Jerry Sandusky case. From the outset, our members have questioned why Penn State administrators have been held responsible for the errors made by administrators of Sandusky's charity, The Second Mile. We hope that the elimination of this distraction, along with the eventual dismissal of the baseless mandatory reporting and child endangerment charges, will turn the conversation towards making Pennsylvania children truly safer. That begins with an official, formal investigation into The Second Mile, the non-profit that was founded by a now-convicted preferential child sexual offender.  And it continues with a closer look at how such an offender could hide in plain sight, escaping the scrutiny of county and state licensed child welfare professionals, child protection advocates, Child Protective Services and ChildLine. Too much time and too many resources have been wasted on an ill-conceived case targeting the wrong institution. This was never a Penn State problem. It is was – and still is – a State of Pennsylvania problem. Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship (PS4RS), with more than 40,000 members, was formed to promote positive change within the University Board of Trustees, demanding transparent, trustworthy leadership. For further information on PS4RS, please visitwww.PS4RS.org, email ps4rsinfo@ps4rs.org, or go to http://www.facebook.com/PS4RS. Follow PS4RS on Twitter at @PS4RS.

Kane’s office won’t pursue appeal in Spanier, Schultz, Curley charges by Lori Falce The Office of Attorney General is not going to appeal a ruling that dropped some charges against former Penn State leaders. According to an announcement from Attorney General Kathleen Kane, her office will not pursue an appeal of the state Supreme Court ruling from January. That was when a panel tossed the perjury, obstruction and conspiracy counts against former university president Graham Spanier and former vice president Gary Schultz, as well as obstruction and conspiracy against former athletic director Tim Curley. That leaves failure to report suspected abuse and endangering the welfare of children charges against all three and a perjury count against Curley remaining in Dauphin County. The charges stem from the grand jury proceedings against retired Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. “The attorney general accepts the opinion of the Solicitor General and, in response thereto, orders that no further resources of the Commonwealth be expended to pursue a possible appeal,” the OAG said in a release.