HARRISBURG – Former Penn State President Graham Spanier is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning in Harrisburg on criminal charges related to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse case.
Last Thursday, Spanier became the latest high-ranking school official to face charges in the child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Sandusky.
He is charged with perjury, two counts of endangering the welfare of children, three counts of conspiracy, obstruction and failure to report suspected child abuse. His arraignment is set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Additional charges were also filed last week against two other school officials already charged in the case: former Penn State Director of Athletics Tim Curley and former Penn State Senior Vice President Gary Shultz.
All three men face the same five charges.
An investigation led by ex-FBI Director Louis Freeh concluded that Spanier failed in his duties as president by not informing the board of trustees about the allegations against Sandusky or about the subsequent grand jury investigation.
Freeh’s report identified Spanier as one of four Penn State leaders — including Shultz, Curley and Joe Paterno — who covered up Sandusky’s abuses to spare the university bad publicity.
Spanier has told investigators he wasn’t notified of any criminal behavior by Sandusky during his 16 years as president. In June, a jury found Sandusky guilty of 45 counts of child sex abuse, and Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.
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