Penn State commissioned the former FBI-leader’s group to investigate the handling of the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal in November of 2011.
The group was charged, among other things, with determining if university administrators knew about Sandusky’s sex abuse acts. The group interviewed key people who were involved and had virtually unrestricted access to university documents.
According to emails obtained by WJAC-TV, members of the Freeh Group were in communication with prosecutors and investigators with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office during this time. Gregory Paw, a legal consultant to Freeh’s firm, congratulated prosecutor Frank Fina the night of Sandusky’s conviction.
“I am proud of you and the entire prosecution team,” Paw wrote. “[It was] very well done.”
“Thank you for all the help and support,” Fina wrote back the next day. Their emails do not specify the type of support offered.
In July of 2012, Freeh released the findings of his investigation. He determined that top administrators Graham Spanier, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz knew about Sandusky’s sex abuse acts. Freeh determined they covered it up to avoid bad publicity.
Freeh’s investigation also suggested former football coach Joe Paterno was aware of the sex abuse acts but didn’t act beyond alerting his superior.
Shortly after Freeh’s findings were announced, Fina sent an email to Paw.
“Greg – Truly great work,” he wrote. “Please extend my congratulations to your team.”
“Frank – this note really means a lot to me,” Paw responded. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for you and your work, and it was my pleasure to have an opportunity to work with you on this matter.”