Posted on Tue, Jun. 12, 2012
last updated: June 12, 2012 07:28:36 PM
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Former Penn State administrator Gary Schultz kept a secret file containing documents relating to alleged child-abuser Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach.
That's according to court documents filed in the perjury and failure to report case against Schultz, Penn States former vice president of finance, and university athletic director Tim Curley.
Sandusky is on trial in Bellefonte, Pa., accused of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years beginning in the 1990s.
Documents kept in the Schultz file recently unearthed by the university and handed over to investigators are inconsistent with statements made by Schultz and his codefendent, Curley, to the Grand Jury, according a motion filed by the attorney generals office in the Dauphin County, Pa., court handling the case.
The prosecutions motion, filed in response to an attempt by Schultzs attorney to have the charge of perjury dropped, also reveals that Penn State recently handed over emails between Schultz, Curley and others allegedly including former Penn State president Graham Spanier, according to an NBC report that contradict their testimony before the grand jury.
NBC reported on Monday one subject of the emails, sent in 2001, reveal that Spanier and Schultz decided it would be humane to Sandusky to not involve the authorities in one alleged case of abuse.
The news organization said the emails could incriminate Spanier.
It was in 2001 that Mike McQueary, a former Penn State player and coach, allegedly encountered Sandusky having sex with a boy in a shower on the Penn State campus.
McQueary testified Tuesday for the prosecution in the Sandusky trial, and said he reported what he saw to the late head coach Joe Paterno, and then to Schultz and Curley.
Schultzs attorney had filed a motion to quash in January, asking the court to dismiss the perjury charge against his client because the attorney general had not identified what false statement or statements Schultz had made to the grand jury.
Mondays reply to that request said the attorney general provided a list of false statements to the defense March 30.
Furthermore, Schultz told so many lies during his Grand Jury testimony that it is unfair for the Commonwealth to allege and prove so many lies, prosecutors wrote in the motion.
The prosecutions motion made note of the fact that it had issued a subpoena to Penn State months ago for any evidence relating to Sandusky, his employment at the university and any investigation of his alleged criminal conduct. Yet it just received the secret file, which, according to prosecutors, was created, maintained and possessed by Schultz.
A statement released Tuesday by a spokesperson for former FBI director Louis Freeh, the head of Penn States internal investigation into the universitys handling of the Sandusky allegations, said it was Freeh who handed over the emails to the attorney generals office.
The ongoing independent investigation led by Judge Freeh discovered these emails in the course of its work, the spokesperson said. These emails were then provided to the State Attorney General, consistent with the investigations prior commitment to share certain information. These materials will be fully discussed in the report to the Task Force, and beyond that Judge Freeh and the investigation team has no further comment.
Schultzs lawyer, Tom Farrell, and Caroline Roberto, Curleys attorney, acknowledged Monday that high-level discussions took place between their clients and Spanier concerning allegations of child sex abuse against Sandusky.
The information confirms that as they testified at the grand jury, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz conscientiously considered Mike Mc Quearys reports of observing inappropriate conduct, reported it to the University President Graham Spanier, and deliberated about how to responsibly deal with the conduct and handle the situation properly, the statement said.
Penn State spokesman Dave La Torre said in a statement, "The University has responded to several subpoenas and gathered documents from many sources across the institution. As soon as any relevant documents were discovered, the University immediately provided them to the office of the Attorney General and the Freeh Group. Out of respect for the ongoing legal process, the University cannot discuss specific information as it pertains to these issues."