STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Football coach Joe Paterno is fighting for his job amid “eroding” support from Penn State’s board of trustees and a widening sex-abuse scandal and possible coverup centered on former assistant and one- time heir apparent Jerry Sandusky.
Paterno’s regularly scheduled news conference was abruptly canceled Tuesday. A university spokesman cited “ongoing legal circumstances,” a reference to charges announced over the weekend that Sandusky molested eight young boys between 1994 and 2009 and that two Penn State administrators who have since stepped aside failed to notify authorities of a 2002 incident reported by an eyewitness.
Late Tuesday night, the board said it would appoint a special committee to conduct an investigation into the “circumstances” that resulted in the indictments of Sandusky, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. The committee will be appointed Friday at the board’s regular meeting, which Gov. Tom Corbett said he plans to attend, and will examine “what failures occurred and who is responsible and what measures are necessary to ensure” similar mistakes aren’t made in the future.
The board also promised that those responsible would be held “fully accountable.”
“We are committed to restoring public trust in the university,” the board statement concluded.
At least 1,000 students descended on the administration building at about 11 p.m. EST, chanting “Joe Paterno!” over and over, along with Penn State cheers. About 10 police officers stood on the steps of the building, guarding it.
Hundreds of fans staged a raucous rally outside Paterno’s home earlier Tuesday evening. He appeared briefly, along with some family members, and thanked the crowd.
“I’ve lived for this place. I’ve lived for people like you guys and girls,” Paterno said.
“It’s hard for me to say how much this means,” he said. “As you know, the kids that were the victims, I think we ought to say a prayer for them.”
Paterno, who earns about $1 million annually from the school, has been head coach for 46 years and part of the Penn State staff for more than six decades, and his old-school values pervade every corner of the program.
Over that span, the Nittany Lions have won two national championships, but unlike many other Division I powerhouses, the program has avoided run-ins with the NCAA. It has inspired pride in the region and fierce loyalty to Paterno, 84, who is the winningest coach in Division I and one of the most respected in any sport.
That lofty status, however, has been the subject of heated arguments in recent days.
A person familiar with the trustees’ discussions said support there for Paterno was “eroding” but couldn’t gauge whether the board would take action. The same person said university president Graham Spanier also has lost support. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Failure to report
Much of the criticism surrounding Paterno has concerned his apparent failure to follow up on a report of the 2002 incident, in which San dus ky allegedly sodomized a 10- year-old boy in the showers at the team’s football complex. The eyewitness, Mike McQueary, is the receivers coach for the team but was a graduate assistant at the time.
McQueary told Paterno about the incident the next day, and the coach notified Curley and Schultz, who in turn notified Spanier. Curley and Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report the incident to authorities, as required by state law.
Both men, as well as Paterno, testified that they were told that Sandusky behaved inappropriately in that 2002 incident but not to the extent of McQueary’s graphic account to a state grand jury.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said Paterno is not a target of the investigation, although the state police commissioner has chastised him and other Penn State officials for not doing enough to try to stop the suspected abuse.
Sandusky, 67, spent three decades on the Penn State staff before retiring in 1999 but continued to use school and athletic facilities as recently as two weeks ago. Prosecutors allege he molested several of the boys at the facility. He often held football camps for youths on Penn State satellite campuses and maintained an office at the complex on the main campus.
Sandusky began working with at-risk youths after founding the Second Mile charity in 1977. It now raises and spends several million dollars each year for its programs.
According to Internal Revenue Service documents, the foundation last paid Sandusky in 2007, when he received $57,000 as a consultant. He publicly severed ties in 2010.
Paterno is listed on the Second Mile’s website as a member of its honorary board of directors.
Another possible victim
Meanwhile, another potential victim has contacted authorities. The man, now an adult, contacted the state police Sunday after seeing media accounts of San dus ky’s arrest, said Lt. David Young at the Montoursville station.
Investigators took a statement from him and forwarded it to the Rockview station for officers there to pursue, Young said.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania said Tuesday he has asked Education Secretary Arne Duncan to look into whether the university violated the Clery Act, which requires schools to publish an annual report of all criminal offenses that are reported to campus security or local police.
