Former PSU officials to stand trial in child sex abuse case

Author: 69 News, (follow: @69news), news@wfmz.com
Published: Dec 16 2011 06:05:49 AM EST   Updated On: Dec 17 2011 09:32:36 AM EST
HARRISBURG, Pa. -

A judge said two former Penn State University officials can be tried on charges of lying to a grand jury in the university's child sex abuse scandal.

District Judge William Wenner ruled Friday that prosecutors had probable cause to send the case against Tim Curley and Gary Schultz to trial.

Wenner heard testimony against Curley, Penn State's former athletic director, and Schultz, a former university vice president who oversaw campus police, on charges they lied to a grand jury and didn't properly report an allegation that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sodomized a boy in a locker room shower in 2002.

Their lawyers maintain the men are innocent, and contest testimony that they were told about the seriousness of the matter.

Sandusky said he's innocent of more than 50 counts of child sex abuse involving 10 boys over a span of 12 years.

During Friday's hearing, former Penn State star quarterback and now star witness Mike McQueary testified he told Curley and Schultz that he saw Sandusky molesting the boy, saying it was "extremely sexual in nature."

Curley and Schultz are charged with lying about what McQueary, now 38, described to them.

Caroline Roberto and Tom Farrell, the Pittsburgh-based attorneys representing Curley and Schultz, said in a statement this week their clients are eager "to start the process of clearing their good names and demonstrating that they testified truthfully to the grand jury."

WFMZ's Bo Koltnow was in Harrisburg for the hearing and sent periodic updates as the hearing progressed.

12-16-11 3:18 p.m.    The case will be going to trial, for both Curley and Schultz.  #curley #schultz

12-16-11 3:06 p.m.    Defense closing almost finished. #curley #schultz #mcqueary

12-16-11 3:01 p.m.    Curley's attorney says needs written evidence to show exactly what was said and what wasn't. No written record here. #curley

12-16-11 3:00 p.m.    Curley's attorneys say you can't have perjury when it's an oath vs oath situation, which they say this is -- McQueary vs. Curley. #curley.

12-16-11 2:55 p.m.      Schultz said initial punishment for Sandusky was based on the honor system. Nothing written down. #schultz

12-16-11 2:52 p.m.      Schultz said same agency that handled 1998 investigation handled this one. informed by AG the campus police handled the 1998 case. #schultz

12-16-11 2:50 p.m.     Schultz couldn't name the child protection agency he says was contacted about the incident... #schultz

12-16-11 2:47 p.m.    Schultz said his thought it was a case of Sandusky horsing around, and the touching was the result of wrestling in the shower. #schultz

12-16-11 2:45 p.m.    Schultz said university did not look into 2002 Sandusky case. Said a child protection agency did instead.

12-16-11 2:37 p.m.    Schultz said he knew of 1998 investigation into Jerry Sandusky and a young boy. No criminal charges followed. #schultz

12-16-11 2:27 p.m.    Gary Schultz grand jury testimony being read now. #schultz

12-16-11 2:22 p.m.    Sandusky not a PSU employee at the time. #curley

12-16-11 2:22 p.m.    Curley admitted to not talking with the alleged victim. Felt only inappropriate behavior and not a crime. #curley

12-16-11 2:20 p.m.    Curley testified no investigation ensued after being told of the Sandusky allegations. Said did not think sexual in nature. #curley

12-16-11 2:18 p.m.    Curley testified to a grand jury that he told Sandusky he is not welcomed and can't bring kids into campus facilities. #curley

12-16-11 2:16 p.m.    Aside from McQueary, Curley testified [he] never heard of allegations directed toward Sandusky, includes a 1998 investigation of Sandusky. #curley

12-16-11 2:13 p.m.    Grand jury testimony from Curley: Did not report to university police but did to executive director of The Second Mile.  #curley

12-16-11 2:11 p.m.    "Not told of anything sexual." Grand jury testimony from Tim Curley. #curley

12-16-11 2:04 p.m.    "Hey, we got a problem." Grand jury testimony from Joe Paterno aimed at Tim Curley after learning of alleged abuse from Sandusky.  #schultz

12-16-11 1:59 p.m.   Grand jury testimony from Joe Paterno taken last January is now being read in court.  #schultz

12-16-11 1:40 p.m.   Witness testimony is over. This afternoon will be the reading of the Grand Jury report  #schultz #curley

12-16-11 1:23 p.m. Afternoon session is set to start soon. 5 have testified so far. That is expected to be all the witness testimony for today #schultz #curley

12-16-11 11:11 a.m.   McQueary just stepped down. #mcqueary

12-16-11 11:06 a.m. McQueary said he thought Gary Schultz was the police. #mcqueary

12-16-11 11:04 a.m.   McQueary said after it happened he told people he didn't think Sandusky should be around campus.  #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:59 a.m.   Said he didn't make a formal complaint because says it was sensitive in nature. #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:58 a.m. McQueary said he never spoke to the boy about the incident #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:54 a.m. McQueary being grilled on what he told Curley, Schultz and the details of the night he says he saw Sandusky with a boy. #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:45 a.m. Schultz lawyer now taking his turn in asking questions #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:36 a.m.   I would never, ever go into detailed sexual acts with coach Paterno. Never, ever. McQueary said. #mcqueary

12-16-11 1026 a.m.   McQueary said he never called police  #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:20 a.m. McQueary said never confronted Jerry Sandusky about what he saw #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:11 a.m. Now being cross examined on what he saw that night. #mcqueary

12-16-11 10:00 a.m.   Curley's lawyer now questioning McQueary #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:59 a.m. McQueary said Curley and Schultz said they would look into the allegations.  #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:43 a.m. Which he said was 9 or 10 days later. #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:41 a.m.   McQueary said he knew Joe Paterno would do the right thing. Said Tim Curley called and said Paterno told him what happened #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:35 a.m. McQueary said after long talk with his dad, the decision to call Joe Paterno was made. Called next morning at 7:30 am  #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:28 a.m. McQueary said he believed the two were having sex  #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:22 a.m.    McQueary said it looked like Sandusky and the 10-12 year-old boy were having sex #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:10 a.m.   Mike McQueary called to the stand #mcqueary

12-16-11 9:10 a.m.   Court is now in session #curley #schultz

12-16-11 9:05 a.m.   Both men wearing dark suits with Tim Curley sitting up front and Gary Schultz behind #curley #schultz

12-16-11 9:04 a.m.   Curley, Schultz and the defense just walked in. #curley #mcqueary #schultz

12-16-11 9:00 a.m.   Defense still not in the courtroom #curley #schultz #mcqueary

12-16-11 8:43 a.m.    AG spokesman doesn't think this will last all day

#curley #schultz

12-16-11 8:21 a.m. 3 to 5 witnesses expected to take the stand today. #schultz #mcqueary #curley

12-16-11 8:15 a.m.      Reporters are nearing 100 here inside the courtroom. #schultz

12-16-11 8:07 a.m.  Sitting next to several network reporters. Third row back; good view of the action expected to take place here on the 5th floor #schultz

12-16-11 8:04 a.m. McQueary in the courthouse too #mcqueary

12-16-11  8:03 am Prosecution just entered the courtroom #curley #schultz

12-16-11 7:55 am Courtrooom filling up fast with reporters #sandusky

12-16-11 7:31 am Tim Curley and Gary Shultz just arrived here at the Dauphin County Courthouse  #sandusky

12-16-11 5:46 am Getting set for the first of many live reports. What will Mike McQueary say on the stand? Tune in to find out

12-15-11  8:15 pm   Like Tuesday, tons of media here.

12-15-11  8:10 pm    Video look behind the scenes   yfrog.com/0tqhjmz

McQueary testified Friday that he walked into a locker room and heard someone in the shower.

He said he heard rhythmic, slapping sounds, like that of skin on skin.

"I looked in the mirror and shockingly and surprisingly saw Jerry with a boy in the shower," McQueary told the court.

He said Sandusky was behind the boy and the boy was up against a wall. He said he believes Sandusky was sexually molesting the boy but he did not see insertion and did not hear protests. He said he believes the two were engaged in intercourse but he cannot be sure.

"They were as close as they could be," he said.

McQueary said he looked away for a few moments, and when he took a closer look, the two were standing apart.

"They had turned so their bodies were both facing me... They looked directly in my eyes," he said. "Seeing that they were separated, I thought it was best that I leave the locker room."

He added that he felt "shocked" and "horrified" afterward.

"I was not thinking straight," he said, adding that he was "sure (the incident) was over" when he left.

But McQueary acknowledged he doesn't know what happened after leaving. He testified that he also never tried to find the boy.

McQueary, then a graduate assistant, said he called Paterno -- who was later fired in the wake of the scandal -- the morning after, telling him that he "saw Jerry with a young boy in the shower and it was extremely sexual in nature and I thought I needed to tell him about it."

McQueary testified that the former head coach was "shocked" and "saddened" upon hearing the allegation.

"He said, 'I need to think and tell some people about it.'"

But McQueary didn't meet with university officials to explain what he saw until more than a week after first informing Paterno, he testified.

Paterno also allegedly never tried to find the boy, said McQueary, who said he can't be certain if he ever used the word "intercourse" when describing the alleged incident to the former head coach.

But McQueary added, "There's no question in my mind that I conveyed to (university officials) that I saw Jerry with a boy in the shower and that it was severe sexual acts going on and that it was wrong and over the line."

He further testified he did not alert police, saying that he instead told Curley and Schultz.

"In my mind, that is the police," McQueary said. "I want to make that clear."

When pressed about why he went to university officials and not police, McQueary said it was "because it was delicate in nature and I tried to use my best judgment."

Sandusky, who was Penn State's defensive coordinator when he retired in 1998, met his accusers through a youth charity he founded, the Second Mile. According to prosecutors, he would hug, tickle and wrestle with the boys before allegedly crossing the line and sexually abusing them.

In November, the summary of a grand jury report was released contending that Sandusky sexually abused the boys in the basement of his home, hotel rooms, a high school wrestling room and -- based on McQueary's account -- the locker room for Penn State's football team.

Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Centre County, a two-hour drive from Harrisburg. From the courthouse's steps, his attorney, Joseph Amendola, took shots at McQueary's credibility during a long talk with reporters.

He suggested that had McQueary told Paterno, Curley and Schultz that he had seen Sandusky raping a boy in the showers, they would have done more than order him to stop bringing Second Mile children on campus.

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