Following up on that damning CNN report in which emails between Penn State vice president Gary Schultz, athletic director Tim Curley and president Graham Spanier revealed a 2001 plan to keep sex abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky in-house, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports PSU higher-ups met for three hours with lawyers to discuss a "report of suspected child abuse."
From the Chronicle:
Top Pennsylvania State University officials held a three-hour meeting to discuss Jerry Sandusky in 2001 over concerns about the former coach's behavior with a boy in the football showers. A law-firm billing record from that conversation describes a "report of suspected child abuse," according to a person with knowledge of an independent investigation into the matter.
That's three hours of lawyering, at least two rounds of emails, at least one meeting with accuser Mike McQueary, one apparent meeting with Joe Paterno and a potential eventual sit-down with Sandusky himself, but not a single phone call to police or child welfare authorities. Unsurprisingly, Curley and Schultz face perjury charges.
The Chronicle also confirmed CNN's report of an email from Spanier which read, "The only downside for us is if the message isn't 'heard' and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it."