http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1207/12/ijvm.01.htmlJANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
School Showed `Total Disregard` for Child Rape VictimsAired July 12, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
::snipping2::
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, what`s next after today`s public hearing of the most powerful men behind Penn State? An in-depth investigation leads to damning criticisms of the late football legend, Joe Paterno, the former president, and two of his top deputies, accused of total disregard of young boys who were sexually assaulted. As convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky sits behind bars, tonight we ask who else should go to jail for this obscenity?
::snipping2::
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized, created a dangerous situation for unother known unsuspecting young boys lured to the Penn State campus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jerry, what do you have to say about the verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To put the interest of an image or publicity or the branding or the football program ahead of protecting children. The report is crystal clear that that`s exactly what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no indication anybody spoke to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a corrosive atmosphere at Penn State. And Mr. Paterno was in the center of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said, "I know my father did not know Jerry was a pedophile. He said we wished he would have followed up more aggressively.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The facts are the facts. And Mr. Paterno did nothing to protect young men.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They cloud their judgment. And money is like a drug. And they needed another fix. And they had to keep this going in order to keep that money coming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, explosive new information coming out about the child sexual assault cover-up at Penn State University. And tonight we`re asking how deep does this scandal run? And who else should go to prison?
Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We all saw that. The public cheering as the jury found former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 counts of child sex abuse. Forty-five. Jerry Sandusky sits in jail right now as we speak, waiting for sentencing. He`s expected to spend the rest of his natural life behind bars.
But haul Sandusky off to jail is only the first step. Tonight investigators say they uncovered what looks like a massive cover-up by at least four big-wigs at Penn State. An internal review led by the former head of the FBI reveals a, quote, "total disregard" for child rapist Jerry Sandusky`s victims. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUIS FREEH, FORMER HEAD OF FBI: Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky`s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Powerful words. The investigation uncovered those four men -- former Penn State president Graham Spanier and his two right-hand men, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley -- plus late football legend Joe Paterno, knew of complaints that Sandusky was violating little boys on school property and that they decided the, quote, "humane thing to do" was to sweep it under the rug for three main reasons." Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREEH: The stated reasons by Mr. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley for not taking action to identify the victim and for not reporting Sandusky to the police or child welfare are, one, nobody told them it was sexual conduct. Two, Sandusky -- Sandusky should be treated humanely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you think about this alleged cover-up? Who else should go to jail? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to Penn State University graduate and noted criminal defense attorney and child advocate Brian Claypool. This is a withering 276-page condemnation of the men who ran Penn State at the time Jerry Sandusky used Penn State`s sports facilities so the kids would then be molested. What struck you about all of those 276 pages most? What was the bombshell for you?
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jane, the bombshell for me was this litany of e-mails between Spanier, Schultz and Curley where they collectively put together a where they were going to intentionally conceal, cover-up and not tell anybody at all about Sandusky and his propensity for abusing kids.
And in my opinion that is criminal nature. And all three of those individuals need to be charged with conspiracy to commit child endangerment. They had an opportunity to stop this monster. They did nothing about it, because they were worried about money and the revenue that that football program was bringing in for the university.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, as you mentioned the scathing report says this wasn`t a one-time hush-hush. That these Penn State leaders allegedly communicated many times including through e-mails about what should be done about Sandusky. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREEH: The evidence clearly shows, in our view, an active agreement to conceal. And I think it would be up to a grand jury and a law enforcement officer to make decisions whether it meets the elements of criminal offenses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I want to go out to Sara Ganim, who won a Pulitzer prize for her reporting on this. She`s from "The Patriot News" and an HLN contributor.
Sara, two of the officials, Tim curly and Gary Schultz, are set to stand trial for allegedly failing to report Sandusky`s crimes and lying to the grand jury about what they knew. But what about former Penn State president Graham Spanier? Even though he comes up frequently, he is not charged with anything. What is the back story there on these e-mails and Spanier`s involvement?
SARA GANIM, "HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS": Well, Jane, the back story is that these e-mails were not found as part of the criminal investigation. They were actually dug up by this internal investigation. They were dug up by Louis Freeh`s team. They couldn`t get through and get these e-mails out by themselves. Now, there is still an ongoing grand jury investigation at the state level. There`s also a federal investigation, a federal criminal investigation along with a Clery Act investigation, a NCAA (pH) investigation. There`s a whole bunch of investigations still ongoing.
So I think that this report even though it doesn`t have direct criminal implications could lead assist in other criminal investigations. Louis Freeh said that he had been discussing their findings with other investigative agencies. And he said he turned over those e-mails immediately as soon as he found them. He said that he found them to be the most important pieces of evidence in the case and immediately gave them to investigators with the grand -- with the attorney general`s office. That`s where the grand jury was convened.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, Sara, we`ve got some of these. And I want to read a couple of them.
One of Sandusky`s victims testified that when he was a child, Sandusky bear-hugged him and made him feel violated when they showered together.
Now, a slew of e-mails allegedly show the Penn State leaders were aware of this 1998 incident. In just one e-mail three months later then- athletic director Tim Curley allegedly writes, "Anything new in this department? Coach is anxious to know where it stands." Coach, OK, Joe Paterno.
Then vice president Gary Schultz allegedly replies, "The public welfare and police met with Jerry on Monday and concluded there was no criminal behaviors, and the matter was closed as an investigation. I think this matter has been appropriately investigated. And I hope it is now behind us."
Tawny Acker, attorney, that was 14 years ago. Are these e-mails the smoking gun that will likely be used in the trial against two of these men, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz?
TAWNY ACKER, ATTORNEY: Well, they certainly, Jane, will be very persuasive evidence. Because again, we have to remember we`re not just talking about the common-sense moral obligation that people have when they have information that children are being harmed or violated.
There is a federal law, the Clery Act, that says that if you`re a university and you are getting federal money and federal dollars, which Penn State is, those university officials have an affirmative obligation to disclose crimes taking place on that campus.
So the notion that you can have these sort of slipshod internal proceedings where people are like "I don`t think anything`s really going on" or, you know, they can brush things under the carpet, that is not OK. If you get federal money, you have an obligation to disclose those crimes. And that did not happen here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, you can see that this was the rioting that occurred after Joe Paterno was fired in the wake of the scandal. And he later tragically died. Only recently -- you know, when all this first broke, Joe Paterno spoke out and said that he did everything he could. Listen to this from "The Washington Post" and then we`ll analyze.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE PATERNO, FORMER PENN STATE FOOTBALL COACH: I called my superiors and I said, "Hey, we got a problem, I think. Would you guys look into it?" Cause I didn`t know, you know. I had never had to deal with something like that. And I didn`t feel adequate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. But this report says the opposite, that this wasn`t "I did everything I could or went to the right authorities." It`s basically saying these guys did not do that. As a psychotherapist, Robi Ludwig, what would be the motive behind not taking action?
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: It was a determination based on who`s important and what`s important.
And also, there was an intellectualization going on. Whatever incident was going on privately, it had nothing to do with football. Football was his job. He had to ensure that they had a successful, that Penn State had a successful football team. And that`s what Joe did.
But clearly, you have to care about other people and what`s going on. It`s not OK to close your eyes and say, "I don`t know what to do." That`s not OK anymore.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the irony of all this is that I think it was either the reporter or observers that said it`s all about avoiding bad publicity.
Brian Claypool, the whole irony of this is that it was all about making Penn State look good. And they were afraid if they revealed this, allegedly, that it would make Penn State look bad. And how bad does Penn State look tonight?
CLAYPOOL: Right. And Jane, I`m a graduate of Penn State. And Joe Paterno spoke at my national honor society event many years ago. And I`ll tell you, I`m ashamed of how this university the last 10, 15 years handled this.
Joe Paterno had an obligation to report this, make no mistake about it. And there is now an inconsistency. If you go through this entire file, it`s possible that he committed perjury, as well.
Because Curley`s e-mail in 1998 mentions a discussion with Paterno about the victim in 1998. Joe Paterno at the grand jury hearing said, "I didn`t know anything about it."
Now, the big problem here is that we need to prosecute the leaders of institutions for this criminally if we are going to make any monumental change in this country. This is bigger than Penn State now. We`ve got the Mira Monte (ph) scandal I`m involved in. You`ve got the Catholic schools in Philadelphia. We need change. And this is a stepping board to do it. But I will tell you...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brian, are you saying that you feel the former president of Penn State, Graham Spanier, who has not been charged with anything in this case, should be charged or not?
CLAYPOOL: You bet. And I`ll tell you why. He sent an e-mail and he signed off. He signed off, Jane, if you can believe this, on allowing Tim Curley to go have lunch with Jerry Sandusky and talk to Jerry and say, "Hey, Jerry, are you going to be OK? You`re not going to do this anymore? And if you tell me you`re not, then we`re not going to report you."
That`s like going to a pathological drunk driver or an alcoholic and saying, "Hey, I`m not going to charge you with drunk driving but just assure me you`re not going to go drinking anymore. Are you kidding me? That`s taking the law into your own hands, and it`s throwing kids under the bus.
He needs to be prosecuted criminally, because he had an opportunity to stop this monster. And he didn`t do it. And he needs to pay the price and the consequences.
COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREEH: They were afraid to take on the football program. They said the university would circle around it. It was like going against the president of the United States. If that`s the culture on the bottom, God help the culture at the top.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But I have to tell you that a lot of the principals involved, the Paterno family as well as statements from some of the officials we`ve been talking about, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, we`re going to show you some. Essentially they say this is not fair, it`s an incomplete report.
And as we look at some of their statements saying that these are lopsided investigations and the truth will come out at some later time two of these men, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley are going to face trial.
We go to the phone lines. Jim, Pennsylvania, your questions or thought, Jim.
CALLER: Hi, Jane. Thank you for taking my call.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sure.
CALLER: I have three questions. My first question is who`s paying for Tim Curley and Schultz`s attorney fees?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Next question. We don`t know that.
CALLER: Next question, why are they still on administrative leave and receiving benefits? And could it be possible that Curley, Schultz, Spanier and Sandusky were involved in this heinous crime together?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, well, let`s not -- let`s not accuse them of anything that -- you know, this is a horrible, horrible, horrible situation for all these families. And I have to stress that these men, these officials are not accused of any kind of untoward activity towards children. No, no, no, no, no.
They are simply being accused of being officials who did not act and did not call 911 when they were supposed to, according to this huge information. Sara Ganim, what do we know about the men who are going to go to trial? What are they going to go to trial for?
GANIM: Well, Jane, to start with, we do know who is paying their insurance fees.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Good.
GANIM: And they`re still on administrative leave according to the board because they`re waiting for the final outcome of that criminal investigation.
Now, they`re charged with perjury of lying to the grand jury that was investigating Jerry Sandusky for about three years.
They`re also charged with failing to report the incident in 2001 that we`ve talked about so much that includes -- involves Mike McQueary and what he witnessed and reported to Joe Paterno, who reported to Tim Curley and Gary Schultz.
So when they`re facing trial is a lot less -- It`s a lot more, I should say -- there was actually a status conference this week, but it was closed to the public. So we don`t know exactly what they talked about. And no real trial date has been set.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.
GANIM: A loose schedule has been set. We anticipate maybe possibly by the end of this year.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now one of Paterno`s sons went on "The Today Show" this morning to defend his father`s name. Listen to this from Jay Paterno.
JAY PATERNO, SON: All Joe Paterno wanted to know and everybody at Penn State and certainly my family has wanted is for an investigation to look into the things that have happened and find the truth and go from there. Joe has always stood for integrity and those kind of things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This has got to be hellish, Robi Ludwig, for these families. I mean, Joe Paterno, a legend and now this in death.
LUDWIG: Great shame and humiliation and clearly Joe can`t defend himself right now because he`s dead.
But there was a problem. And there was a cover-up. To what extent they colluded with this sick man we will find out, right, as this trial takes place.
But listen, when you sweep something under the rug, it doesn`t make it go away. And I think Penn State needs to really realize that. And I don`t know if they should have a football team anymore. I think that should be perhaps taken off their list for a period of time and send a message to all the other schools out there that are doing something similar they`re putting their college in danger.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
::snipping2::