Jerry Sandusky Scandal: Graham Spanier, Former Penn State President, Claims He Didn't Know Anything

Graham Spanier, the former president of Pennsylvania State University, claims he was never told anything about Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing children on campus.

Spanier told investigators working for former FBI director Louis Freeh last week that no one informed him Sandusky, the one-time assistant football coach, was spotted molesting a boy in a school shower, according to a statement issued by Spanier's lawyers on Tuesday.

Sandusky was convicted last month on 45 criminal counts of abusing 10 boys over the course of 15 years, in some instances on Penn State's campus. Sandusky is awaiting sentencing and plans to appeal.

Spanier was ousted by Penn State trustees shortly after Sandusky's arrest in November 2011. The trustees quickly commissioned a report on the scandal, and in recent months, Spanier has been requesting access to old work emails to better prepare for Freeh's investigation, only to be denied by Penn State's lawyers.

CNN reported on July 2, that 2001 internal emails among Spanier, former university vice president Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Tim Curley, detailed how to handle an incident involving Sandusky and whether or not they should report him to authorities. However, CNN said they were only read the emails and did not have their own copies.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

“Selected leaks, without the full context, are distorting the public record and creating a false picture,” according to the statement by Spanier’s attorneys Peter Vaira of Vaira & Riley and Elizabeth Ainslie from Schnader Harrison Segel & Lewis. “At no time in the more than 16 years of his presidency at Penn State was Dr. Spanier told of an incident involving Jerry Sandusky that described child abuse, sexual misconduct or criminality of any kind, and he reiterated that during his interview with Louis Freeh and his colleagues.”

The lawyers said that Spanier asked to be interviewed and met in Philadelphia on Friday with representatives of Freeh. “Since November of last year, when he resigned his presidency, he has wanted the Freeh Group to create an accurate report and has been determined to assist in any way he can,” the lawyers stated.

Sandusky retired in 1999, but kept an office at the school and used its facilities. Spanier was Penn State's president from September 1995 to November 9, 2011.

A report on Freeh's investigation is due for release on Thursday, and is supposed to detail "who knew what, when."