Penn State Facing Civil Lawsuits For Failure To Report Jerry Sandusky's Sexual Crimes

Penn State Faces New Civil Lawsuits In Sandusky Scandal

Penn State University has three civil lawsuits pending against it for the failure to protect children from being sexually assaulted on campus by one-time assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Ira Lubert, a member of the PSU Board of Trustees, said Friday the lawsuits are for "negligence, negligent supervision, premises liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress and conspiracy to endanger children." Lubert said he expects an additional fourth case to be filed soon. The three current cases are filed under John Doe names in Philadelphia.

"The University has announced that it had plans to offer to all plaintiffs an opportunity to resolve claims against the University in a fair manner, through a process of facilitated claims resolution," Lubert said at the Trustees' meeting. "The University's lawyers will soon begin the process of reaching out to to the plaintiffs counsel to discuss this opportunity."

The state attorney general and the United States attorney's office for middle district of Pennsylvania are continuing their investigations into potential further criminal prosecution of Sandusky, former Senior Vice President‐Finance and Business Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Timothy Curley.

Lubert, vice chair of the Trustee's committee on audit, risk, legal and compliance, said at the university's request, two of the cases have been stayed pending the criminal proceedings.

Former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary plans to file a whistle-blower lawsuit against the school. McQueary has officially filed a writ of summons, announcing that he will be seeking "monetary damages outside of arbitration limits for an employment dispute."

McQueary was a graduate assistant when he witnessed Sandusky sexually assaulting a child in a shower on Penn State's campus. He reported it within 24 hours to Joe Paterno, the football team's then-head coach. Paterno ultimately decided not to report Sandusky to authorities or remove him from campus. After Sandusky's initial arrest in November 2011, McQueary was placed on administrative leave.

"No response is due from the University at this time but we do not believe Mr. McQuery's claims have any merit," Lubert said.

The announcement at the Trustees' meeting the civil lawsuits have been filed come a day after the Freeh report was released, detailing a 13 year long cover up of Sandusky's crimes by top Penn State officials. Legal experts believed the report would fuel potential civil lawsuits.

Sandusky was convicted of child molestation charges in a criminal court last month.

Before You Go

Jerry Sandusky

Key Players In The Sandusky Scandal At Penn State (All Images via AP)

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