Federal investigation finds ‘serious deficiencies’ in Penn State’s response to sexual abuse complaints
A federal investigation released Thursday identified “serious deficiencies” in the way Penn State responded to students’ sexual abuse complaints in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
The 29-page investigation released by the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights office found the university failed to have systems in place that protected students, including when sexual misconduct involves athletic staff.
It was at least the second time that the university was sanctioned by the department for its response to sexual assault claims.
A previous investigation that began in 2011 found the university violated 11 Clery Act policies, which resulted in a then-record $2.4 million fine.
“As I’ve said before, ‘justice delayed is justice denied,’ and for too long the students of Penn State have been denied justice,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in a statement. “... I hope resolution of this Title IX investigation and the changes we are requiring will help to bring continued healing to the Penn State community.”
The investigation began in 2014 in response to the Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal and the university’s “wholly inadequate response thereto by former high-ranking university officials.”
Investigators reviewed the university’s policies and procedures for resolving allegations of sexual harassment during the 2011-12 through 2019-20 academic years at eight campuses, including University Park.
Penn State violated Title IX in different ways across several years, the investigation found.
Officials failed to promptly respond during the 2015-16 and 2017-18 academic years to complaints of sexual harassment that were first reported to the athletic department, the investigation found.
The university also failed to implement adequate records and did not provide adequate notice to students and employees of university procedures, the investigation found.
Investigators also wrote that Penn State imposed interim suspensions before giving the accused an opportunity to respond. Hearings that were conducted were structured in ways that may have precluded relevant information, the investigation found.
“Given all of the attention that Penn State has faced in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, it is disappointing that so many serious problems have remained at that university system,” Assistant Civil Rights Secretary Kenneth Marcus said in a statement. “... We are pleased that Penn State has now agreed, in a spirit of cooperation, to fix the problems that we have identified. OCR will closely monitor the university to make sure that it fulfills the requirements of the resolution agreement.”
Penn State voluntarily entered into the resolution agreement March 18, but did not make any admission of liability.
The university is required to provide “individual remedies” to those who had their complaints handled improperly.
It must also revise its record keeping practices and report to OCR on the handling of all Title IX complaints for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years within 90 days of signing the agreement.
Staff who are responsible for processing, investigating and resolving complaints of sexual harassment are required to complete training on the university’s updated Title IX procedures within 45 days of signing the agreement.
The annual training applies to all athletic directors, coaches and staff. New employees are required to complete the training within four weeks of their start date.
Annual training will also be provided to all student-athletes, student managers and student trainers.
“I commend the Department of Education for taking long overdue action to address the failures that allowed Jerry Sandusky to harm children,” U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said in a statement. “Anyone who abuses a child or stands by silently as someone else does must be held fully accountable, and that includes institutions.”
Officials turned over more than 80,000 pages of documentation related to Penn State’s policies, procedures, training, specific investigations, record keeping and more, the university said in a statement.
Many of the investigation’s findings from the six-year period relate to “a number of past practices” that have since been addressed, the university said.
The university has created a new Title IX office with a designated director, added new investigative specialists and support staff, and implemented mandatory annual training about reporting misconduct for all employees.
Any outstanding changes that are required are expected to be the “immediate focus” of the university’s efforts, the university said.
“With OCR’s guidance, the university will make identified, additional improvements in how it responds to allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct,” the university said. “We will continue to provide support, resources and services to those who may have been impacted by incidents of sexual or gender-based misconduct and will oversee the prompt and equitable resolution of complaints for all involved.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 4:48 PM.