Curley, Schultz take stand for prosecution in Spanier trial

The anonymous 28-year-old man swore his oath before he came in to the court room.

He laid out a story of abuse that started when he was 9 or 10 years old, after he joined The Second Mile program. His school suggested the program to his mother to help him with his English.

“Are you a sexual assault survivor?” Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte asked.

“I am,” he said, his voice breaking.

The abuse, he said, was at the hands of retired Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, and it happened at the Lasch Building in the summer of 2002. He knew that was the date because he didn’t measure time by his grade in school at that point, but used the Sept. 11 terror attacks as his line in the sand.

The anonymous man gave his testimony Wednesday in the conspiracy and child endangerment trial of former Penn State president Graham Spanier at the Dauphin County Courthouse.

Schulte’s point was clear. Two witnesses earlier, Anthony Sassano, acting special agent in charge of narcotics for the Office of the Attorney General, had testified that four of the victims Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing happened after 2001. Spanier is accused of a conspiracy to cover up allegations raised against Sandusky in 2001. Other allegations were brought forth in 1998 but were investigated.

Former athletic director Tim Curley testified for more than two hours at the Dauphin County Courthouse, but he said he recalled little about the exchanges he had with fellow administrators after 1998 and 2001 incidents involving Sandusky.

Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment charges on March 13, a week before they were to stand trial alongside their former boss. Spanier is being tried on charges of child endangerment and conspiracy in connection with the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Curley testified that he regretted how he handled the Sandusky case.

“I pled guilty, because I thought I should have done more,” Curley said. “At the end of the day, I wish I had done more. “

When prosecutors called him to the stand, they told the court that part of Curley’s plea could include probation or imprisonment. However, as part of the plea, if Curley is sentenced to prison he would be able to serve through home confinement because of his medical issues.

At least nine times, Curley testified he did not recall the specifics of meetings and exchanges with Spanier, Paterno and others regarding the Sandusky case.

Curley did confirm that an original plan — after a 2001 shower incident involving Sandusky and a boy, witnessed by assistant coach Mike McQueary — had included notifying the Department of Public Welfare, but that plan was changed later at Curley’s suggestion. The Second Mile was notified and Curley talked to Sandusky, but DPW was never involved.

Schultz said he wishes he had handled it differently, and that was why he entered his guilty plea.

“I really felt we should report it to DPW but the plan changed and I went along with it,” he said. “Ask me if I ever went back and expressed regret to Graham or Tim and the answer is no.”

Both Curley and Schultz testified that they did not believe at the time a crime had taken place.

Two former administrative assistants to Schultz testified about the existence of a locked drawer containing a secret Sandusky file, which they said was kept in Schultz’s office.

Joan Coble said Schultz created the file, a manila folder marked “Sandusky, Jerry,” and told her never to open it.

Upon cross examination by the defense, neither Coble nor her successor Kimberly Belcher could confirm whether Spanier had knowledge of the Sandusky file.

“Did you ever enter into a criminal conspiracy?” defense attorney Sam Silver asked Schultz.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

Both Schultz and Curley did face conspiracy charges but those were not part of their pleas.

The prosecution rested after Schultz’s testimony. The defense is set to present its case Thursday.

Sandusky is serving up to 60 years in prison. He will be in court Friday for an evidentiary hearing in his Post-conviction Collateral Relief Act petition for a new trial.

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Curley, Schultz take stand for prosecution in Spanier trial."