Sealed documents show NCAA wants to question Curley

The NCAA wants to talk to Tim Curley.

The college sports oversight organization filed a request to depose Curley, the former Penn State athletic director who pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor child endangerment charge in Dauphin County.

The NCAA’s request came on the same day former Penn State president Graham Spanier was convicted of the same charge. Both men, and one-time vice president Gary Schultz, who also entered a plea, were charged in connection with the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. They also both testified against Spanier at trial.

Why does the NCAA want to depose Curley? That is “highly confidential.”

The request was filed under seal with that classification, something the NCAA and the plaintiffs in the case, the estate of late longtime Nittany Lions football coach Joe Paterno, agreed to earlier in the ongoing Centre County court case between them. According to court documents, an exhibit in the motion carries that “highly confidential” designation.

On Monday, the Paternos returned their opposition, also under seal.

Possible testimony from Curley and Schultz has been brought up in multiple legal cases spun off the Sandusky scandal, including Spanier’s lawsuit against Louis Freeh, the former FBI director commissioned by Penn State to conduct an independent investigation of the incident. That had been a challenge due to Fifth Amendment self-incrimination concerns before trial for the men.

This story was originally published April 4, 2017 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Sealed documents show NCAA wants to question Curley."