From the HUFF POST:…The Second Mile said funding had stopped for its Center for Excellence after founder Jerry Sandusky was charged in November with sexually abusing several boys, some of them on Penn State’s campus. Construction began at the central Pennsylvania site last year, but the project was canceled two months ago…
In November, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett put on hold a $3 million state grant for the project, saying he had earlier approved it because not doing so might have disclosed information about the abuse investigation, which he oversaw in his previous position as attorney general. The grant had been approved under then-Gov. Ed Rendell and again under Corbett last year.
“I could not act … on this without saying certain things that would have possibly compromised the investigation,” Corbett said in Philadelphia on Nov. 16, less than two weeks after Sandusky was arrested…
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EDITOR: Corbett’s explanation raises new questions. Is there abuse of children taking place at Second Mile? Is Sandusky still in a leadership position or of influence at Second Mile? Is the work of Second Mile unworthy of state funding and private support? If in the negative for all three, why withdraw funding of an organization serving youngsters?
According to an article published November 16, 2011 in the Harrisburg Patriot-News entitled “Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett defends Second Mile Foundation grant action”, Corbett is quoted as saying:
“Yes I knew this (Sandusky investigation was under way), but I could not act publicly on this without saying certain things that would have possibly compromised the investigation,” Corbett told reporters after an unrelated event in Philadelphia. “So eventually we did approve it.”
Corbett also said that he “appreciated” the good works the foundation had done for many children, and that he knew that by July, when the grant was reauthorized, that Sandusky was no longer directly involved with the charity…
“I believe that purposes of The Second Mile were very good purposes, in general, and that a number of children probably did very well having access to those kind of programs and I believe in those kind of programs.”
The Federal 990 annual report for 2010 indicates Second Mile having a net worth of $8,974,689. Its revenue came to $2,187,055. Directors were not paid and executive compensation did not seem excessive.
