Former FBI Director Louis Freeh’s report on child abuse at Penn State deliberately conceals the inactions and misbehaviors of state and local law enforcement officials — including Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett — in the same long-running scandal.
The report as such is a disservice to the people of Pennsylvania.
It serves as a not-too-clever political whitewash and diversion for prominent Pennsylvania politicians, including Corbett, implicated in the same misdeeds.
Freeh’s report makes clear its limited scope in its title: “Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding the Actions of The Pennsylvania State University Related to the Child Sexual Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky.”
No mention is made in the title, or in the report itself, of the years of inaction in this case involving the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and the office of the Centre County District Attorney.
“Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims,” Freeh said of his deliberately limited report. “The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.”
What Freeh does not mention is that the most powerful men in Pennsylvania politics also took no steps to help those kids.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett for more than three years — from at least 2008 to 2011 — did little or nothing to protect Sandusky’s young victims.
Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira got the Sandusky case in 2008. Madeira also did nothing to bring charges until he referred to case in 2009 to Corbett.
The ignored case sat in Corbett’s office until 2011, while Corbett ran for governor.
We should also mention that Centre County DA Ray Gricar as well refused to prosecute Sandusky in 1998. When DA Gricar vanished mysteriously in 2005, AG Tom Corbett as well refused to launch a serious investigation into that troubling development.
By hermetically sealing the perimeters of his investigation at the doors of Penn State, and refusing to ask the hard questions involving Gov. Corbett and other public officials beyond the gates of Old Main, former Director Freeh, himself a longtime political appointee, has raised more questions than he answers.
Why did Tom Corbett do nothing for three years? Why is Coach Paterno held to a different or higher standard than Governor Corbett?
The most troubling question of all remains: Are state officials, and not children, protected in Pennsylvania?
It takes time to build a case. If you go public with it too soon, you might fail to convict. But you ask a reasonable question.
June 12, 2012
This was a Penn State investigation, paid for by Penn State, an limited in scope to Penn State activities/involvement. While there is no doubt that additional investigations of Pennsylvania governemnt officials (both political and judicial) by an idependent source are warranted, we should not demean the importance of the Freeh Report. It may very well be the precursor to additional investigations/charges.
Freeh is an FBI stooge hired by Corbett’s FBI stooge (the head of the PA state police who has never been a PA trooper) to do a hatchet job on PSU and keep the good Governor out of the spotlight. He needs to start answering questions but since nobody is asking…
July 12, 2012
And, who really is Louis Freeh and why are his conclusions not just opinions which seem to mirror the opinions of Corbett and his head of the state police?
This article is a waste of time. You obviously don’t understand what the purpose of the investigation/report is. It was commissioned as an internal review by the Penn State Board of Trustees. It has to do with the actions of Penn State and Penn State employees, of which Tom Corbett was not. Acting like Freeh is intentionally covering up whatever Corbett’s role, lack of action, etc. is stupid.
Dear Anonymous above.
While you may believe all that you read remember the investigation was commissioned by the Board of Trustees who in their own right are part of the problem. If you are going to blame ONE particular person (JoePa) who acted appropriately then you need to go after EVERYONE involved.
CORBETT wanted out so he could take the $$$ given by the higher ups to his campaign. He is just as culpable for his inaction on the case as the rest of them. Everyone is out for blood while the cover-up continues. WE NEED TWO REMEMBER WHO COMMITTED THE CRIMES; WHO THE VICTIMS ARE!!!!
People are more focused on the cover up than the true source of all of this.
WE ARE BECAUSE HE WAS….
We will always bleed BLUE and WHITE
WE ARE PENN STATE PROUD and STRONG!
Gov Corbett was on the BOT…and had knowledge of the habits and potential dangers of Sandusky…He most certainly should have been included in the investigation.
Exactly, Corbett is on the Board of Trustees and therefore should have been included in the investigation that was commissioned by Penn State. I’d like to see all of his emails and conversations related to this topic back to 1998.
Unfortunately Freeh failed to complete a comprehensive report and it’s clear by the tone of the report that he was out to get someone, just like the rest of the media. I guess we’ll never know the truth…..will we?
EDITOR: Perhaps if Kathleen Kane is elected Pennsylvania attorney general in November.