Penn State Sandusky cover-up: AD arrested, Paterno fired, dies; cover-up charged #8

[Tipstaff]

Paterno family upset over book on Sandusky scandal
April 18, 2012 10:30 pm



By Taryn Luna / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Paterno family isn't happy about assertions made in a new book on the Sandusky child sex scandal.

The family's lawyer issued a statement today calling "Game Over: Jerry Sandusky, Penn State and the Culture of Silence," by Bob Dvorchak and Bill Moushey, an "unprofessional and irresponsible rehash from clip files and anonymous interviews."

Wick Sollers, lawyer for the family of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, said the book contradicts Paterno's sworn testimony and "indisputable evidence" showing that the longtime coach was not informed about a 1998 allegation against Mr. Sandusky, a former assistant football coach.

Assertions that Paterno pushed for Mr. Sandusky's retirement in 1999 because of knowledge of his conduct are also unsupported by evidence, Mr. Sollers said.

"The price of their obsession with speed over accuracy is a book that distorts the truth and offers conclusions and theories for which the authors have no evidence," he said.

Reached Wednesday evening, Mr. Dvorchak said: "We stand by our story. We encourage people to read the book and make up their own minds."

The authors are both former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sports writers.

Danielle Bartlett, the book's publicist at William Morrow/HarperCollins, declined to comment.

The book was written over the course of 10 weeks and has been described by the authors as "the most demanding writing assignment we've ever tackled."

A grand jury investigation of Mr. Sandusky, 68, led to his Nov. 5 arrest. He faces a June 5 trial on charges he sexually assaulted 10 boys over a 15-year period, a number of them on Penn State's main campus.

 

[pinktoes]

Absolute uproar over the Game Over on the situation: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/04/18/3167181/statement-by-paterno-family-attorney.html

Looking at it on-line, there was some inaccurate information on the Gricar disappearance. It was peripheral to the Sandusky case.

Anything important?

 

[BigCat]

Absolute uproar over the Game Over on the situation: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/04/18/3167181/statement-by-paterno-family-attorney.html

Looking at it on-line, there was some inaccurate information on the Gricar disappearance. It was peripheral to the Sandusky case.

I'm in the middle of reading it right now. It's worth a read just to see how all this information we've discussed here appears in a narrative. As much as I followed this case, I still learned things that I supposed I should have known.

 

[BigCat]

For instance,

1. Lauro did not know about the second conversation between Sandusky and the mother of victim 6.

Why didn't Schreffler let Lauro know about the conversation? Lauro claims he would have continued his probe if he knew about Sandusky's comments in that second conversation.

2 Gricar told Schreffler he would not be pressing charges 2 days after Schreffler and Lauro interviewed Sandusky.

I didn't realize RG's decision not to prosecute was made so swiftly. Why the rush?

Here's a quote from the book I found interesting: "He (Lauro) had also not been given opportunity to review the police report, which he learned was ninety-five pages long. Had he known about Sandusky's comments during that second meeting, the state's probe would likely have taken a different course. In fact, when Lauro returned to Harrisburg after his initial meeting with Sandusky, he told his superiors that he felt the Penn State campus police wanted him out of the probe and out of town as soon as possible."

Obviously it's in Lauro's self-interest to distance himself from the '98 investigation as much as possible. However, there does seem to be a ring of truth to his allegation. No one in Centre County appeared eager to encourage Schreffler to dig further, especially with Karen Arnold out of the loop.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Anything important?

It said that the computer was found 200 yards downstream from the "Lewisburg Bridge." It was found almost right below the highway bridge and on the upstream side.

The book said that there was no scent detected. Multiple sources, including the Post Gazette, indicate his scent was detected. The dog handler told the then BPD Chief Dixon that it could indicate RFG got into another car.

Later reports indicate that the scent was detected 20 yards from where the car was, but still in the lot.

They are major points if you are talking about the physical evidence in the Gricar case, but minor points in the Sandusky case.

I have ordered the book, but I did the search on-line.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

For instance,

1. Lauro did not know about the second conversation between Sandusky and the mother of victim 6.

Why didn't Schreffler let Lauro know about the conversation? Lauro claims he would have continued his probe if he knew about Sandusky's comments in that second conversation.

I think you can ask the same question about Gricar. One possible answer is that everyone thought Lauro had the information. Schreffler though Gricar gave it to Lauro; Gricar thought Schreffler gave it to Lauro.

Another question is why Lauro never talked to Chambers. She was at least one of the initial reporters.

2 Gricar told Schreffler he would not be pressing charges 2 days after Schreffler and Lauro interviewed Sandusky.

I didn't realize RG's decision not to prosecute was made so swiftly. Why the rush?

There are whole bunch of questions.

3. Why didn't the DA's Office send the reports out to Lauro at DPW? Why didn't they do followup to make sure he had seen them?

4. Why was Arnold, who specialized in child and elder abuse cases, not involved in this case after the initial stages? What were the "extensive disagreements" about?

5. Why didn't Gricar, who had the ability to call a grand jury, investigate the case further? Remember, they had another victim, B.K., in 1998.

6. What was that October 13, 1998 meeting about and why were both Ralston and Schreffler there? Sloan was very close to Gricar, professionally and personally; he was there with RFG.

7. Why would Seasock's report be considered more authoritative than Chambers'? She had greater education and experience. It almost sounds like opinion shopping there.

 

[StellarsJay]

Here's a quote from the book I found interesting: ..."In fact, when Lauro returned to Harrisburg after his initial meeting with Sandusky, he told his superiors that he felt the Penn State campus police wanted him out of the probe and out of town as soon as possible."

Lauro met with Sandusky? Either I've missed it or this is the only mention of anyone meeting with Sandusky other than listening to his conversations with the kid's mother. That's one of the wierd things- he didn't ever seem to be questioned by campus police in 1998.

Added- My mistake, I found the citation for JS telling Lauro he wouldn't shower with kids again- but still no mention that the police ever spoke to Sandusky. OK- I see JJ's note- I missed that.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Lauro met with Sandusky? Either I've missed it or this is the only mention of anyone meeting with Sandusky other than listening to his conversations with the kid's mother. That's one of the wierd things- he didn't ever seem to be questioned by campus police in 1998.

Schreffler accompanied Lauro.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I just had a troubling thought.

Suppose that someone at Penn State had something on RFG, that prevented him from prosecuting, but that was dependent on RFG holding the DA's position. Once he leaves, they no longer have that hold.

That could provide a motive for murder.

RFG's refusal to prosecute was extremely quick. The claim that it was the mother's word against Sandusky's is absolutely false.

 

[Rlaub44]

One of the assistant athletic directors at Penn State has been fired:

http://www.centredaily.com/2012/04/19/3168920/penn-state-assistant-athletic.html

Not clear if this has anything to do with the Sandusky situation or the University's handling of it, but it certainly piques my curiosity.

 

[wfgodot]

Please continue discussion of the Sandusky case here:

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7810045#post7810045"]Penn State Sandusky scandal: AD arrested, Paterno fired, dies; cover-up charged #9[/ame]