Less than a week before the charges against Sandusky became public, Joe Paterno, Spanier and Curley were standing inside the Penn State football press room, surrounded by hundreds of reporters celebrating the coach’s 409th victory — an all-time record in major college football.
Spanier leaned in to Paterno and told him they needed to talk soon about the Sandusky investigation, sources close to the football program said.
The coach apparently didn’t hear him. Paterno was promptly whisked away by his handlers.
The next day — six days before charges would be announced — Spanier and Baldwin were first made aware that Schultz and Curley would be charged with lying to investigators and failing to report child abuse, sources said.
That same night, Spanier called Paterno and canceled their meeting, sources said.
Up to that point, Baldwin and Spanier had downplayed any possible impact of the Sandusky investigation on Penn State. In a May briefing, according to trustees, they gave the impression that the investigation was little to be concerned about.
According to trustees quoted in The New York Times, Baldwin said the investigation concerned The Second Mile, not Penn State.
Special Report: Penn State counsel Cynthia Baldwin's role before grand jury could affect Tim Curley and Gary Schultz's perjury case, experts say
