Casts blame on former general counsel Cynthia Baldwin
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier delivered a three-page
letter to the university's Board of Trustees Sunday, telling the group
that he had no knowledge of previous allegations of abuse against Jerry
Sandusky until he read the grand jury presentment.
In the letter, he casts blame on former Penn State general counsel Cynthia Baldwin, saying that he was guided through the process by her, and that she gave him little information on what was going on.
Specifically, he said that she failed to inform him about the testimony provided to the grand jury by two top administrators, as well as about what they said in her presence during interviews with prosecutors from the state Attorney General's office. Mr. Spanier also contends that Ms. Baldwin failed to inform hiim that he had been subpoenaed to testify.
"She told me I was going voluntarily, as I had previously agreed to do, and she accompanied me before the judge and in the grand jury room and sat through my testimony. I had no preparation or understanding of the context," he wrote in a letter obtained by the Post-Gazette. "As I was being sworn in for my grand jury appearance, much to my surprise she handed over to the judge a thumb-drive containing my entire history of emails back to 2004."
Charles DeMonaco, the attorney representing Ms. Baldwin, said that he and his client deny any improper conduct by Ms. Baldwin.
"She at all times upheld her duties to the university and its agents. She is obligated to maintain silence to fulfill her ethical obligations to the university," Mr. DeMonaco wrote in a statement. "This silence should not be used against her to give credibility to these and other allegations against her. [W]e intend to address factual allegations and legal issues directly with the university and in legal proceedings, not in the media."
Attorneys for Mr. Spanier would not comment in the letter.
In it, he said that he also provided to the trustees as much information as he had regarding the Sandusky matter, countering claims within the Freeh report that he withheld important information from the university's governing body.
"The Freeh report also is egregious in its incomplete and inaccurate reporting oof my 2011 discussions with certain trustees, advice and reporting from the university's general counsel, and the recounting of unfolding events in November 2011," he wrote. "I want to be clear that the chair of the board of trustees was kept informed by me throughout 2011 to the fullest extent I was able, beginning on the Sunday after my grand jury appearance and in other discussions with trustee leaders."
Mr. Spanier denied having any knowledge of Mr. Sandusky's repeated abuse of young boys, saying he "hadn't the slightest inkling" until after the grand jury presentment was released that Mr. Sandusky was being investigated for incidents before or after a complaint in 2001 that he was having sexual relations with a boy in a locker room shower. "Had I known then what we now know about Jerry Sandusky, had I received any information about a sexual act in the shower or elsewhere, or had I had some basis for a higher level of suspicion about Sandusky, I would have strongly and immediately intervened," Mr. Spanier wrote.
In the letter, he casts blame on former Penn State general counsel Cynthia Baldwin, saying that he was guided through the process by her, and that she gave him little information on what was going on.
Specifically, he said that she failed to inform him about the testimony provided to the grand jury by two top administrators, as well as about what they said in her presence during interviews with prosecutors from the state Attorney General's office. Mr. Spanier also contends that Ms. Baldwin failed to inform hiim that he had been subpoenaed to testify.
"She told me I was going voluntarily, as I had previously agreed to do, and she accompanied me before the judge and in the grand jury room and sat through my testimony. I had no preparation or understanding of the context," he wrote in a letter obtained by the Post-Gazette. "As I was being sworn in for my grand jury appearance, much to my surprise she handed over to the judge a thumb-drive containing my entire history of emails back to 2004."
Charles DeMonaco, the attorney representing Ms. Baldwin, said that he and his client deny any improper conduct by Ms. Baldwin.
"She at all times upheld her duties to the university and its agents. She is obligated to maintain silence to fulfill her ethical obligations to the university," Mr. DeMonaco wrote in a statement. "This silence should not be used against her to give credibility to these and other allegations against her. [W]e intend to address factual allegations and legal issues directly with the university and in legal proceedings, not in the media."
Attorneys for Mr. Spanier would not comment in the letter.
In it, he said that he also provided to the trustees as much information as he had regarding the Sandusky matter, countering claims within the Freeh report that he withheld important information from the university's governing body.
"The Freeh report also is egregious in its incomplete and inaccurate reporting oof my 2011 discussions with certain trustees, advice and reporting from the university's general counsel, and the recounting of unfolding events in November 2011," he wrote. "I want to be clear that the chair of the board of trustees was kept informed by me throughout 2011 to the fullest extent I was able, beginning on the Sunday after my grand jury appearance and in other discussions with trustee leaders."
Mr. Spanier denied having any knowledge of Mr. Sandusky's repeated abuse of young boys, saying he "hadn't the slightest inkling" until after the grand jury presentment was released that Mr. Sandusky was being investigated for incidents before or after a complaint in 2001 that he was having sexual relations with a boy in a locker room shower. "Had I known then what we now know about Jerry Sandusky, had I received any information about a sexual act in the shower or elsewhere, or had I had some basis for a higher level of suspicion about Sandusky, I would have strongly and immediately intervened," Mr. Spanier wrote.
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