Trial of Curley, Schultz to Proceed

Joe Paterno was not present in Harrisburg at the preliminary hearing of Gary Schultz and Tim Curley; however, a written testimony was read on his behalf this afternoon.

The testimony was rather short. It began with Paterno saying that Mike McQueary had told him he saw Jerry Sandusky “fondling” a young boy in the shower. “I don’t know what you call it. He was doing something sexual in nature to a youngster.  I didn’t push Mike to tell me what it was.” Paterno said that he would have normally been more urgent under normal circumstances. “I ordinarily would have called people right away, but it was a Saturday morning and I didn’t want to interfere with their weekends.”

When Paterno called Curley, he allegedly said, “Hey, we’ve got a problem,” and proceeded to explain it to him. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Mr. Curley, and I thought he would look into it.”

That concluded Paterno’s statement as he was not in attendance and not asked many specific questions.

Curley’s statement followed Paterno’s and took a bit longer to read.

It began by describing that McQueary had seen “an uncomfortable activity in the shower”. Contrary to McQueary’s earlier testimony, nothing regarding a sexual nature was mentioned. “Mike McQueary seemed uncomfortable with Sandusky’s behavior.” Curley went on to say that he reported the incident to The Second Mile.

From there, he pointed out that it was his decision not to report the crime to the police. “I reported it to my direct employer, which was President Spanier. After meeting with Sandusky, I was not aware of anything sexual, so I felt my actions were appropriate.” In his meeting with Sandusky, he said Sandusky at first did not admit to being the shower but later conceded that he was in the Lasch Football Building that night.

Throughout his testimony, Curley maintained that he was never made aware of the 1998 Sandusky investigation. He stuck to the terms “wrestling”, “horsing around”, and “inappropriate conduct” several times but never mentioned anything of a sexual nature.

Curley’s testimony concluded, and shortly after, Gary Schultz’s was read. Schultz seemed to struggle to recall many specific details that were said at meetings. He testified that McQueary and Paterno only spoke in a general manner. “They did not use details.”

Schultz, like Curley, also was under the impression that a crime had not occurred. “I got the impression that there may have been some wrestling activities, and Sandusky may have grabbed the boy’s genitals.” Schulz later went on to say that he did not know if such an action would be considered a crime. Contrary to Curley, Schultz was aware of the 1998 incident involving Sandusky; however, he was under the impression that the Child Protection Agency ran the investigation as opposed to university police. Penn State, in fact, had a ninety-five page report on the investigation that Schultz said he was unaware of.

Building off of that, he testified that the previous investigation was not looked at after the 2002 incident, and to his knowledge, no one from the university pursued the 2002 investigation, and there was no attempt to identify the child.

One of the most poignant lines from Schultz’s testimony came towards the end. When Schultz was pressed as to whether or not he thought showering with young boys was appropriate, he responded, “I don’t know if it’s criminal.”

While the written testimony was lengthy, it seemed that Schultz consistently struggled to recall details regarding a meeting with Paterno and McQueary’s emotional state. “I don’t recall him being upset.”

Schultz’ testimony concluded, marking the end of witnesses and prompting final remarks from the prosecution and defense.

After both closing arguments, Judge William C. Wenner ruled that the case will proceed forward to trial upholding the perjury and failure to report charges for Curley and Schultz. Bail will also remain the same.

“I do believe the Commonwealth has met prima facie. Case will move forward.”

From there, court was adjourned. Onward State will have trial dates and arraignment details as they become available.