An expert asked by Penn State's liability insurance provider to assess when key university officials should have had known about child sex-assault allegations involving Jerry Sandusky has identified six different cases dating to 1976.
Risk management expert Raymond Williams said those cases involved three incidents that were reportedly witnessed by other assistant coaches on the Penn State staff at the time, and three others that were reported to university officials.
It is worth noting that only two of the cases, to date, have been tested in court and resulted in criminal convictions against Sandusky, though all six did result in settlement payments by the university.
The eyewitness cases at the time involved the 2001 incident witnessed by then-graduate assistant Michael McQueary.
But
they also covered:
- Improper sexual contact between Sandusky and a minor in 1987 that was witnessed by then-assistant coach Joe Sarra. Sarra died in July 2012.
- Improper sexual contact between Sandusky and a child in 1988 that was witnessed by then-assistant coach Kevin O'Dea. O'Dea last coached as the special team coach for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Williams also identified
three cases where significant reports were made, including:
- A 1976 incident where an alleged victim made a report to then-head football coach Joe Paterno.
- A report by an alleged victim that was referred to then-Penn State Athletic Director Jim Tarman in 1988.
- The 1998 report that the mother of a boy filed with Penn State's university police department, was investigated, and later dropped with no charges filed by the Centre County district attorney's office. Like the 2001 incident, Sandusky's criminal case had previously established that this incident was known to several of Penn State's highest-ranking administrators.