Penn State hires ex-FBI director Freeh to probe alleged abuse

By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Former FBI director Louis Freeh, tapped to lead Penn State's investigation into the child sex-abuse allegations against a former assistant football coach, said his inquiry will go as far back as 1975, a much longer period than a grand jury report issued earlier this month.

Freeh was named Monday to oversee the university board of trustees' internal investigation into the abuse allegations that ultimately led to the ouster of longtime football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier.

Freeh said his goal was to conduct a comprehensive, fair and quick review.

Penn State has faced criticism since announcing that its internal investigation would be led by two university trustees, Merck pharmaceutical company CEO Kenneth Frazier and state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis.

Faculty members on Friday called for an independent investigation of how the university handled abuse allegations, and the faculty senate endorsed a resolution asking for an investigation to be led by a committee whose chair has no links to Penn State.

In announcing Freeh's appointment, Frazier stressed the former FBI director's independence. Freeh will be empowered to investigate employees up to and including the board of trustees itself, Frazier said.

"No one is above scrutiny," Frazier said.

Retired Air Force Col. and astronaut Guion Bluford also will be part of the investigation, Frazier said. Bluford is a 1964 Penn State graduate.

Freeh's investigation firm, Group International Europe, was hired by soccer's governing body this year to look into the bribery case involving FIFA's presidential election. FIFA banned candidate Mohamed bin Hammam for life for bribing voters. The ruling body also banned 11 Caribbean soccer leaders and disciplined others in the corruption scandal.

Freeh founded Group International Europe after leading the FBI from 1993 to 2001. He previously served six years as a special agent.

Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is accused of molesting eight boys over a 15-year period. Authorities say some assaults happened on campus and were reported to administrators but not to police.

Amid the scandal, Penn State's trustees ousted Spanier and Paterno. The trustees said Spanier and Paterno failed to act after a graduate assistant claimed he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in a campus shower in 2002.

Paterno, who has the most wins of any major college football coach, has conceded he should have done more. Spanier has said he would have reported a crime if he had suspected one had been committed.

Sandusky has said he is innocent. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but said he never molested them.

Former school administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz are charged with not properly alerting authorities to suspected abuse and with perjury. They maintain their innocence.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)