Former Penn State Pres Graham Spanier ordered to prison - finally - in Sandusky scandal

The long-running criminal court drama over the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal moved to a conclusion Wednesday when a judge ordered Penn State’s former president to finally report to prison in three weeks.

Graham Spanier, 70, has been free on bond pending appeals since his 2017 jury conviction for failing to report a 2001 complaint about Sandusky showering with a child in a Penn State locker room to authorities. Spanier will serve a two-month sentence on a misdemeanor conviction for child endangerment charges.

In February, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to hear additional appeals from the former Penn State leader.

Sandusky, a retired Penn State assistant football coach who founded a charity for at-risk youth, was sentenced to 30-60 years in prison in 2012. A jury found him guilty of 45 counts of sexually abusing boys in and around Penn State facilities over a decade.

Senior Berks County Judge John A. Boccabella, who presided at Spanier’s trial, on Wednesday ordered the former university president to report to prison at 9 a.m. May 1.

Spanier led Penn State for 16 years. He was ousted from his post in November 2011, after a grand jury probe that culminated in charges against Sandusky raised questions about the university’s oversight of the assistant football coach.

Spanier and two other Penn State administrators were prosecuted on charges that they failed to report allegations against Sandusky years earlier.

Former athletic director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz were sentenced to jail time in 2017. Each pleaded guilty to child endangerment. Curley was sentenced to 7-to-23 months in prison, while Schultz was sentenced to 6-to-23 months.

In addition to serving two months in prison, Spanier was ordered to serve two months of house arrest.

Although Spanier was tried and convicted in Dauphin County, Boccabella agreed he may serve his sentence in the Centre County Prison near his State College home, if authorities there approve the arrangement.