HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Former Penn State President Graham B. Spanier was charged Thursday with hushing up child sex abuse complaints against Jerry Sandusky, making him the third school official to be accused of crimes in the alleged cover-up.
Prosecutors also added counts against two of his former underlings, Timothy M. Curley and Gary C. Schultz, who were already charged with lying to the grand jury that investigated the former Penn State assistant football coach.
Spanier was charged with perjury, obstruction, endangering the welfare of children, failure to properly report suspected abuse and conspiracy. Curley and Schultz face new charges of endangering the welfare of children, obstruction and conspiracy.
"This was not a mistake by these men. This was not an oversight. It was not misjudgment on their part," said state Attorney General Linda Kelly. "This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials to actively conceal the truth."
Curley and Schultz have repeatedly asserted they are innocent, and Spanier's attorneys have insisted he was never told there was anything of a sexual nature involving Sandusky and children. Messages left for their respective attorneys Thursday were not immediately returned.
Kelly said all three "knowingly testified falsely and failed to provide important information and evidence."
The charges were filed with a suburban Harrisburg district judge, who said the defendants were expected in his courtroom no earlier than Friday.
Sandusky, who spent decades on the Penn State staff and was defensive coordinator during two national championship seasons, was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years. He has maintained he is innocent and was transferred to a maximum security prison on Wednesday, where he is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence.
Curley, 58, the athletic director on leave while he serves out the last year of his contract, and Schultz, 63, who has retired as vice president for business and finance, were charged a year ago with lying to the grand jury and with failing to properly report suspect child abuse. Their trial is set for early January in Harrisburg.
Spanier, 64, of State College, had been university president for 16 years when he was forced out after Sandusky's November 2011 arrest.
