Former Penn State President charged with perjury

Graham Spanier, the former President of Penn State University¸was charged with perjury in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case on Thursday.

Reuters reported that Spanier, 64, has also been charged with endangerment of the welfare of children, conspiracy and failure to report child abuse.

Sandusky was an assistant football coach at the University who was recently sentenced to over 30 years in prison for sexually molesting boys over 15 years.

Spanier, who was the university’s president for 16 years, had knowledge of Sandusky’s activities but did not inform police. Another colleague who remained silent was Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno. Both Paterno and Spanier were dismissed in November, following Sandusky’s arrest. Paterno died in January.

"This is not a mistake, an oversight or a misjudgment. This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials at Penn State, working to actively conceal the truth, with total disregard to the suffering of children," Attorney General Linda Kelly said.

ESPN reported that Spanier also informed a board of trustees that his father abused him as a child.

"It is unfathomable and illogical to think that a respected family sociologist and family therapist, someone who personally experienced massive and persistent abuse as a child, someone who devoted a significant portion of his career to the welfare of children and youth ... would have knowingly turned a blind eye to any report of child abuse or predatory sexual acts directed at children," Spanier wrote.