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And while we're at it, let's get an update on Penn State's Graham Spainer, Timothy Curley, and Gary Schultz because the national media has decided to quit covering this.
These guys were first charged in November 2012.
2/1/17:
These guys were first charged in November 2012.
2/1/17:
Former Penn State administrators get trial date in Sandusky child endangerment case
The on-again, off-again prosecution of three former Penn State administrators accused of exposing Central Pennsylvania boys to potential sexual assault by their inaction on early allegations against serial child molester Jerry Sandusky is back on.
A senior judge from Berks County on Wednesday set a trial date of March 20 for former PSU President Graham Spanier, former athletic director Tim Curley and former senior vice president Gary Schultz.
Judge John Boccabella set the date after denying most of the defendants' motions to get the case against them thrown out.
Boccabella did toss a related failure to report suspected child abuse charge, citing statute of limitations problems.
But he allowed the state's Attorney General to proceed on the child endangerment count with a unique argument that, because the three did not take a 2001 accusation against Sandusky to police or child welfare authorities, the former assistant football coach was able to prey on several other child victims through the next seven years.
The three defendants also face a conspiracy count, stemming from a series of emails that appear to have documented their decision-making process.
Spanier, Curley and Schultz face charges because when they were alerted by Paterno to the 2001 shower-room incident witnessed by then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, they opted to handle the incident in-house.
Boccabella's ruling, while setting the stage for a new trial, may bring to a close a four-year, pre-trial battle in which the once-powerful Penn State administrators used every tool at their disposal to get the case against them dismissed.
They did score a major win last January, when a state Superior Court panel threw out perjury and obstruction of justice charges based on what the court felt was tainted grand jury testimony, and then-Acting Attorney General Bruce Castor opted not to appeal.
In the remaining counts, prosecutors have argued - borrowing from the Msgr. William Lynn case in Philadelphia - that as university administrators, Spanier, Curley and Schultz were positioned and had a duty to see that the allegations against Sandusky were investigated by outside authorities.
The former administrators countered that they can not be charged with child endangerment because those charges are reserved for persons who have a more direct role in the day-to-day supervision of children.
Boccabella did not issue an opinion with his latest rulings.
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