HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Former Penn State president Graham Spanier was convicted Friday of hushing up suspected child sex abuse in 2001 by Jerry Sandusky, whose arrest a decade later blew up into a major scandal for the university and led to the firing of beloved football coach Joe Paterno.
Jurors found Spanier guilty of one misdemeanor count of child endangerment over his handling of a complaint against the retired assistant football coach but found him not guilty of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count.
Spanier, 68, showed no emotion when the verdict was read after 13 hours of deliberations.
The child endangerment charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors declined to say whether they would seek jail time. Spanier’s lawyer said he would appeal.
The trial centered on how Spanier and two other university leaders handled a complaint by graduate assistant Mike McQueary, who said he reported seeing Sandusky sexually molesting a boy in a team shower in 2001. They told Sandusky he could not bring children onto the campus anymore but did not report the matter to police or child welfare authorities.