By Mark Shade
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov 7 (Reuters) - Former Penn State
University President Graham Spanier pleaded not guilty on
Wednesday to covering up the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal in
what prosecutors called a "conspiracy of silence," and was freed
on bail.
Spanier, along with former top school officials Tim Curley
and Gary Schultz, was charged last week with child endangerment,
perjury, criminal conspiracy, failure to report suspected child
abuse and obstruction for failing to report the former assistant
football coach's assaults on boys.
Sandusky, 68, is serving what is essentially a life sentence
- 30 to 60 years in a maximum-security prison for death row
inmates - for molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period, some in
the campus football showers.
In a brief arraignment in Harrisburg District Justice
William Wenner's office, the ex-president was told to forfeit
his U.S. passport and not to travel outside of Pennsylvania.
Bail was set at $125,000, the same amount set for Curley, the
athletic director on leave, and Schultz, a retired vice
president.
Spanier and legendary football coach Joe Paterno were fired
in the wake of Sandusky's arrest in November 2011. Earlier this
year, an independent report by former FBI chief Louis Freeh
concluded that Spanier, Curley, Schultz and Paterno, who died in
January of lung cancer, were alerted to Sandusky's abuse but did
nothing to stop it or report it to authorities.
On Wednesday, as he drove away from the judge's office with
his wife Sandra, Spanier had nothing to say to reporters.
His attorney, Elizabeth Ainslie, declined to discuss the
specifics of the case, but said Spanier was "absolutely not
guilty" of the charges filed against him. She said
Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly's comment that Spanier
participated in a "conspiracy of silence" is "absolutely
ridiculous."
"Dr. Spanier was never given a chance to speak to this grand
jury to give his side of the story, and we look forward to the
chance to present his side of the story in the future," Ainslie
said.
Wenner set a tentative date of Nov. 16 for a preliminary
hearing but said it could be changed to January.
Spanier, Curley and Schultz will most likely be tried
together at the county courthouse in Harrisburg.
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