Two former Penn State officials charged with perjury and failure to report suspected child sex abuse will have a hearing for oral arguments on several pretrial motions at 9 a.m. on Thursday at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg.
The attorneys for former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz will argue on behalf of their clients Thursday, but the defendants themselves will not be present. Thursday will be the first court date in the case since December.
Curley and Schultz face charges of perjury, after lying to a grand jury investigating former defensive football coach Jerry Sandusky’s suspected child sex abuse, and failure to report suspected child abuse relating to a 2001 incident also involving Sandusky, according to court documents.
Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 counts of sexually abusing children he met through his charity for underprivelidged children, The Second Mile.
The hearing is expected to center on arguments from attorneys about four pretrial motions, one of which is a motion to throw out the perjury charge and the failure to report charge, according to court documents.
Attorneys will also discuss the defense’s request for a bill of particulars -- or more specific information -- relating to false statements made by Curley and Schultz to the grand jury. Attorneys will also discuss the defense’s motion to preserve witness interviews and reports of investigation and the defense’s motion for a writ of habeas corpus, or the right to challenge the terms of their charges, according to court documents.
Curley and Schultz, along with former university President Graham Spanier and former head football coach Joe Paterno, were implicated in former FBI Director Louis Freeh’s report on his investigation into Penn State. They were shown to have known about reports of Sandusky’s sexual abuse and chose not to report it to police.
In his grand jury testimony, then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary said he walked into a Lasch Football Building locker room and saw Sandusky in the shower doing something of a "sexual nature" with a boy. McQueary said after speaking with his father about the incident, he resolved to tell Paterno the next day, who in turn relayed the information to Curley and Schultz.
The information about the abuse was never reported to police.
Curley and Schultz have both maintained their innocence through their attorneys, Caroline Roberto and Tom Farrell, respectively. No trial date has been scheduled for Curley and Schultz.
