A judge Tuesday granted The Second Mile’s request to delay proceedings in its case to transfer assets to a Texas based charity — an attempt to shut down operations for good.
Senior Judge William F. Morgan granted the request after The Second Mile petitioned Aug. 27 to hold off on court proceedings until all issues and claims by the people referred to as “Victims” in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case have been settled, according to court documents.
A status conference for the case that was scheduled for this Friday has also been canceled, according to court documents.
Sandusky, the former Penn State defensive football coach, was convicted in June on 45 out of 48 counts of sexually abusing boys he met through The Second Mile, which he started in 1977.
After donor support weakened for The Second Mile in the wake of the Sandusky case, the charity requested the courts to allow it to transfer its assets to Arrow Child and Family Ministries, as previously reported.
The charity’s assets include $2 million in cash assets, a program endowment and program-related non-cash entities. Arrow, of Houston, Texas, is a Christian organization that helps neglected and abused children that have been removed from their homes, according to their website.
After the Aug. 27 filing by The Second Mile, the people referred to as “Victim 3,” “Victim 5” and “Victim 7” in the Sandusky case, as well as the person known as “John Doe A,” filed to stop the charity from transferring its assets, according to court documents.
The people referred to as “Victim 3,” “Victim 5” and “Victim 7” and “John Doe A” in the Sandusky case stated concerns in the filing about The Second Mile transferring funds, according to court documents.
They stated if The Second Mile were to transfer all of its funds, that it might not be able to pay what it would owe in liabilities if civil suits are filed in the future, according to court documents.
In a statement on The Second Mile’s website released on Aug. 27, The Second Mile Interim CEO David Woodle said the petition to delay proceedings allows future claims filed by the people referred to as “Victims” to be resolved before assets are transferred.
“The Second Mile and Arrow feel that staying the Petition at this time will better serve all involved as it limits further stress on the victims and avoids unnecessary litigation costs,” Woodle said in the statement.
Woodle also said in the statement that The Second Mile hopes to continue to operate programs through the process of transferring its funds.
