Making good on a campaign promise, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane appointed a special deputy to lead the investigation into how Gov. Tom Corbett and his office handled the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case.
Corbett was the state’s attorney general in 2008 when Aaron Fischer, then-14, known as Victim 1 in the grand jury presentment, told authorities Sandusky had engaged in unspecific inappropriate conduct with him.
Corbett has said on multiple occasions that his office moved through the case as quickly as possible. Sandusky was arrested in November 2011, nearly a year after Corbett was sworn in as governor. Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and is serving a prison term of 30 to 60 years.
Kane’s office said there is no timetable regarding when results will be released. The findings of the investigation will be released when her office believe the investigation is complete.
During her campaign for attorney general last year, Kane said she would investigate why it took the attorney general’s office 33 months to charge Sandusky. She received support from many throughout the state for her pledge. Kane appointed H. Geoffrey Moulton, Jr., currently an associate professor at the Widener University School of Law, to handle the investigation. Moulton will remain a professor at Widener for this semester.
While Moulton has an impressive resume — he has served in several senior positions in the federal government including as chief of counsel to U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware and chief of staff and deputy special inspector general for the Office of Special Inspector General for the Trouble Asset Relief Program — it is concerning that his position as special deputy will not be his only responsibility.
In a high profile case such as this, a thorough investigation needs to be a priority. It will be tough for Moulton to balance the duties of his positions of professor and special deputy. It is too soon to tell how Moulton will balance his responsibilities, but he needs to make sure he conducts a fair and thorough investigation.
The attorney general should have considered hiring someone without other responsibilities. Now we can just hope that he makes his new position a priority.
