Penn State rebuffs CNN request for records on 1998 Sandusky investigation
(CNN) -- Penn State has rejected a CNN public records request for a copy of a 1998 campus police report tied to sexual misconduct allegations made against then-assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a lawyer for the school told CNN.
Amy Elizabeth McCall, an assistant general counsel, asserted in a letter to CNN that Penn State is "a state-related institution" and not a "state school" like some in other states, and therefore does not have the same public records requirements as other public institutions.
"Because the 1998 investigation did not result in any criminal charges, it is not criminal history information and the university's police are thus required by law to keep that information within the police department," McCall wrote.
According to a grand jury's report released in early November, the mother of one of Sandusky's accusers -- identified as Victim 6 -- came forward and said the coach had showered with her son and hugged him.
Two campus police detectives eavesdropped on conversations in May 1998 when the mother confronted the coach, who retired a year later from the Nittany Lion program. Police later monitored a second conversation that month, in which the mother told Sandusky to stay away from her son.
"I understand. I was wrong," Sandusky said, according to the grand jury report. "I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won't get it from you. I wish I were dead."
No charges were ever filed in that instance, and local and state law enforcement authorities did not look deeper into those and other allegations against Sandusky until years later.