The late Joe Paterno‘s actions, or, more specifically, lack of action, have once again come under intense scrutiny. Now, though, a couple of current college assistants have seen the harsh light cast upon them as well.
In court documents unsealed Tuesday, it’s alleged that Paterno and several of his Penn State assistants were aware of incidents of children being sexually abused at the hands of Jerry Sandusky dating as far back as 1976.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano was a part of the Nittany Lion program from 1990-95, first as a graduate assistant for one season and then as the defensive backs coach for five years. Tom Bradley, now the defensive coordinator at UCLA, was a longtime Paterno assistant who was there during Schiano’s tenure.
The release of the court documents has now assured that both coordinators are a part of a story that has no expiration date. From the Associated Press:Mike McQueary, a former assistant who reported to Paterno the 2001 incident in a team shower and who testified against Sandusky at trial, said in a 2015 deposition that former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was “not shocked” when told of it, according to the newly unsealed documents.
Bradley, who briefly took over as head coach after Paterno’s firing, “said he knew of some things” about Sandusky dating to the 1980s, McQueary testified.
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McQueary said Bradley told him that he’d been approached by someone in the 1980s who saw Sandusky “doing something to a boy” and that in the ‘90s, former assistant coach Greg Schiano saw Sandusky in the shower with a boy.
“Greg had come into his office white as a ghost and said he just saw Jerry doing something to a boy in the shower,” McQueary testified.Officially, Schiano has denied the claims contained in the unsealed documents.
In response to deposition, Greg Schiano said: “I never saw any abuse, nor had reason to suspect any abuse, during my time at Penn State.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 12, 2016
An attorney for Bradley told the AP he and his client are currently reviewing the documents. It’s expected the Bruins will release a statement attributed to Bradley later today.