DISTURBING

Police Report: Joe Paterno Knew of Earlier Abuse Claims in Penn State Scandal

The football coach had claimed to be unaware of earlier allegations after Jerry Sandusky’s 2011 arrest.

A police report recently obtained by CNN appears to provide new evidence that famous Penn State football coach Joe Paterno ignored sexual abuse claims against Jerry Sandusky for years before Sandusky’s arrest in 2011. The one-page report details an encounter that whistleblower Mike McQueary told police he had with Paterno in 2001, long before the abuse scandal broke. McQueary reportedly told police he’d met with Paterno in 2001 to inform him he’d witnessed Sandusky involved in “an extreme sexual act” with a young boy in the locker room. In response, Sandusky told McQueary that was the second complaint of that nature he’d received, according to the report. Paterno, who was fired in late 2011 after Sandusky's arrest, died of lung cancer in 2012, though questions remain about whether he turned a blind eye to the abuse. In his grand jury testimony, he claimed to be unaware of the abuse. Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years.