Penn State has received a preliminary report from the federal government regarding whether its handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal complied with campus crime reporting requirements, the university said Monday.
The school said that neither it nor the U.S. Department of Education was permitted to release information about the report at this time, but that details will be made public after the federal agency makes a final determination when it finishes its review.
Penn State said school officials have given federal reviewers access to the records and information they have requested.
Pennsylvania prosecutors have alleged that high-ranking university officials failed to properly report suspected abuse of children by Sandusky, a retired assistant football coach who was convicted a year ago of 45 counts of child sexual abuse.
The university said it has hired a full-time employee to help it comply with the 1990 law at the center of the review, called the Clery Act. The law, named for Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman who was raped and killed in a campus residence hall in 1986, requires universities to publish annual reports and maintain a daily crime log.
Violations can result in a school losing its authority to offer federal student aid, although that has never happened. The Education Department has leveled fines, however, of up to $27,500 per violation.
Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence and maintains his innocence.
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A preliminary hearing is scheduled for this month for the three former Penn State administrators accused of a criminal conspiracy, allegedly covering up complaints about Sandusky mistreating boys. Former president Graham Spanier, retired athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz all deny the allegations.
