Thursday, August 1, 2013

Penn State Leaders Face Trial On Sandusky Coverup As Ted Rollins Lurks With His History Of Child Abuse


Former Penn State President
Graham Spanier
A second criminal trial now is set in the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State, and that brings at least two major questions to mind:

* Will the second trial prove the old adage that a coverup is worse than the original wrong?


* Will the area around Penn State come to grips with the fact that a corporate executive with a history as a child abuser has set up shop in the community, even as it continues to reel from the Sandusky fallout?


Ex Penn State president Graham Spanier and former administrators Gary Schultz and Tim Curley were ordered late Tuesday to stand trial on charges that they covered up their failure to tell police about an allegation that Sandusky molested a boy in a university locker room shower.


A district judge called it "a sad day for Penn State University," and a state prosecutor said the case is about "a conspiracy of silence." From a report at centredaily.com:



Perhaps the strongest pieces of evidence were email exchanges between Curley, Schultz and Spanier regarding the Sandusky shower incidents in May 1998 and February 2001. The prosecution offered testimony from whistle-blower Mike McQueary, a former university police chief and other employees. 

Here is how Huffington Post summarized the criminal charges against the three former Penn State administrators:



The three were charged with perjury, obstruction, endangering the welfare of children, failure to properly report suspected abuse and conspiracy. Those charges include allegations of hiding evidence from investigators and lying to the grand jury.

How stressful has the Sandusky saga been on residents of State College, Pennsylvania? Testimony at this week's preliminary hearing showed that Spanier tried desperately to quit after the Sandusky allegations became public--but the board of trustees fired him first.


On top of that, news reports indicate almost anyone associated with Penn State is subject to background checks, as part of the university's efforts to avoid such scandals in the future. One report stated that more than 21,000 individuals have undergone such checks, with some losing their jobs for relatively minor infractions that happened years ago.


It's ironic, then, that Penn State has welcomed Campus Crest Communities, a private developer of student housing at more than 40 sites around the country. The company is set to open The Grove at State College this month, and it has purchased Copper Beech Townhome Communities, which is based in State College and was founded by Penn State donors Jack and Jeannette McWhirter.


Ted Rollins (right) and
Jack McWhirter at Penn State
What is ironic about that? Ted Rollins, Campus Crest's CEO and a central figure in the Rollins v. Rollins divorce case here in Alabama, has a documented history as a child abuser--and yet he is setting up shop in a community that still is reeling from perhaps the most notorious child abuse case in American history.

Public records show that Rollins was convicted for assault on his 16-year-old stepson in Franklin County, North Carolina. (See documents at the end of this post.) He also was investigated for child sexual abuse, based on a complaint from an anonymous citizen.


That presents disturbing parallels to the Jerry Sandusky story, as we pointed out in a recent post:



The bottom line? A state investigation in North Carolina led to no action against Ted Rollins. No steps were taken to protect his apparent victim.
Residents of State College, PA, and supporters of Penn State should be familiar with that kind of story. Jerry Sandusky first was investigated for inappropriate conduct with a child in 1998, but nothing came of it. More than 13 years passed, with an untold number of additional victims, before Sandusky finally was held accountable.

The search for peace at Penn State continues in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. It appears the community is not likely to find it anytime soon.



19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this trial might be more interesting than the first one--and the first one was riveting.

Anonymous said...

Aren't there civil cases pending on the Sandusky case, too?

legalschnauzer said...

Oh yes, there are a bunch of civil cases. The university gradually is settling with a number of victims. I believe former president Spanier has a defamation case against Louis Freeh. There probably are others I'm not aware of.

Spasmoda said...

Penn State has given 21,000 background checks on people who already work there? Good Lord, how much does that cost?

legalschnauzer said...

Spas:

It's got to cost a lot. My understanding is that it's not just employees. It's pretty much anyone affiliated with the university--contractors, volunteers, etc. I believe they've already unearthed one member of the board of trustees who had a criminal record.

Anonymous said...

Wonder how Ted Rollins would fare on a Penn State background check.

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 4:29--

Not very well. And given that he is CEO of a company building housing for Penn State students, he should be subject to a background check. If it's good enough for 21,000 people around PSU, it should apply to Ted Rollins.

Sandra said...

This case is going to spread mud all over higher education.

Anonymous said...

speaking of background checks. how did this guy get through? http://www.jailbase.com/en/arrested/az-spd/2013-02-04/brandon-stephen-parise-13-02842-brandon-parise

he's the head of hr at teds company

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 9:13--

Looks like I need to hire you as an investigator. Impressive research. I take it this occurred in Scottsdale, AZ?

Anonymous said...

Someone should run a background check on all of the management at campus crest, board of directors, vp, president, and especially Brian sharpe. You will be surprised.

legalschnauzer said...

Are you aware of a criminal record for Mr. Sharpe? I know he was at the heart of several civil cases brought against the company for race and sex discrimination.

Anonymous said...

Brian sharpe is a misogynist woman hater and a sexist pig, who is Ted Rollins right hand man. He is a climber with track shoes. He has alienated so many women in the company and thus far has been rewarded by Ted Rollins with gifts and a Maserati.

Zacherydtaylor said...

They seem to go together unfortunately.

I hope you don't mind my going off topic but I found something I thought you might be interested in.

I don't know if you found time to look into Rollins Environmental Services or not, but apparently in the nineties they were using AstroTurf to support environmental causes that attacked their competitors while looking the other way at their own pollution. It appears to involve multiple groups to stay hidden but it was exposed anyway.

http://tinyurl.com/m2gvmhq

This involves Teds father I assume but I thought you might be interested.

legalschnauzer said...

Zachery:

Yes, I am interested in the Rollins Environmental story, and this looks like good additional information. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/08/01/fbi-pedo/

Anonymous said...

LS

make believe a nuclear attack happens between today, as was reported to be ready for in the news, of course the enemy is really US, and the National Surveillance Agency America, take a look-see at Wayne Madsen's new book,

but i digress

an attack before the end of December as all have been warned in the global travel for the Americans, especially,

AND then how would you write to help the community as no longer an individual in this battle of 'end times?'

Anonymous said...

I am a Pennsylvania resident and I find this horrible. I did a search and found that this student housing complex still exists. Is the Penn State Community aware, or do they not care? Has there been any recent information regarding this individual or his company's legal problems?

legalschnauzer said...

I would encourage you to contact officials at Penn State, in the administration on the board of trustees, and send along a copy of this post. You also might try sending a copy to the press in central PA. I doubt people up there know about Ted Rollins' background, which is a matter of public record. Feel free to stay in touch with me. You can reach me directly via personal e-mail at rshuler3156@gmail.com