A member of the College Hall of Fame, Paterno was head coach of the Nittany Lions for 46 years. With 409 victories at Penn State, he won more games in big-time college football than any other coach in the sport’s history.
But disclosure of the charges against assistant coach Sandusky shocked the university and led to one of the biggest scandals in college sports history, and ultimately to Paterno’s ouster on Nov 9, with just four games remaining in the football season.
The move by trustees triggered demonstrations by students who felt Paterno was treated unfairly, and anger among some alumni. The two top officers of the university trustees stepped down this week.
Sandusky, who has maintained his innocence, faces 52 counts of sexual abuse of boys over a period of 15 years, including some incidents at the football complex on campus.
A Penn State graduate assistant testified to a grand jury that he told Paterno in 2002 that he witnessed Sandusky assaulting a boy in the showers at the football building. Paterno said he passed the information on to his boss, then Athletic Director Tim Curley. But no one told police, and the abuse continued for years, according to prosecutors.
University president Graham Spanier was fired along with Paterno, and Curley and a former finance official in the athletic department face charges of lying to a grand jury about the alleged abuse.
Sandusky is under house arrest awaiting trial on the abuse charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
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