Penn State fined millions by NCAA
Posted July 23, 2012 6:52 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND (NEWS1130) – The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60-million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno’s victories from 1998-2011.
The sanctions come in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
Other penalties include a four-year ban on bowl games, and the loss of 20 scholarships per year over four years.
NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the staggering sanctions this morning at a news conference in Indianapolis.
Though the NCAA stopped short of imposing the “death penalty” — shutting down the Nittany Lions’ program completely — the punishment is still crippling for a team that is trying to start over with a new coach and a new outlook.
Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive co-ordinator, was found guilty in June of sexually abusing young boys, sometimes on campus. An investigation commissioned by the school and released July 12th found that Paterno, who died in January, and several other top officials at Penn State stayed quiet for years about accusations against Sandusky.
Emmert fast-tracked penalties rather than go through the usual circuitous series of investigations and hearings. The NCAA said the $60-million is equivalent to the annual gross revenue of the football program.
The money must be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at Penn State.
Emmert had earlier said he had “never seen anything as egregious” as the horrific crimes of Sandusky and the cover-up by Paterno and others at the university, including former Penn State President Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley.
The investigation headed by former FBI Director Louis Freeh said that Penn State officials kept what they knew from police and other authorities for years, enabling the abuse to go on.
