Ex-Penn State assistant football coach accused of sexual abuse

A former defensive coordinator who for decades was integral to Penn State’s success in football was accused Saturday of sexually abusing eight boys, and the school’s athletic director and an administrator were charged with perjury and failing to report what they knew about the allegations in a case that prosecutors said uncovered a yearslong trail of a predator and those who protected him.

Former coach Jerry Sandusky, 67, of State College, Pa., was arrested Saturday and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts, the state attorney general’s office said. Athletic Director Tim Curley, 57, and Penn State vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, 62, both of Boalsburg, were expected to turn themselves in Monday in Harrisburg. Schultz’s position includes oversight of the university’s police department.

Longtime Coach Joe Paterno, who has more victories than any other coach in Division I football, was not charged, authorities said, and the grand jury report did not appear to implicate him in wrongdoing. It said that when Paterno first learned of one report of abuse, he immediately reported it to Curley, but Sandusky was no longer coaching at the time and it’s not clear whether Paterno followed up with Curley.

Sandusky, closely identified with the school’s reputation as a defensive powerhouse and a program that produced top-quality linebackers, retired in 1999 but continued to work with at-risk children through the nonprofit Second Mile organization he founded in 1977. He was charged with multiple counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor, as well as single counts of aggravated indecent assault and attempted indecent assault. A preliminary hearing for Sandusky is scheduled for Wednesday, but his lawyer told reporters it would likely be delayed.

“He’s shaky, as you can expect,” defense attorney Joe Amendola told WJAC-TV outside the arraignment hearing. “Being 67 years old, never having faced criminal charges in his life, and having the distinguished career that he’s had, these are very serious allegations.”

Amendola said Sandusky has been aware of the accusations for about three years and has maintained his innocence.

The allegations range from sexual touching to oral and anal sex, and victims testified they were in their early teens when some of the abuse occurred.

Attorney General Linda Kelly called Sandusky “a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys.”

The grand jury said eight boys who were targets of sexual advances or assaults by Sandusky from 1994 to 2009. None were named, and in at least one case, the jury said the child’s identity remains unknown to authorities.

An arrest warrant was issued for Terrell Owens after he failed to show up for a court date regarding child support payments.

Diana Bianchini, a spokeswoman for Owens, said the free-agent wide receiver tried to reschedule an Oct. 24 hearing in Contra Costa County Court because he had set up a workout in the hopes of attracting an NFL team’s attention. No teams attended the workout.

ETC.

Jacobson leads HSBC Champions

Adam Scott charged into contention in the HSBC Champions at Shanghai with a birdie-birdie-eagle finish for a three-under-par 69, leaving him three shots behind Fredrik Jacobson going into the final round of the World Golf Championship.

Jacobson made putts of 30 and 40 feet on consecutive holes on the back nine, then finished with four pars for a five-under 67 that gave him a two-shot lead over Louis Oosthuizen (68). Jacobson was at 16-under 200, breaking by two shots the 54-hole tournament record.

Jay Don Blake shot a five-under 66 and took a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Championship at San Francisco.

Blake had five birdies in his bogey-free round at TPC Harding Park. He pulled ahead with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 and finished at eight under. Jay Haas (67) joined Michael Allen (69) and David Frost (69) at six under.

Trevor Bayne earned his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory after he passed teammate Carl Edwards after a restart with seven laps remaining at Fort Worth, Texas. Bayne won the Daytona 500 this year but had not won in his previous 76 Nationwide starts.

Russia and the Czech Republic split the opening singles matches in the Fed Cup final at Moscow after Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova won their matches in straight sets.

Kvitova put the Czechs when she beat Maria Kirilenko, 6-2, 6-2 in the first match. Kuznetsova tied it with a 6-2, 6-3 against over Lucie Safarova.

The title will be decided Sunday with two reverse singles and a doubles match at Olympic Stadium.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was upset in the Swiss Indoors semifinals at Basel, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0 by Kei Nishikori. The Japanese player will face Roger Federer in the final Sunday after the defending champion beat Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Juan Monaco beat defending champion David Ferrer, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, to reach the Valencia Open final in Spain. Monaco will face Marcel Granollers, who beat Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Jeremy Abbott of the United States rallied from a fall on his opening jump and edged Nobunari Oda of Japan for the men’s title in figure skating’s Cup of China at Shanghai. Carolina Kostner of Italy wobbled on a couple of landings but held on to beat Mirai Nagasu of Arcadia for the women’s title.

Cleveland running back Peyton Hillis is officially out for the Browns’ game Sunday at Houston after reinjuring his hamstring in practice.

Pittsburgh punter Dan Sepulveda will sit out the rest of the season because of a right knee injury. The Steelers signed Jeremy Kapinos to take his place.

Jim Thome and the Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a $1.25-million, one-year contract. Thome, 41, hit .256 with 15 home runs and 50 runs batted in for the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians last season.

Washington Nationals first baseman Michael Morse hit a two-run single in the sixth inning, leading the Major League Baseball all-star team to a 3-2 win against Taiwan’s national team at Kaohsiung.