Disturbing details emerged at the sexual abuse trial of former assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. During the emotional testimony, the first witness who was identified in court documents as 'Victim 4,' said he was a teenager when the abuse began. NBC's John Yang reports.
By Michael Isikoff, NBC News national investigative correpondent
Updated at 4:02 p.m. ET: Pennsylvania prosecutors are considering criminal charges against former top Penn State University officials for allegedly concealing what they knew about the conduct of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, law enforcement told NBC News.
As Sandusky's trial began Monday on 52 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years, the sources said investigators had obtained new evidence, including internal university email messages and other documents.
The documents show that former university President Graham Spanier and others discussed whether they were obligated to tell authorities about a 2001 allegation involving a late-night encounter in a Penn State shower room between Sandusky and a young boy, both of whom were naked, the sources said.
The documents allegedly show that university officials even did legal research on whether such conduct might be a crime, but in one email exchange, Spanier and former university Vice President Gary Schultz agreed that it would be "humane to Sandusky" not to inform social services agencies, two sources said. Schultz and former university Athletic Director Tim Curley have been charged with perjury in connection with their grand jury testimony. Spanier hasn't been charged in the investigation.
Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial
It wasn't the first time university officials had heard about Sandusky's alleged behavior. Schultz testified to a grand jury that he knew about an alleged separate incident involving Sandusky and a young boy in a shower in 1998, when he was head of campus police. That report was investigated by local authorities but never led to charges.
The documents also indicate that Spanier and Curley took a report from former graduate assistant coach Michael McQueary more seriously than they led grand juries investigating the case to believe.
McQueary — who is expected to testify for the prosecution at Sandusky's trial — originally testified to a grand jury that he saw Sandusky in the shower with a young boy in March 2002. But an email revealed Monday indicates that Spanier, Schultz and Curley discussed what McQueary allegedly saw and whether to report it more than a year earlier.
Lawyers for Spanier, who was fired in September, didn't return calls seeking comment.
In a statement, lawyers for Schultz and Curley said "the information confirms that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz conscientiously considered Mike McQueary's reports of observing inappropriate conduct, reported it to the University President Graham Spanier and deliberated about how to responsibly deal with the conduct."
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
By Michael Isikoff, NBC News national investigative correpondent
Updated at 4:02 p.m. ET: Pennsylvania prosecutors are considering criminal charges against former top Penn State University officials for allegedly concealing what they knew about the conduct of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, law enforcement told NBC News.
As Sandusky's trial began Monday on 52 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years, the sources said investigators had obtained new evidence, including internal university email messages and other documents.
The documents show that former university President Graham Spanier and others discussed whether they were obligated to tell authorities about a 2001 allegation involving a late-night encounter in a Penn State shower room between Sandusky and a young boy, both of whom were naked, the sources said.
The documents allegedly show that university officials even did legal research on whether such conduct might be a crime, but in one email exchange, Spanier and former university Vice President Gary Schultz agreed that it would be "humane to Sandusky" not to inform social services agencies, two sources said. Schultz and former university Athletic Director Tim Curley have been charged with perjury in connection with their grand jury testimony. Spanier hasn't been charged in the investigation.
Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial
It wasn't the first time university officials had heard about Sandusky's alleged behavior. Schultz testified to a grand jury that he knew about an alleged separate incident involving Sandusky and a young boy in a shower in 1998, when he was head of campus police. That report was investigated by local authorities but never led to charges.
The documents also indicate that Spanier and Curley took a report from former graduate assistant coach Michael McQueary more seriously than they led grand juries investigating the case to believe.
McQueary — who is expected to testify for the prosecution at Sandusky's trial — originally testified to a grand jury that he saw Sandusky in the shower with a young boy in March 2002. But an email revealed Monday indicates that Spanier, Schultz and Curley discussed what McQueary allegedly saw and whether to report it more than a year earlier.
Lawyers for Spanier, who was fired in September, didn't return calls seeking comment.
In a statement, lawyers for Schultz and Curley said "the information confirms that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz conscientiously considered Mike McQueary's reports of observing inappropriate conduct, reported it to the University President Graham Spanier and deliberated about how to responsibly deal with the conduct."
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