Louis Freeh, the former director of FBI, is expected to release his findings of an internal investigation in to the sex-abuse scandal that rocked Penn State University. And, as NBC's Michael Isikoff notes, the report is expected to be scathing.
Jay Paterno, the son of legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno, says that his family is awaiting the release of former FBI director Louis Freeh's "thorough report" into the sex scandal and possible cover-up at the university.
Penn State's internal report on the scandal surrounding former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse of young boys?will be released today at 9 a.m. ET.
Watch this space for updates throughout the day from msnbc.com and NBC News staff, who are in Philadelphia and State College, Pa., for the release.
NBC correspondent Michael Isikoff, in Philadelphia, reported that the Freeh investigation is expected to be "scathing," with some blame falling on the culture of college football.
The report may affect the reputation of legendary coach Joe Paterno, who died soon after the Sandusky allegations became public, as well as the university's standing with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which so far has not announced any punishments of Penn State.
On NBC's TODAY show on Thursday morning, the coach's son, Jay Paterno, told host Matt Lauer that all the family has wanted is for an investigation to find the truth. "We have never ever at any time been afraid to see what people have had to say," and he called the Freeh report "one opinion, one piece of the puzzle." "We've never been afraid of the truth, so let's have the truth come out and let's go from there."
The investigation is billed by Penn State as "independent," though the university is paying the law firm of Louis Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for the report. Freeh's law firm in Philadelphia says it will post the report at 9 a.m., with a news conference to follow an hour later.
Sandusky, 68, was found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse last month and is currently in prison awaiting sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of more than 400 years in prison.
Freeh was hired by the university in November to review the school's dealings with Sandusky and its response to a 2001 report that he sexually abused a boy in a Penn State shower room, an incident witnessed by football assistant Michael McQueary.
Jim Prisching / AP file
How will Penn State's "independent report" affect the reputation of its much-beloved former football coach, Joe Paterno, who died after the scandal broke?
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier has come under particular scrutiny in recent weeks amid news reports suggesting he was made aware of suspicious activity involving Sandusky in 2001 and that no report of the incident was made to authorities.
Citing emails obtained by Freeh?s investigators, CNN reported last week that Spanier and two other university officials ? Gary Schultz, the former senior vice president of finance and business, and Tim Curley, the athletic director on administrative leave ? agreed to take a "humane" approach in dealing with Sandusky following his alleged sexual encounter with a boy.
Instead of reporting the incident to police, according to CNN's report, administrators planned to ask Sandusky to seek counseling and said they would tell officials at the Second Mile, the charity he founded and where he met many of the children he would later abuse, about their concerns.
"At no time in the more than 16 years of his presidency at Penn State was Dr. Spanier told of an incident involving Jerry Sandusky that described child abuse, sexual misconduct or criminality of any kind, and he reiterated that during his interview with Louis Freeh and his colleagues,'' Spanier's attorneys, Peter Vaira and Elizabeth Ainslie, said in a written statement.
In addition, Freeh?s report is expected to include information about the actions of former head football coach Paterno after McQueary?s allegations. Paterno, a legend in college football, died of lung cancer in January at 85.
Gary Cameron / Reuters file
Former FBI Director Louis Freeh was hired in November to determine whether Penn State University officials knew about child sex abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
In a statement Tuesday, Paterno's family pushed back against the leak of emails to CNN, including one in which Curley stated, "After giving it more thought, and talking it over with Joe yesterday - I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps."
"The media spin that this is proof of some sort of cover up is completely false," the statment said. "When the facts come out, it will be clear that Joe Paterno never gave Tim Curley any instructions to protect Sandusky or limit any investigation of his actions.
"Joe Paterno did not cover up for Jerry Sandusky. Joe Paterno did not know that Jerry Sandusky was a pedophile. Joe Paterno did not act in any way to prevent a proper investigation of Jerry Sandusky. To claim otherwise is a distortion of the truth."
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The Sandusky scandal led to the ouster of Spanier and Paterno and charges against Curley, who is on leave from the university, and Schultz, who has since retired. The latter two are accused of perjury for their grand jury testimony and failing to properly report suspected child abuse.
Spanier hasn't been charged. He remains a tenured professor of sociology at Penn State. He has sued the university to gain access to internal emails that his attorneys say will exonerate him.
On Wednesday, the Paterno family released a letter written six months earlier by Paterno, saying, "This is not a football scandal."
A statue of Paterno remains outside Penn State's 106,000-seat Beaver Stadium.
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NBC national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff contributed to this report.
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