A 267-page report released Thursday show's the president, vice president, athletic director and head football coach at Penn State did nothing to protect the kids who were sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky.
"The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized," said former FBI director Louis Freeh, who was hired by the school to look into the scandal.
The report found that there was a "total disregard" for the children who were sexually abused by Sandusky, saying the university and its top officials failed to protect those victims. Worse still, the report added that several senior officials actually "empowered" Sandusky to groom and attract more victims.
FOX 9 News spoke with attorney Ron Rosenbaum about the effects of the report, including whether or not it will help civil suits against the school proceed or open the doors to more lawsuits.
A letter Joe Paterno dictated in December before he died was also published on Thursday, saying, "This is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. It is not an academic scandal and does not in any way tarnish the hard-earned and well-deserved academic reputation of Penn State."
Yet, Rosenbaum said he doubts that the NCAA will buy that argument when it comes to deciding whether or not to penalize the program -- especially since the report found that one of the biggest reasons no one reported what they knew is because they feared it would bring bad publicity to the football program.
Freeh also said Paterno "was an integral part of this active decision to conceal."
Given these findings. Rosenbaum told FOX 9 News he believes the school will likely face many civil suits -- possibly even federal charges.
