Report: Jerry Sandusky Case Was Unnecessarily Delayed

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A new report is calling into question how the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse investigation was handled. Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, was convicted of sexually assaulting 10 boys. Now, Pennsylvania's attorney general says Sandusky could have been brought to justice sooner. NPR's Jeff Brady has this story.

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: Reports that Jerry Sandusky was abusing children at circulated for years. So when he was arrested in 2011, Kathleen Kane had this question.

KATHLEEN KANE: What took so long? Why did this take so long?

BRADY: Kane is a Democrat and during her 2012 campaign for attorney general, she suggested Republican Governor Tom Corbett - when he was AG - slowed the investigation for political reasons. The Sandusky scandal made headlines after Corbett was elected governor in 2010. Now, with her review complete, Kane's assessment changed.

KANE: This report found no direct evidence - no e-mail, no confession, no statement from anybody indicating that they were told to slow this down because of politics.

BRADY: Still, Kane says she would've prosecuted Sandusky more quickly. In a written statement, Corbett responds he wanted to conduct a careful investigation of a complex case that would lead to Sandusky's conviction. Sandusky was found guilty and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. Jeff Brady, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.