The emails reveal then-Penn State head coach Joe Paterno was heavily involved in disciplining several football players in 2007, who were accused of assaulting other students, according to the Chronicle report.
Paterno wrote to former Penn State President Graham Spanier through the email account of his assistant, Sandi Segursky.
“I want to make sure everyone understands that the discipline of the players involved will be handled by me as soon as I am comfortable that I know all the facts,” Paterno wrote, according to the Chronicle.
Spanier replied, “This is my understanding as well,” according to the Chronicle.
Paterno’s use of email directly contradicts a statement released by the Paterno family through attorney Wick Sollers on June 30 in response to several emails leaked to CNN.
“Some number of email exchanges between former Penn State officials have apparently been leaked to the media. Since the Paterno family is not in possession of these emails, it would be inappropriate to comment on their supposed content. To be clear, the emails in question did not originate with Joe Paterno or go to him as he never personally utilized email,” the statement reads.
According to the CNN report, former Athletic Director Tim Curley wrote in an email to Spanier and former Vice President for Business and Finance Gary Schultz that, after speaking with Paterno, he did not feel comfortable reporting a 2001 incident in which former defensive coordinator Sandusky was found in the shower with a young boy.
Sandusky was found guilty on 45 counts of child sex abuse on June 22. Curley and Schultz are facing charges of perjury and failure to report suspected child abuse. Paterno and Spanier were never charged in relation to the incident, and Paterno died in January due to complications from lung cancer.
Former Vice President for Student Affairs Vicki Triponey, who was heading the 2007 investigation into the football players, was included on the exchange between Paterno and Spanier, and she wrote back to Spanier requesting that Paterno’s influence be left out of her department’s investigation.
“The challenge here is that the letter suggests that football should handle this and now Coach Paterno is also saying THEY will handle this and makes it look like the normal channels will be ignored for football players,” Triponey wrote, according to the Chronicle.
Six football players were eventually charged in connection with the incident, and two plead guilty to misdemeanors, according to the article. Paterno supplied his own punishment, requiring the team to do 10 hours of community service and clean up Beaver Stadium after each home game.
Triponey was the center of a November 2011 article in the Wall Street Journal that referenced the 2007 incident and another meeting in 2005. The article says Paterno “criticized [Triponey] loudly for meddling.”
The Paterno family released a statement July 2, shortly before the Chronicle article, requesting the investigators, headed by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, release emails that have been unearthed.
“With the leaking of selective emails over the last few days, it is clear that someone in a position of authority is not interested in a fair or thorough investigation. To be clear, the Paterno family does not know the source or sources of these leaks,” the family said in the statement.
The Freeh Group’s report is expected to be released by the end of July.