Nittany Nightmare Continues Past Sandusky: Former President Spanier Charged- NEW Charges for Curley and Schultz Filed
Happy Valley- PA On the heels of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky’s transfer to his new home, what most predicted would follow- has.
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier, fired by the Penn State Board of Trust the same day as legendary late-Nittany Lions Coach Joe Paterno, is facing serious charges today filed by Sandusky’s prosecutors.
Spanier is facing counts of obstruction of justice, perjury, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children and failure to report allegations of child abuse.
Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, who were facing perjury and charges based on “non-reporting”, are now facing all five similar charges as Spanier- additional filings occurred simultaneously.
Linda L. Kelly stated the men “used their positions to conceal and cover up for years the activities of a known child predator,” on Thursday following the announcement.
Please check back to www.blinkoncrime for this developing story.
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The reason that the second scenario is less likely because there is no evidence of a case he was working on, notes, nor did he tell anyone on staff about it.
As for the laptop, he might have wanted to destroy private data, like his credit card numbers.
Even in 2005 that info was encrypted. He purchased software to erase the hard drive ( he thought) that was found with the computer bag but not the computer.
I personally believe his messages about deleting his hard drive was for ears that would care if he did not.
B
Mr. Gricar had been asking about getting rid of the data on the drive for about a year prior to his disappearance.
He asked some coworkers, including a defense attorney. I wish I was able to shed some light on which defense attorney, but I am unable to at the present time.
“Investigators previously had disclosed that they had, through interviews, heard that Gricar was talking about ways to erase a hard drive with friends and colleagues about 16 months before he disappeared. A box for such software was seen at his house around January 2004.”
http://www.centredaily.com/2009/04/15/1228995/foul-play-theory-weakened.html
If someone wanted the info, they were 16-months patient.
If a voluntary walk or suicide, if it were embarrassing info, I guess he’d have to
destroy it that day–but why wait 16 months from first idea of it, and why rush
to walk away with 8 months before retirement.
My understanding, and I got this from a retiring DA, is that if the date of death was prior to retirement, Mr. Gricar’s heir would get a larger benefit from his pension.
On the laptop, how would anybody, other than Mr. Gricar, know that he didn’t copy whatever was on the laptop onto either his office computer, his home computer, a removable source, or that he printed out any of this data.
In both walkaway or suicide, Mr. Gricar could have wanted to the data until the last minute.
Do you knew when the second offense occurred and when charges were filed? If Madeira handled the case, then the case would not have come up until after Mr. Gricar’s term of office expired, and after Ms. Arnold was no longer with the DA’s Office.
I am referring to the DPW child abuse listing, which is separate from any criminal prosecution. They have a separate process, but one that will come up on a background check.
I would that the charge, from what I can find, was misdemeanor, though it would put someone convicted of it on the DPW list.
What is a DPW child abuse listing? You are aware the charges were pled down, correct? This was against the wishes of the Mother of the boys.
B
I should modify my mast line. Conviction of it would put someone on the Megan’s Law list, which is separate from the DPW list.
I did want to return to why I would say meeting a woman was a more likely murder scenario.
1. At least two witnesses put Mr. Gricar in the Street of Shops (SoS) with a woman in the evening of 4/15. They were walking through the shops; he didn’t appear to be interviewing her. One of these was the first witness who reported seeing him.
2. Three witnesses, at least, put him in the SoS between 11:30 AM and Noon on 4/16. I could see any case related situation where Mr. Gricar would spend the night, and not phone home.
Now, both of these specific sightings could have problems. I only give the 4/16 sighting as being 50% accurate, due to the circumstances.
The 4/15 sighting might be accurate, but the woman might not have been with Mr. Gricar. It just might have been another shopper. It might have been a misidentification of the man, though I think that is unlikely.
Well I certainly don’t know much about the case but maybe RG met with a woman and was murdered by someone else the same night. If RG was somewhere without informing a lot of others, it would make it easier to murder him without getting caught.
DPW maintains a listing, a “Statewide Central Register,” that is checked anytime someone is hired, or volunteers, to be around children. The listing is purely a DPW designation; someone can be on it without ever being arrested or tried.
http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/055/chapter3490/chap3490toc.html
In Sandusky’s case, had be been on this list, he never could have continued on at TSM.
Steve, if there was a woman that Mr. Gricar was meeting on 4/15, she has never come forward. If she didn’t have anything to hide, why hasn’t she come forward?
I could understand if this Mystery Woman was just another shopper; she might not realize she is the “Mystery Woman.”
Then there is a problem of the 4/16 witnesses.
Ray appears to have been a cash cow for attached women–housing/car.
Any woman he’d walk with was better off keeping him employed rather than missing.
Unless she was sent to him as a specific sexual lure by someone intent on harm. If he wanted to walk, you’re
right, better for his heir if it was farther from retirement date & had no overt
markers for suicide.
Is it possible Sandusky was on the confidential registry.
There would be no reason to check it after his adoption & foster care days were over.
TSM likely didn’t have a policy of episodic re-checking.
Not something the State would want or need to disclose at trial.
Rose, after 2009, he was. He applied as a volunteer at Juniata College, I think. It came up on the background check and he was denied the position.
As for Mr. Gricar’s finances, since 1998-9, he was grossing over $100,000 per year. Both his ex-wife and girlfriend were working. He had about $100,000 in his accounts, which is low, considering his lifestyle. There is a money problem; he should have more money.
That points away from bribery, but it might point to hidden assets.
I am not seeing how that points away from bribery- he withdrew over $16K at ATM’s. If the information that he had a joint account with his daughter is correct, does it stand to reason he was offering her additional support?
B
If somebody were hand Mr. Gricar a lot of cash, we’d expect to see him have a lot more money.
The $16,000 was over 2 1/2 years and worked out to about $20-$30 a week.
Yes, he could have been offering his daughter support, however, her mother was making more money than Mr. Gricar. She is a department head at PSU, and does business consulting. The daughter wasn’t going to Harvard, or anything that was that expensive. There is also a high likelihood that Mr. Gricar had money left over after his divorce.
From an investigative perspective, you can’t distill the cash withdrawls by averaging them. They could form a pattern, they could coincide with meetings or a common person, etc, . Also, cash ATM transactions alone are only a snippet of his financial bio if you will. My point is without specific information that has not been made public we cannot really assess the relevance.
BB
Well, I tend to agree with the last line. The police, however, found no recent big withdrawal. Still $16 K in 2 1/2 years is not a lot of money.
Piecing together the assets is one of the more difficult aspects of the case.
Rose, just looking back at your comment, there was another possibility about why the disappearance would be so close to retirement. Nobody knew who the next DA would be.
On 4/15/05, there were three good candidates that had a good shot at being the next DA, Madeira, Bascom, both R, and Arnold, D; the fourth was weak. Smith, the acting DA, had no idea who it would win the primary or election and what their plans regarding the Gricar case would be. It would insure 8 months of uncertainty until a new DA was elected. It wouldn’t even be limited to Madeira/Arnold until more than a month later.
Had Gricar disappeared in 4/2004, Smith would have known that he would have been in charge of the case until 12/2005, at least. He would have had longer term control. Who knows, he might have actually run for the office under those circumstances.
http://www.dallasjustice (dot) com/dallascriminallawyerblog/suspicious-ray-gricar-actions-as-d-a-investigating-penn-state-child-abuse-makes-me-think-gricar-is-alive-and-well-and-the-fbi-does-too/
somehow the comment fell away from the url above
also, remove (dot) & insert a .
my comment expressed appreciation for both JJ-PA & Lowe’s
reasonings in the “comments” section.
I decided it was best to ask Sandusky question on Sandusky thread. Your reader response to another case where she compared Castro, Sandusky, & SZ. It would be SZ who objectifies from the beginning.
http://blinkoncrime.com/2012/11/27/kyron-horman-missing-civil-suit-against-terri-horman-delayed-and-sealed/#comments
“To your point, Sandusky has the closest profile to someone I feel is responsible for Ky’s disappearance, however imo, this offender objectifies his victim from the beginning. So the motivations are quite different, but some of the paraphilias will end up the same. Neither is treatable, period.”
To educate myself I found a colloquial definition of paraphilia:
https://www.google.com/search?q=paraphilias&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paraphilias I confess I stopped skimming these sicknesses in the Fs.
I can see right off Sandusky had Frotteuriam & pedophilia. You said paraphilias are same? I guess that means prepubescent boys (pedophilia). . Sandusky also was aroused in the water. And by wrestling. And by basement bed. And I guess Castro didn’t have Pedophilia, as it’s restricted to Prepubescent by definition. He too used basement. He’s more of a bondage rapist I guess.
My question is how Sandusky’s “profile” is like SZ’s? In thinking of SZ’s profile, both are very smart, both profiled as bio childless, both had cause to be in the neighborhood, any others?
Yes, and perhaps additional, I would have to interview them to be sure, or review specific case files of non-self reporting acts, etc. The rule of thumb in training about para’s is that if you find one you find more. It is pretty rare a “deviant” has only one. I am referring to the overall profile of a serial pedophile and that of a serial sexual sadist (with or without pedophilia)- if Kyron’s disappearance is a sexually motivated crime of course as I have stated from the beginning.
B
Blink, you got me thinking about Christopher Lee. I checked the CDT archives for just the headlines (I’m too cheap to buy the article), and found some stuff.
The incident occurred in June of 2005. Lee was charged about 9/24/05. The “deal,” as the newspaper referred to it, seems to have around 6/17/06. The mother objected.
Mr. Gricar disappeared on 4/15/05, at least six weeks before the incident. Mr. Smith was the acting DA when Lee was charged. Mr. Madeira was DA when the ARD decision was made.
Lee’s father or uncle, and I guessing father, was Blair Lee, III. He was acting governor of Maryland in the late 70′s. His grandfather was an ambassador.
Oh, and you might want to verify my posts as I was “impersonated on another site.
I will do that, but I am not sure I have to as your research is flawed and very limited.
You can find all of that in earlier comments here.
I don’t understand your “impersonated” comment”.
B
It is limited, but I checked the archives. The key article is 9/24/05 titled ” CEO OF BOAL MANSION CHARGED MAN ACCUSED OF INDECENT ASSAULT OF 10-YEAR-OLD BOY.” From what is free, he was with misdemeanor indecent assault, corruption of minors, and some summary charges.
Another one is disposition on 6/17/06 titled BOYS’ MOTHER PROTESTS DEAL WITH HARRIS OFFICIAL
There is a clarification article from 5/2/09, CHARGES AGAINST LEE TO STAY ON RECORD DESPITE ARD
The search site is at the top right of the CDT homepage.
By “impersonation” I mean someone else signing in as “J. J. in Phila” but not actually me.
Understood, the court records are public. I would reference them. Are you saying that someone here is signing in as you and is not, if you are referring to somewhere else, unfortunately I have no control over that, and is the reason why on my site it is one hat per customer.
B
On another site, yes, but not here. It has happened once before on a different site.
Do you have a link to the court records?
Just a note, I’ll be changing my icon on here by using a different email address
@JJinPA. Long ago posts by Beejay, who was/is stellar & FBI-retiree linked (via husband?)
and brainy as heck, drilled down and widely on Lee, associates, & Blairs.
All back up thread there somewhere. TY for reappearing. Wish Beejay would.
Personally, imo if someone disappears this well for this long, tis foul play of the professional ilk.
Rose, thanks. I checked and Beejay posted that it was Madeira who handled the Lee case, which does correspond to the press reports.
The charges against Lee were all misdemeanors, which probably was the legal justification (consider that I used the word “legal”) for the ARD. One was the indecent assault (and that actually IS a misdemeanor), and had Lee been convicted, it would have put him on Megan’s list.
The problem is, it is difficult to prove. You have to demonstrate that whatever was done was done for “sexual gratification.” It was the charge that Sandusky was acquitted of relating to Victim 6.
Lee, looking at his ancestry, is the son of the former Acting Governor of MD. I would expect he has numerous political connections, which probably didn’t hurt him too much in the case. He is not, however, an alumus of PSU (though his bio indicates he took some courses there).
Hopefully, I have a new avatar.
JJ- not sure what the different colored quilt is about, but since you let me know I have no problem with it.
As I mentioned previously, Lee’s charges were reduced from the original charges due to a plea bargain, which also made him eligible for ARD. This occurred AGAINST the wishes of the 2 victims Mother who were brothers whose incident occurred simultaneously, allegedly, but were not his only victims. There was another unrelated boy that refused to testify which was learned at the preliminary hearing where the charges involving him were naturally dismissed.
This may have nothing to do with Gricar, ultimately, but this was on his plate at the immediate time prior to his disappearance and the prosecutor assigned asked him specifically to be reassigned as well.
I do believe strongly it may be tied into at least the cultural attitude of the day a la Sandusky. Not just because the profile of pedophilic grooming and lure is almost identical, but because the second mile and the Boal mansion are well acquainted. In fact, Amendola represented Chris Lee.
Marshall Lance was assigned the case after J. Karen Arnold asked for it to be reassigned and we all know how he turned out. The incident date for the charges that “held” is April 1, 2005. Have you read the docket? Major date flaws. The incident date is April 1, but the testimony indicates there was more than one offense and that it happened at a sleepover in early June.
The soapbox part: My education training and experience tells me that if Lee is a pedophile, and I suggest to you the evidence exists that he is, then the same mentality that let Sandusky rape and pillage children for 30 plus years lets Lee solicit young boys as tour guides and has scores of children touring the museum. It’s like people don’t have that unholy mess in their backyards, with 3 now awaiting their own judgement day under their noses and the world is not still reeling from what these children were subjected to?
Wake the eff up already ( rhetorical Charlie Brown’s teacher impression)
B
That case was NOT assigned to Madeira at the onset.
Time to post yet?
erose says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
November 16, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Sue (Paterno), Brent (Pasquinelli) and Dave (Woodle) eating pizza at Christopher Lee’s house (mansion).
http://www.boalmuseum.com/volunteer-info.html
Photo of guilty-not-guilty pedophile Christopher Lee
http://www.boalmuseum.com/gardenparty.html
I did not realize that had not been posted, I do remember holding it.
Thank you for bringing it back for me to post erose, as usual, stellar timing.
B
Lees haven’t had any power in MD for awhile. No one would know their
name or care. Agnew would be better known.
Gov’s generational progeny & namesake is niow a small time local newspaper columnist.
Blink, I’m not sure it was on his plate. However, because of when the charges were filed, it would have unlikely that the case would have gone to court in 2005, even with Gricar not disappearing. Even if they had been filed in June, and even if Gricar were there and filing them, he would not have been the DA because his term would have expired.
The new DA, and nobody was sure of who that would be, would make that decision. Madeira filed charges in the Paxton (sp) case, where Gricar passed; Madeira had his head handed to him in that case. Parks Miller withdrew an appeal of a decision on the PSU photographer case, the Madeira had filed to overturn the dismissal.
This isn’t a question of the guilt or innocence of Lee, but just who would have handled the case.
OOO/TTT but for Sara Ganim fans, here she is on CNN (she’s talking to camera at conclusion:
Teen: ‘I’m scared of losing my life’
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2013/05/24/erin-ganim-teen-same-sex-underage-relationship.cnn
As for the story, parents had warned the 18 yo twice after being told by another Mom, and their daught was acting out, & only acted after she picked up their 14 yo in wee hours & drove her off — parents frantic to find her disappeared. p4,5 of this Ganim story
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/24/justice/florida-teen-sex-case/index.html?c=&page=5
Personally if a 17 yo kept aggressively chasing my 14 yo for sex, and drove her away in the middle of the night, I’d go after him or her tooth & nails. How does this differ from what Jerry likely did at that age?
Ganim is doing better interviews with detail than other media imo
I guess there are always stories in Fla.
slide show 1/2 way down (“Next”)
http://www.boalmuseum.com/
parents have the right to know he’s a sex offender
of young males
IMO, it was the Boal(Columbus) lineage more than the Lee name that bought Lee his favor with the courts. The whole Knights of Columbus tie in with the church that was in the practice of helping their own priests escape justice for the same crime.
Blink, Thanks for taking that picture out of moderation, LOL. I hadn’t thought of it for months either, but it is worth the thousand words, as the saying goes. These people know who and what Lee is.
It is notable to me that as recently as April this year, Dave Woodle is still CEO of The Second Mile, and a judge ok’ed transfer of some assets to Texas based Arrow Ministries.
http://www.centredaily.com/2013/04/24/3590906/second-mile-gets-ok-to-transfer.html
Pasquinelli, as it states in his Outstanding Alumni Award is close to his once PE instruction Jack Infield.
snip>
Pasquinelli, the recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award, attended Penn State DuBois in 1971 and 1972. He served with the Construction Engineering Corps. of the United States Army in Vietnam, where he earned a Purple Heart. He returned home to Elk County to be elected a Fox Township Supervisor at the age of 21, while enrolled at Penn State DuBois. He also served as a delegate for President Jimmy Carter’s campaign in 1976. He started his own travel company in 1978. Today, Pasquinelli’s company, eTravCo, is the third largest travel network in the country. Pasquinelli also continues to be involved with public affairs, serving as Congressman Glenn Thompson’s Chief of Political Operations for the Fifth District.
Pasquinelli’s long-time friend, Jack Infield, presented the award. Now a Regional President with Graystone Bank, Infield taught Physical Education at Penn State DuBois when Pasquinelli was a student. Infield remembered the support he got from Pasquinelli when he lost his wife to cancer several years ago. That kind of support, Infield remarked, is what Pasquinelli also offers his community, saying, “He is a Superman in our community. I could go on forever about what he has done, but here is what’s important. He doesn’t just lend his name to any project. You also get his whole heart and full work ethic to get the job done.”
end snip
Infield is another Second Mile board member, as is Lance Shaner (think The Village retirement community fiasco).
http://deadspin.com/5859802/past-and-present-board-members-of-the-second-mile-gave-a-combined-20178364-to-gov-corbetts-2010-campaign
Pasquinelli and Shaner are board members of EscapeCity.com, and I am guessing they can help you do just about anything you want for your weekend, as the ad goes.
http://cybervast.com/projects/escapecity/about_us/directors.html
Gosh, and they are in business with Walter Edward Scheetz (picture less on their website) no doubt to play down his sex, drugs and abuse lifestyle.
A confidential settlement has been reached in a lawsuit blaming a former Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino executive and his alleged sex-and-drug-oriented lifestyle for the 2007 drug overdose death of his girlfriend.
The suit charged Hatchel, who Las Vegas police said was found dead of a drug overdose in a luxury Turnberry Towers condominium on Aug. 29, 2007, had received the cocaine and oxycodone that killed her from Scheetz and that she was “assaulted and battered” while staying with Scheetz just prior to her death.
Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jan/25/settlement-reached-overdose-death-former-hard-rock/#ixzz2UNPsMHvY
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=539675&privcapId=3151276&previousCapId=4592612&previousTitle=Dieste%20Harmel%20&%20Partners,%20Inc.
Should have read this first, lol, they all settled suits, and no charges for Scheetz, who clearly supplied drugs. What happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, apparently.
B
Bet you’re wondering if there was a criminal case, for Scheetz, or an ARD or somethin’ on the illegal drugs.
snips>
The case has generated nationwide publicity because of initial reports the Las Vegas Metro Police Department did not prepare a police report in connection with the death.
Metro told the Channel 8 I-Team late Wednesday that there is, in fact, a police report on this incident. But at this point it cannot be located.
The young woman’s family has now found the cell phone she was using the night before her death. And the family says the text messages on the phone shows there may be more to the case.
http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=7229483
This family needs to call Ann Bremner
B
And I am reminded of this witness for Sandusky’s defense:
• Brent Pasquinelli, political consultant and former Second Mile fundraiser. He said Sandusky was “a local hero” and that he observed “mutual admiration” between Sandusky and Second Mile participants. “I saw a lot of goofing around,” Pasquinelli said. “Jerry had a very unique way” of relating to youths.
Read more: http://triblive.com/news/2056294-74/sandusky-state-former-jerry-mile-penn-testified-known-victim-college#ixzz2UNZkYPxR
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
Now that is a true statement, he did- it is known as predatory.
B
Pasquinelli might not have ever seen Sandusky alone with children.
Sandusky had an MO. He would come off as a big goofy kid (forgetting that he was first in his undergraduate class and had a masters).
McCombie, one of the trustees, said that he, and some friends, actually visited Sandusky to console him, because they were sure the charges were false.
@JJ, I see your point, but Lee’s case made the papers and Pasquinelli still chose to show support, in fact PSU supports youth activities at the mansion, just like the institution did for The Second Mile. That alone makes me wonder what knowledge he did have wrt Sandusky and The Second Mile children. I mean, if he choses to look the other way on Lee, I don’t think it’s going out on a limb too far to think he could have looked the other way with Sandusky. I added the article about Scheetz because I think it displays the moral compass of Pasquinelli. All JMO, of course.
Pasquinelli obviously does have a connection to Sandusky, but I’m lost on his connect to Lee.
Also, the Mansion is basically, though possibly not exclusively, an adult thing.
JJ there are childrens tours, led by pre-teen volunteers through that facility daily.
B
Blimk, the only thing I saw on the web site were school field trips. I did go on a tour their in the mid to late 1980′s, and it wasn’t the type of think I’d expect would really interest pre-teens (or most teens).
They do offer school tours, but those are supervised by teacher and/or parents.
Correct, I was offering that info to respond to your comment it was mostly involving adult activity.
B
@JJ, It’s your neck of the woods, so you would know better, I am only getting a cyber impression. Read the caption on the last picture. It seems students from France participate, as well as the Boal Barn apprentices which I believe intern with a theater group. My kids wouldn’t be doing this considering Lee’s ARD.
Boal Mansion , as student docents.
Some activities and benefits of being a docent:
1) Learn to show visitors this unique community and international heritage.
2) Guide three half-days a week through the summer (Get subs for vacations)
3) Join in special events (see below) like docent parties, the Music at the Boal Mansion concert, the Boalsburg Memorial Day festival Monday, and the Columbus Ball.
4) Gain valuable experience in history, fine art and public speaking and meet young people visiting from France.
5) Enhance your resume for college applications with community service.
http://www.boalmuseum.com/student-docents.html
Erose, the Docents, are generally college students or older; one a retired school principal. My point is that Lee does not have unsupervised access to young children. My friend, who was in his mid-20′s and a year younger, was probably the youngest person on the tour I was on. Our guide was an older man, close to my age now, if not older.
I’m also wondering how much involvement Lee actually has in the day to day activities of the Mansion.
@JJ, From the link on my previous post:
What you do: Students age 14 and older (some exceptions for younger students) apply (see below), and join a team of twelve volunteer tour guides (docents) we will develop for the summer.
An example of Lee’s involvement, which is imo extensive. He is the CEO and iirc still lives in the mansion.
snips>
On Sunday, June 30, 2013, Boalsburg will celebrate their special connection with the Declaration of Independence with refreshments and a host of free activities, including a reading of the Declaration, refreshments and a free tour of the Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum.
Reading the Declaration will be three Penn State University professors, a French citizen and Christopher Lee, a descendant of Richard Henry Lee and CEO of the Boal Mansion Museum.
Dumas and Lee, who have read the Declaration at this event for a number of years, are continuing the tradition of the Declaration of Independence this year by running as candidates for U.S. Congress in the 5th District (Dumas) and State Representative in the 171st District (Lee) in the upcoming November 6 election.
http://www.boalmuseum.com/gardenparty2012.html
(JJ, If you are free, can you go and let us know which PSU profs will be reading with Lee?)
Question: If Lee were a RSO, instead of someone who received an ARD, would it change anyone’s thinking?
I hope other’s will weigh in on your excellent question, and you likely already know my answer, which is – I do not believe a plea should have been allowed in this case. Arnold went on to specify that changes came swiftly about what was and was not appropriate for ARD, and that is telling in itself.
Regardless of Lee’s involvement in Gricar or Sandusky as the “hot topic”- the bigger issue is the continuing acceptance of an egregious culture that allowed Sandusky to get away with his rape and abuse of children for over 30 years.
Lee is a pedophile in my professional opinion, and I have zero clue how any parent, teacher or political affiliation can look past that. Cause it has worked out so well previously?
B
Erose, the photo shows it is Charles Dumas, who is a drama professor at PSU, use to write a very good blog at the CDT and a was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. Lee was an unsuccessful candidate for state house, and lost a bid this year to return to the Harris Township Board of Supervisors. None of that is relevant to Lee’s access to children. If he’s standing before a group, reading, he quite obviously will not be interacting with children, unsupervised, while doing it.
Blink, I’m not sure where Arnold ever made that comment about this specific case. She noted, in her LGJ, that Smith changed ARD procedures, but this decision was made under Madeira’s tenure. Madeira did prosecute at least one case, Paxton, that Gricar had declined to prosecute (and Gricar was right).
I do think, however, you raise another question about a culture of different treatment for different people in Centre County. Lee came from a prominent family, the village was named after him, was well connected, his father was a prominent political leader in MD, held a senior position in a fairly major cultural site in the county, and was a local office holder. Would he have gotten the same treatment if he was a shoe salesman named Jones?
Arnold requested reassignment from Lee’s case if I neglected to mention that as well, and yes, there is no doubt in my mind preference was shown. She asked that from Gricar so as you can see the dates do not line up. We know one incident date is April 1, and other is June 3, Ray was missing since April 15th. So.. the point is that at some level Lee was under investigation prior to Gricar’s disappearance. The case was then assigned to Marshall, and I don’t remember the timing of Marshall’s debacle but at any rate there could not have been more “issues” in the prosecutions office that ended up allowing a plea deal and still no record of whatever CFS investigation. Maybe Seasock?
B
The issues with Marshall did not develop until late 2008, so we can take that out.
I am not familiar with any request from Arnold. In any event, Gricar was long gone before any charges were filed. Further the ARD decision would not have been made until 2006, when neither Gricar nor Arnold had role in it. Even at April 1, it would have been almost impossible that it would have come up in court until after Gricar had left office.
Are you sure this was not the Mendez Vargas case? It involved a child’s death via alleged abuse. Arnold was not the ADA on that, in spite of her being the abuse person, and Marshall was the ADA assigned. It was charged in 2004, but still pending at the time Gricar disappeared.
JJ I am 100% positive that Arnold asked to be re-assigned from the Lee case, adding further oddities I just re-checked the docket and it appears there is an entry , the first, from January 17, 2005 marked sealed. So I have no idea what is going on except to say that Lee paid a sum to have a great deal of his public records removed from various search engines.
B
Another example of Lee’s involvement and that of PSU.
Exciting New “Active Learning” Tour
Inaugurated for Fifth Graders (and other ages)
Instead of being taught history, they learned it for themselves, at a series of six learning stations throughout the Museum, newly and specially devised by a local teacher, Penn State education intern Eva Tarbuk and Boal Mansion Museum CEO Christopher Lee.
In the front hall, eighth generation Boal family member Christopher Lee helped the children choose tools and attitudes with which to climb the ladder of success, modeled on those used by nine generations of Boals.
http://www.boalmuseum.com/activetour.html
new names? are Kriner & Wainwright Lee pals? I don’t know about the Boals, but the Lees have been going down the ladder for a few.
@JJ-PA. re ” If he’s standing before a group, reading, he quite obviously will not be interacting with children, unsupervised, while doing it.” The issue is, in a small town, such repeated reading & guide work paint him as a trustworthy figure to those middle school
children, who may remember him as safe & friendly when he stops to offer them a ride, sees them at the pool, happens to sit near them in the movies & says hello, and so on. And it can go on
from there, as it did with the 2005 boys. Both children, and their parents, seeing hom as a public dchool field trip host would trust him. It’s all about grooming in safe supervised community settings by a trusted community figure. Until it moves on from there. Like Jer.
And the bishop went to visit the Columbus Chapel, and Lee plastered photos from that over his website. And Lee plays his guitar at the farmer’s market. Runs for office. Attends many events with children, and encourages events involving them to occur on the Boal Mansion property. Most events are supervised by “adults in authority,” so everything’s okay, right? But, this gives almost any parent the impression that Lee is clean as a whistle and approved to work with children. And gives almost any child the impression that Lee is an “approved adult,” not a stranger.
He often approaches children and chats with them, and he’s good at gaining their attention. (Personal observation, and reporting from a primary-grade boy.)
So let’s make up a scenario. He invites the mom and kids to join him for an activity. Then to come over to the mansion for a movie night, and then they all get tired, and he suggests they just crash there. Then . . . OH, WAIT . . . that’s pretty much what happened in 2005 . . . wouldn’t work again, would it? Because everyone KNOWS Lee is a pedophile, right? No one would trust him with their children, since teachers, PSU, the bishop, school principals, borough council members, etc, etc, all avoid him like the plague.
Personally, I think just this kind of apparent acceptance was a primary enabling factor for Sandusky. And I know some of the enablers, whether conscious or not.
ARD after a guilty plea resulting from accusations of sexual assault by multiple juveniles is NOT harmless.
P.S. You really should read past discussions here regarding Lee and related matters, although I have limited some of my own postings for personal reasons. But his constant in-my-face presence during his political campaign caused frequent nausea.
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J. J. in Phila says:
May 29, 2013 at 10:54 am
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Lee was an unsuccessful candidate for state house, and lost a bid this year to return to the Harris Township Board of Supervisors. None of that is relevant to Lee’s access to children. If he’s standing before a group, reading, he quite obviously will not be interacting with children, unsupervised, while doing it.
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This is the essence of the problem, and the lack of attention to it. Not picking on you JJ, I don’t know what your level of education or understanding is of pedophilic predators but they absolutely “trade on” the ability to be seen as adult worthy so they are seen as child worthy. It is a grooming strategy that worked very well for Sandusky. There was no father in the picture for Lee’s victims- makes me wonder if Lee was a 2nd Mile volunteer considering he had functions for them at the mansion.
He is a pedophile and for him to be allowed to operate around children in the very environment he took advantage of them is outrageous. My ultimate point is this- unequivocally, Lee has a docket submission and an offense date that pre-date Gricar’s disappearance and just because he was not arrested till Sept, in no way means there could not have been a grand jury investigation at the time or a CFS intake, etc.
I say this is why I could never rule out any possible this situation was in play.
B
Rose says:
May 29, 2013 at 5:50 pm
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Exactly. You posted while I was typing with many interruptions.