Tom Kline comments in New York Times today

Tom Kline was called upon by several media outlets to comment on the unsealing of controversial court documents in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, documents that cast doubt on assertions that the late Penn State coach Joe Paterno and other school officials were unaware of sexual abuse of minors prior to 2001. The documents include never-seen-before depositions in which at least one detailed account of abuse dates back to as early as 1976. The testimony was revealed as part of a lawsuit between Penn State and one of its insurers over nearly $100 million in settlements paid to 32 of Sandusky’s victims. It detailed a 1976 account in which a 14-year-old boy said he told Paterno directly about an assault by Sandusky, now 72 and serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence. The documents also contain testimony that Gary C. Schultz, a former university vice president, and Timothy Curley, a former athletic director, knew about a 1998 allegation. Kline, who represented one of the victims who reached a settlement with PSU, said in an interview with The New York Times that the deposition testimony appeared convincing. “We now no longer have conjecture on some of the issues that relate to Joe Paterno,” he told the newspaper. Kline noted the accusers were testifying as third parties and that most had settled their cases before their depositions, so they would have no motivation to lie.
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