3 Ex-Penn State Officials to Stand Trial in Alleged Sandusky Cover-Up

Three former Penn State University administrators have been ordered to stand trial over their alleged involvement in a cover-up in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Prosecutors showed enough evidence during a two-day preliminary hearing to warrant a trial for ex-President Graham Spanier, former vice president Gary Schultz and ex-athletic director Tim Curley, a district judge concluded Tuesday, according to published reports.

District Judge William Wenner called it "a tragic day for Penn State University," the Easton Express-Times reported.

State prosecutors allege that the three men failed to tell police about sexual abuse allegations involving Sandusky and then tried to cover up what they knew about it, the Associated Press stated in a story on ABC 7 News.

The men say they are innocent and were not aware of the allegation against Sandusky in 2001. They say they had believed that Sandusky and the boy were engaged in nothing more than horseplay in a university locker room shower.

Sandusky was convicted last year of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, but maintains his innocence and is appealing a 30- to 60-year state prison term.