STATE COLLEGE, Pa., (Reuters) – Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno said yesterday he will retire at the end of the 2011 season amid a scandal over allegations a former assistant coach sexually abused boys and school officials covered it up.
In a statement, Paterno, one of the biggest names in American sports, termed the situation a tragedy and “one of the great sorrows of my life.” “I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief,” he said.
Paterno, 84, has been criticized for not doing more to intervene in the case of Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach, when incidents of abuse came to light.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more,” said Paterno.
Two former university officials — athletic director Tim Curley and finance official Gary Schultz — were charged on Monday with failing to alert police after they were told that Sandusky had been seen sodomizing a young boy in the football locker room shower in 2002.
