Probe into Corbett handling of Sandusky case gets lead investigator

The newly elected Attorney General for Pennsylvania today appointed a lead investigator to probe Gov. Corbett's - her predecessor's - handling of the Jerry Sandusky child-abuse case.

Attorney General Kathleen Kane chose H. Geoffrey Moulton, Jr., to pilot the office's inquiry.

Moulton is a highly respected former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at Widener University School of Law. Moulton will start work immediately.

Corbett, who has promised to cooperate, said last week he is not worried about the probe. ""I just think she needs to be careful," he told Inquirer reporters.

While campaigning for the A.G.'s office, Kane criticized Corbett for what she perceived as his slow-response to the Penn State sex-abuse scandal. Corbett's administration waited 33 months after the first allegations were known to arrest Sandusky.

Moulton eight years as First Assistant Prosecutor for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and has served in senior positions in the federal government in Washington D.C., including the preparation of a critical report on the A.T.F. raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

Kane, who was sworn in last month as the first woman and first Democrat to be elected attorney general, said she would make the findings public "once the facts have been uncovered," but she did not set a timeline for completing the probe nor comment further.

She had pledged during her campaign last year to investigate why it took the attorney general's office nearly three years to charge Sandusky.

Corbett, a Republican, was the attorney general for most of that time, which included his 2010 campaign for governor. He cites the successful prosecution as proof that the state investigation was effective and denied playing politics with the probe to ensure that it didn't become public while he was running for governor.

Sandusky was arrested in November 2011, nearly a year after Corbett was sworn in as governor. Sandusky was convicted of 45 of 48 child sexual abuse counts and is serving a prison term of 30 to 60 years.