Kane mum on her misspeaking

HARRISBURG - On Monday, Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane said she would "love to sit all day" and answer questions about her office's review of why her predecessors took so long to bring charges against serial child-abuser Jerry Sandusky.

That was before her office acknowledged that she erred on a key and emotionally charged question: whether any children had been abused by Sandusky while the 33-month-long state investigation was ongoing.

On Friday, Kane refused to answer questions about the issue or clarify her comments.

At a news conference on an unrelated matter, Kane declined to discuss the Sandusky report or any other topics. Asked whether she would speak after the event, Kane referred reporters to her press office.

Four days earlier, she had unveiled the report she commissioned on the Sandusky investigation. At that time, Kane had said there were "inexplicable delays" in the inquiry - and suggested that may have set the stage for two more young men to be victimized.

She said the two told prosecutors they had been abused while the state was undertaking its 33-month investigation. But Kane said she could not give details except to say the two were not among the 10 victims Sandusky was later charged with sexually assaulting.

Key prosecutors and investigators in the case immediately questioned her assertions. After nearly two days, Kane's office acknowledged that she misspoke - that Sandusky had indeed been charged and convicted with abusing one of the young men and that the accuser even testified during the former football coach's 2012 trial.

Kane's office acknowledged the error late Tuesday in a terse statement to The Inquirer, but she has not personally conceded any misstatements. Since that time, she has not responded to requests for an interview.