Ignoring the law will be costly

Pennsylvania State University officials should have blown the whistle on former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's child sexual assaults, with or without the mandate of a federal law that requires reporting any serious crime that occurs on a college campus.

Had school administrators put a higher priority on complying with the Clery Act, however, they likely wouldn't be in trouble now for their gross mishandling of the Sandusky allegations.

Indeed, the scathing report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that brought down legendary coach Joe Paterno pointed to shortcomings in the university's compliance with the federal law as "a contributing factor" in failing to unmask Sandusky, who was convicted in June by a Centre County Court jury of sexually assaulting 10 boys.

All of the victims were from disadvantaged homes and became acquainted with Sandusky through his Second Mile charity. Using his access to the university's vaunted football program, he brought them on campus, where they were repeatedly violated.

After the verdict, Penn State administrators and trustees pledged to enact sweeping reforms to improve their response to child-abuse allegations and other campus crime.

What's expected to be a substantial tab for those reforms hasn't been tallied. But the university already has spent millions on its in-house inquiry.

It also faces a $60 million fine from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as well as costly NCAA sanctions for its football program. And it's inevitable that Penn State will also be hit with massive legal settlements for the rape victims.

One painful irony noted by Freeh is that Penn State officials once refused to add personnel to track campus crime because they said money was tight.

Now, a U.S. Department of Education probe could result in the biggest financial penalty ever imposed under the Clery Act, named for a Lehigh University freshman slain in her dorm room in 1986.

A 13-year period is under review. The Education Department could slap Penn State with a fine of up to $27,500 per incident in which a criminal allegation or crime was not disclosed.

The enormous undertaking needed to address the after-effects of the Sandusky scandal could have been avoided so easily. That should stand as a lesson for college administrators nationwide on the need to take their obligation to report campus crime more seriously.

Too many colleges and universities downplay crime statistics out of a misplaced concern for public relations, particularly the impact on admissions applications.

As recently as 2006, for instance, a Justice Department-funded study found that three out of four colleges implausibly reported no sexual offenses at all.

For women students — and any other potential crime victims — a see-no-evil approach to reporting campus crime leaves them even more vulnerable.

With its first full-time Clery Act compliance officer appointed, perhaps Penn State will now develop into a national leader in sounding the alert on campus crime. To attempt anything less, in fact, would be criminal.