President of Pa. charity linked to abuse resigns

[November 15, 2011]  PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A youth charity at the center of the child sex abuse charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky received donations in recent years from hundreds of corporations, community groups and individuals -- including the judge who arraigned Sandusky earlier this month and Penn State itself.

The charity, The Second Mile, announced Monday it had accepted the resignation of its president, Jack Raykovitz, who said he hoped his departure would help restore faith in its mission. The charity also announced it had hired Philadelphia's longtime district attorney as its new general counsel.

Raykovitz, a practicing psychologist, had led the charity, which was founded by Sandusky in 1977, for 28 years. His resignation was accepted Sunday.

Raykovitz had testified before a grand jury that recommended indicting Sandusky on child abuse charges. The panel said Sandusky found his victims through the charity's programs.

The grand jury report called Sandusky the charity's primary fundraiser, and The Second Mile's annual reports show that some donations came from entities now involved in the scandal.

Penn State donated money even after high-ranking university officials were told that Sandusky had been seen sexually assaulting a boy on campus. Penn State donated between $1,000 and $1,999 to The Second Mile in 2009, and its Altoona campus donated between $2,000 and $4,999 that year.

Another donor was State College District Judge Leslie A. Dutchcot, who set Sandusky's bail earlier this month. She and her husband donated between $500 and $999 to The Second Mile in 2009, and she volunteered for the group, according to annual reports and her website.

The judge set bail for Sandusky at $100,000 unsecured -- meaning he did not have to post collateral to be freed but would have to post $100,000 if he ever failed to show up for a hearing.

Dutchcot did not immediately respond to a question on whether she will recuse herself from the case because of those past ties to The Second Mile. She has removed the mention of The Second Mile from her website.

Major companies and their foundations also have given to The Second Mile. Between 2008 and 2010, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Highmark Foundation, The Hershey Co. and State Farm Companies Foundation all gave $50,000 or more to the charity.

Other donors included U.S. Steel Corp., the University of Pittsburgh, The Pepsi Bottling Group, Frito-Lay, the Pa. School Counselors Association, local Walmarts and newspapers.

Raykovitz said in a statement Monday that he hopes his resignation would mark the beginning of a "restoration of faith in the community of volunteers and staff" at The Second Mile.

Tax forms indicate that Raykovitz's wife, Katherine Genovese, was executive vice president of The Second Mile. She has been with the group since 1984. It's unclear if she still works at the charity, as the staff biography page has been removed from the website.

According to a 2009 tax return, Raykovitz received about $133,000 from The Second Mile that year and Genovese received about $100,000.

The Second Mile has said that its youth programs serve as many as 100,000 boys and girls a year. Many children are referred by guidance counselors but the charity also works with foster children and operates fitness camps. According to Sandusky's biography, "Touched," the charity began by serving just 35 children through two programs.

Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999, informed The Second Mile board in November 2008 that he was under investigation. The charity subsequently barred him from activities involving children, charity officials said.

The ex-coach is accused of assaulting eight boys, some on Penn State property, over a 15-year span. He told NBC he's not a pedophile but said he had "horsed around with kids" and "touched their legs without intent of sexual contact."

Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz were charged with perjury related to the case. They have denied wrongdoing and have left their university posts. Others who claim they saw or heard about child abuse told only their immediate supervisors, not police, according to a grand jury report.

State Sen. Kim Ward said Monday she is writing a bill that would require all employees of colleges and universities to report suspected child abuse to the person in charge of the institution and to ChildLine, a child abuse reporting hotline.

"The Penn State situation just showed a glaring problem in the law," said Ward, who also wants to increase the penalties for not reporting to make a second offense a felony.

Sandusky continues to collect a $59,000 annual pension and received a $148,000 lump sum when he retired from the university in 1999, according to the Patriot-News of Harrisburg. Schultz collects more than $330,000 yearly from his pension and received a $442,000 lump payment upon retirement in 2009, the newspaper reported.

The abuse scandal led to the departure of university president Graham Spanier and the dismissal of legendary head coach Joe Paterno after law enforcement officials said they didn't do enough to stop suspected abuse when it was reported to them in 2002.

Paterno has conceded he should have done more. Spanier, who remains a tenured member of the faculty, has said he would have reported a crime if he'd suspected one had been committed.

The Second Mile has said in a statement that it has done "everything in our power to cooperate with law-enforcement officials," but Attorney General Linda Kelly has said there was an "uncooperative atmosphere" from some officials at Penn State and The Second Mile.

The Second Mile also announced a new general counsel on Monday. Lynne Abraham is replacing Wendell Courtney, who resigned last week.

Abraham served as the top prosecutor in Philadelphia for nearly two decades, during which she was known for her no-nonsense approach. The city's first female district attorney, she earned the lasting nickname "one tough cookie" from former Mayor Frank Rizzo. She decided not to run again in 2009 and became a partner at the Philadelphia office of the Archer & Greiner law firm in early 2010.

The Second Mile board also said that it would conduct an internal investigation to assess policies and make recommendations regarding future operations. They hope to have those findings by the end of December.

[Associated Press; By KEVIN BEGOS]

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