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 New allegations about Paterno, a legendary figure at Penn State
and still revered by many supporters, surfaced last week in court
documents in a civil case over settlements with victims of his
assistant Jerry Sandusky.
Paterno, who died in January 2012, was fired in 2011 after
disclosures that he knew Sandusky sexually abused a young boy in the
school's football showers in 2002 and that, while he told university
officials, he failed to notify police.
The new allegations involve alleged incidents that are years older.
"I am appalled by the rumor, innuendo and rush to judgment that have
accompanied the media stories surrounding these allegations," Eric
Barron, president of Pennsylvania State University, said in an open
letter on the school's website.
 None of the fresh allegations, which threaten to reopen a scandal
that rocked the school's vaunted football program and college sports
in general, have been substantiated in a court of law and they are
unsupported by any evidence, Barron said.
The Associated Press reported that university spokesman Lawrence
Lokman confirmed on Sunday that the earliest year of alleged abuse
covered in Penn State's legal settlements with Sandusky's accusers
was 1971.
The fresh allegations came in a court opinion by Philadelphia Court
of Common Pleas Judge Gary Glazer, who wrote that witnesses
testified in depositions that Paterno was told in 1976, 1987 and
1988 about sex abuse by Sandusky. Glazer's opinion was filed in a
lawsuit involving the school's former insurer, Pennsylvania
Manufacturers' Association.
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Since Paterno did not report the three incidents to top university
officials or police, Glazer said, the university can legally claim
it was unaware of them and thus remains insured for any settlements
with victims prior to 1992, when the liability policy was changed to
exclude sexual abuse.
The civil case aims to determine whether the school or its insurer
should pay millions of dollars in damages to Sandusky's victims.
Paterno's son, Scott Paterno, dismissed as "bunk" the allegations
that his father was told about abuse decades ago.
Sandusky, 72, is serving 30 years to 60 years in prison after a jury
convicted him of molesting 10 boys in incidents dating back to the
1990s.
(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Frank McGurty and
Peter Cooney)
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