In this photo combo, at left, in an Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Penn State president Graham Spanier walks on the field before an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa. At right, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse in custody after being found guilty of multiple charges of child sexual abuse in Bellefonte, Pa., Friday, June 22, 2012. CNN says it has seen emails showing Spanier agreed not to take allegations of sex abuse against Sandusky to authorities but worried they'd be "vulnerable" for failing to report it. CNN says the emails followed a graduate assistant's 2001 report of seeing Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a shower. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
In this photo combo, at left, in an Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Penn State president Graham Spanier walks on the field before an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa. At right, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse in custody after being found guilty of multiple charges of child sexual abuse in Bellefonte, Pa., Friday, June 22, 2012. CNN says it has seen emails showing Spanier agreed not to take allegations of sex abuse against Sandusky to authorities but worried they'd be "vulnerable" for failing to report it. CNN says the emails followed a graduate assistant's 2001 report of seeing Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a shower. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE - In this March 7, 2007, file photo, Penn State University president Graham Spanier speaks during a news conference at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa. Former Penn State president Graham Spanier told investigators hired by the university that he was never informed that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was spotted molesting a boy in a school shower, his lawyers said Tuesday, July 10, 2012, as they rebutted reports that indicate the deposed official could have tried to cover up the abuse that ultimately led to coach Joe Paterno's firing. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? A potentially explosive report into whether football coach Joe Paterno and other top Penn State officials took steps to conceal that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was a child molester will be released Thursday ? online for all to see, officials said Tuesday.
Attorneys for the university's deposed president, meanwhile, broke a monthslong silence and denied suggestions that Graham Spanier participated in a cover-up with the image of Penn State and its powerful and lucrative football program at stake.
The internal report by former FBI chief Louis Freeh is expected to reveal how the university treated Sandusky, Paterno's one-time heir apparent, after top administrators fielded complaints about his encounters with young boys more than a decade ago. It is also expected to cast light on how the Hall of Fame coach, who died in January, exerted control over the football program while Sandusky worked under him and after Sandusky retired from coaching.
The report could also influence how Paterno is remembered while affecting an ongoing NCAA probe into the school's conduct and the criminal cases against two Penn State administrators.
Freeh's spokesman said the report will be published online at 9 a.m. Thursday. Investigators will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. in Philadelphia to discuss the findings and recommendations in the report. The university trustees, who are meeting in Scranton on Thursday, said they will respond shortly thereafter.
"I think we'll find that this thing revolves so tightly around Coach Paterno, and I would hope the Freeh report is much broader than that and addresses the university as a whole ? and how this culture was handled or mishandled correctly ? and comes to some closure on that," trustee Ryan McCombie said.
"The people who loved Joe Paterno will still love him when this is over," McCombie said. "The people who disliked him may feel they have ammunition to continue to dislike him."
Tuesday's announcement that Freeh and his team of investigators have completed their work came a few hours after lawyers for Spanier denied that he was ever told of any criminality by Sandusky. The lawyers were rebutting reports that indicate Spanier, who was interviewed by Freeh investigators on Friday, might have tried to cover up the abuse.
"At no time in the more than 16 years of his presidency at Penn State was Dr. Spanier told of an incident involving Jerry Sandusky that described child abuse, sexual misconduct or criminality of any kind, and he reiterated that during his interview with Louis Freeh and his colleagues," said a statement from the lawyers, Peter Vaira and Elizabeth Ainslie.
Both Spanier, 63, and Paterno ? who died of lung cancer at age 85 on Jan. 22 ? were ousted by school trustees a few days after Sandusky's arrest in November. Prosecutors described how Sandusky, 68, culled the most vulnerable children from his charity for at-risk youth and used gifts and his access to Penn State facilities to abuse them over a 15-year span. Sandusky was convicted last month on 45 counts of abuse involving 10 boys and will likely die in prison.
Freeh was hired by the university to find out what school officials, including Spanier and Paterno, knew about the child molester in their midst, and the former FBI director and federal judge promised a wide-ranging investigation.
Freeh said in November that he would not interfere with the state's criminal probe but promised to conduct his review in "a thorough, fair, comprehensive manner, leaving no stone unturned, and without any fear or favor."
Freeh and his team of lawyers and former law enforcement officials interviewed more than 400 people, asking questions that went beyond Sandusky and the child sex-abuse scandal and into the relationship between football program and the university administration.
Lawyers for the young men who testified against Sandusky ? and others who might file civil lawsuits related to the scandal ? will be reading the report closely for what it might mean for any future litigation. A civil complaint and a second legal notice of a lawsuit have been filed in Philadelphia, while others have indicated they also may sue.
"I'm going to be looking for what we believe will be full and complete disclosure," said Harrisburg lawyer Ben Andreozzi, who represents the young man described as Victim 4 in court records.
Penn State has disclosed that Freeh's probe turned up emails among top officials that have been turned over to prosecutors.
Two Penn State administrators are charged with lying to a grand jury and failing to properly report suspected abuse when then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary described witnessing Sandusky attack a young boy in the football team shower in 2001. Athletic director Tim Curley, now on leave, and vice president Gary Schultz, who has since retired, deny the allegations and await trial.
Spanier's comments to the Freeh group ? that he was never told of any criminality by Sandusky ? echoed his testimony before a state grand jury that neither Curley nor Schultz informed him of the sexual nature of what McQueary saw.
The extent of Spanier's involvement has come under scrutiny recently after CNN reported on emails that said Spanier was "supportive" of a decision by Curley and Schultz not to report the incident. Spanier warned, however, that they might "become vulnerable for not having reported it," CNN said.
Spanier's lawyers said the emails were selectively leaked without the full context, and were "distorting the public record and creating a false picture."
In May, Spanier filed a related civil lawsuit against Penn State seeking access to old work emails so he could better prepare for the school's internal investigation. A university lawyer responded that state prosecutors asked the school not to share the emails so that the ongoing investigation would not be compromised.
A court hearing on the case is scheduled for Aug. 17, but Spanier went ahead and requested to speak to Freeh's team. His lawyers said they would revisit the issue of the lawsuit now that the interview has taken place.
Spanier has said he turned in his resignation in November, while trustees have said he was terminated without cause.
"Since November of last year, when he resigned his presidency, he has wanted the Freeh Group to create an accurate report and has been determined to assist in any way he can," said the statement from Spanier's lawyers. They ended their four-paragraph statement by saying they remained "hopeful that truth and reason prevail."
Spanier declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.
The NCAA is reviewing how Penn State exerted "institutional control" in relation to the Sandusky matter, and whether university officials complied with policies that pertain to honesty and ethical conduct. The NCAA could open a more formal investigation that may expose Penn State to sanctions.
The Freeh report is not being released in advance to Penn State trustees or any other officials, his public relations agency said in its statement.
"The publication of the report will be the first time anyone outside of Judge Freeh's investigative team will in any way receive the report, including The Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees and the Special Investigations Task Force," it said.
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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pa. Michael Rubinkam contributed to this report.
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