Former FBI director Louis Freeh and his firm, including a team of former federal prosecutors and FBI agents, were hired by the Penn State Board of Trustees to conduct an independent investigation into the scandal.Former FBI director Freeh to conduct independent investigation Penn State Live, November 21, 2011. In the opinion of writer Michael Sokolove, the mission Freeh was given seemed to speculate that Sandusky's crimes were not his alone and that people who had reason to suspect him had looked away. After interviewing over 400 people and reviewing voluminous documents, the investigation team reported that Paterno, Spanier, Curley, and Schultz (none of whom was interviewed) concealed Sandusky's actions in order to protect the publicity surrounding Penn State's celebrated football program. Freeh's firm's investigation concluded that by their actions, the four men "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade." The report asserted that Paterno, Schultz, Spanier, and Curley "concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities."
