Pressure is growing on a head football coach in the United States over allegations an assistant coach sexually abused boys for over a decade and school officials covered it up.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is not a target of the investigation but was told in 2002 of an alleged incident involving former defensive co-ordinator Jerry Sandusky and a minor. He has been criticised, along with other top officials at the prestigious university in central Pennsylvania, for not doing more to intervene.
Calls also mounted for university President Graham Spanier to step down amid outrage over the investigation involving Mr Sandusky.
University trustees said they will appoint a special committee on Friday to investigate the circumstances behind the allegations involving Mr Sandusky, who was charged last weekend with 40 counts of sexual abuse of eight young boys. Two other senior school officials face perjury and other charges.
The board is "outraged by the horrifying details contained in the grand jury report." the trustees said in a statement.
The committee will be tasked with determining "what failures occurred, who is responsible and what measures are necessary to ensure that this never happens at our university again," the trustees said.
Mr Paterno (84), one of the biggest names in American college sports, missed his first chance to publicly address questions regarding the scandal when a scheduled news conference was abruptly canceled yesterday by university officials.
The New York Times reported Mr Paterno's 45-year tenure as Penn State coach could end in days or weeks, citing people briefed on conversations among the university's top officials.
His current three-year contract extension ends after this season. The legendary coach makes a reported $1 million (€700,000) per year. Mr Paterno's son said his father had not been asked to leave.
Mr Sandusky is alleged to have sexually abused eight young boys over more than a decade, both before and after his retirement from the team in 1999. At least one alleged incident was witnessed and reported to Mr Paterno and other athletic department officials.
Two former university officials - athletic director Tim Curley and finance official Gary Schultz - were charged on Monday with failing to alert police after they were told that Mr Sandusky had been seen raping a young boy in the football locker room shower in 2002.
They were also charged with perjury in their statements to a grand jury. Lawyers for Mr Curley and Mr Schultz said their clients denied the charges.
A preliminary hearing for Mr Sandusky (67), set for today, has been postponed to a date yet to be determined. Mr Sandusky, through his lawyer, Joe Amendola, has denied the charges.
Reuters