Statement from Attorney General Kathleen Kane:
“Approximately one year ago I appointed H. Geoffrey Moulton Jr. to lead the Office of Attorney General’s (OAG) internal review of the Sandusky child sexual abuse investigation. At that time, I stated that Mr. Moulton would ‘…assist [OAG] in providing a comprehensive and independent examination of the facts surrounding the handling of the Sandusky investigation’ and that, ‘once the facts have been uncovered [OAG] will make these findings available to the public.’
”Mr. Moulton has been both thorough and diligent, reviewing and analyzing a substantial documentary record and, despite not having the power to compel testimony through subpoena, interviewing a wide range of witnesses.
“However, certain factors have combined to slow the process, not all of which were anticipated. Chief among them have been significant and time-consuming challenges in obtaining important written records, particularly emails. For reasons that will be described in more detail when the report is made public, until last fall we believed that OAG emails for the relevant time period had been permanently removed from OAG storage systems (pursuant to a then-existing document-retention policy) and were unrecoverable. Since then, we have developed a recovery process that is ongoing.
“Two additional factors will affect the completion and subsequent release of the report. First, because the report will discuss matters occurring before the grand jury that have not previously been made public, the OAG will need judicial approval before releasing the report. We have been working with the assigned grand jury judge on this issue. Second, before the report is made public, due process and fairness require that certain individuals discussed in the report be afforded the opportunity to review and comment on those aspects of the report that pertain to them. In consultation with the supervising grand jury judge, we hope to complete this process as expeditiously as possible.
“The release of the review findings will be determined only by the time necessary to complete a comprehensive review. I remain fully committed to that approach. Pennsylvanians deserve the full and true story, and I will not permit a rush to judgment to interfere with a thorough review.
”We are now one full year into the review and it is appropriate to provide Pennsylvanians with an update on its status. I have no plans for additional comment between now and the release of the review findings.”