But to Enfuego's point (that Joe Pa didn't cover up to avoid bad publicity), it's impossible to say WHY he covered it up because Paterno can no longer tell us.
That doesn't change the fact he did in fact cover it up. This passage from the article above clearly settles the argument:
"The report said that Paterno and the other university officials hushed up child sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky in 2001 for fear of bad publicity. Asked on Thursday whether the actions of the four men amounted to a crime such as conspiracy or obstruction, Freeh said that would be for a grand jury to decide. But the former FBI chief and federal judge said the evidence shows "an active agreement to conceal."
Freeh described Paterno as "an integral part" of that agreement. According to his report, Spanier, Schultz and Curley drew up a plan that called for reporting Sandusky to the state Department of Public Welfare in 2001. But Curley later said in an email that he changed his mind "after giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe."
The report also called into question the truthfulness of Paterno’s grand jury testimony last year, when he was asked whether he knew of any abuse allegations against Sandusky before the 2001 episode in which Sandusky was spotted assaulting a boy in the locker room showers.
"I do not know of anything else that Jerry would be involved in of that nature, no," Paterno testified in a grand jury appearance that lasted only a few minutes. He added that a rumor "may have been discussed in my presence, something else about somebody. I don’t know. I don’t remember, and I could not honestly say I heard a rumor."
But emails published in the Freeh report suggest Paterno closely followed a 1998 police investigation of Sandusky that ended without charges. In an email captioned "Jerry," Curley asked Schultz: "Anything new in this department? Coach is anxious to know where it stands."
Paterno, "were he alive, he would probably be scrutinized right now, as we speak, by a grand jury," said Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who represents a young man suing Sandusky, Penn State and Sandusky’s charity over claims of sexual abuse. "When he did give testimony, now revealed to have been dubious at best and false on its face, that is illegal perjury because it was given under oath. So he is exposed."
