While insisting criminal charges aren’t warranted at this point, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna didn’t completely close the door Thursday on his investigation into allegations of brutal hazing on Penn State’s football team.
Cantorna gave that sign in a statement he released in response to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed this week by former Nittany Lion player Isaiah Humphries. Humphries is claiming Coach James Franklin and his staff ignored complaints about sexually oriented hazing of junior players by veterans.
Cantorna said his office doesn’t usually comment publicly on active investigations or on probes that don’t result in criminal charges. He said he was making an exception given the accusations in Humphries’ suit, which Penn State officials have denied.
The DA said that last April his office received a report “alleging that serious crimes of a sexual nature had occurred in the Lasch building” on Penn State’s campus. Witnesses were interviewed by police, “along with other university students and staff,” he said.
“As of today’s date, the investigation does not substantiate the serious allegations made,” Cantorna said. “What I mean by that is the evidence to date does not meet the high threshold necessary to file criminal charges and prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.”
He didn’t say the probe is closed, though. Cantorna said anyone with more information on the allegations can contact his office.
