Prosecutors will likely argue that former Penn State President Graham Spanier covered up child abuse by one-time football coach Jerry Sandusky to protect the university’s vaunted athletics program, Professor Dan Filler said in a Reuters article published on Nov. 1.

"I expect prosecutors will make the case that Spanier's ticket was punched by the athletic program and he would be very protective" of it, Filler said in the article, which appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Yahoo News and other outlets.

Filler’s comments came on the day a grand jury charged Spanier with child endangerment, perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges related to Sandusky’s molestation of boys over a 15-year period. Sandusky, who was convicted in June of molesting 10 boys, is serving a 30 to 60-year sentence.

Spanier and former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and retired Penn State Vice President Gay Schultz have all denied charges of child endangerment, criminal conspiracy and obstruction they face in the alleged cover-up of Sandusky’s crimes.

Filler, an expert on criminal law and sex offender community notification, is senior associate dean for academic and faculty affairs.