Mike James

USA TODAY

Depicted by prosecutors as a bureaucrat whose inaction allowed "evil" to run wild on innocent children, the former president of Penn State University was convicted Friday of keeping a lid on the scandal surrounding notorious child-abusing coach Jerry Sandusky.

A jury in Harrisburg, Pa. deliberated 13 hours before finding Graham Spanier guilty of one count of child endangerment. The charge stemmed from Spanier's handling of a complaint against Sandusky, a once-popular assistant football coach whose career at Penn State spanned three decades. Spanier was found not guilty of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count.

The 68-year-old Penn State leader showed no emotion after the verdict was read. He is free on bail until sentencing later this year. According to ESPN, Spanier, a first-time offender, could face anywhere from probation to a maximum sentence of five years.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the case should serve as a warning to anyone who fails to live up to the responsibility of protecting children.

"Graham Spanier found guilty. No one is above the law," Shapiro tweeted. "My office will hold anyone accountable who abuses or fails to protect kids."

The trial centered on how Spanier and two other university leaders handled a complaint by a graduate assistant who said he reported seeing Sandusky sexually molesting a boy in a team shower in 2001. The administrators told Sandusky he could not bring children on to the campus any longer, but they did not report the matter to police or child welfare authorities.

Sandusky was not arrested until 2011 after an anonymous tip led prosecutors to investigate the shower incident. He was convicted the next year of sexually abusing 10 boys and is serving a decades-long prison sentence.

Four of the eight young men testifying at Sandusky’s trial said the abuse occurred after 2001.

“Evil in the form of Jerry Sandusky was allowed to run wild,” Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte told the jury.

Sam Silver, Spanier’s lawyer, said, “There always have been substantial questions in this case that need to be reviewed and resolved by the appellate courts, and we fully intend to pursue an appeal,” the New York Times reported.

The scandal sent shockwaves through the Penn State community. It led to the firing of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno — who died of cancer at 85 in early 2012 — and resulted in the school paying out more than $90 million to settle civil claims by over 30 accusers. Paterno was never charged with a crime.

Two of Spanier’s former lieutenants, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment charges a week ago and testified against Spanier.

But all three denied they were told the encounter in the shower was sexual in nature.

In a statement following the verdict, Penn State said, "First and foremost, our thoughts remain with the victims of Jerry Sandusky."

"Penn State has extraordinary expectations of our leaders, who must set and maintain the example for reporting, ethics and compliance that reflect best practices," Penn State officials wrote. "These former leaders fell short. And while we cannot undo the past, we have re-dedicated ourselves and our University to act always with the highest integrity, in affirming the shared values of our community."

A key piece of evidence was an email exchange in which Spanier and his lieutenants debated what to do after getting the shower allegation from graduate assistant Mike McQueary.

Spanier approved having Curley tell the retired coach to stop bringing children to athletic facilities and inform The Second Mile, a charity for at-risk youth founded by Sandusky.

But the evidence also showed they had earlier planned to inform the state Department of Public Welfare. Instead, Spanier approved putting that on hold, and the agency was never contacted. That failure to make a report formed the heart of the criminal accusations against him.

“The only downside for us is if the message isn’t ‘heard’ and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it,” Spanier told Curley and Schultz in 2001 in the email exchange. He called the plan “humane and a reasonable way to proceed.”

A state prosecutor, Laura Ditka, said the three university leaders wanted to protect the university’s reputation at the expense of children.

“They took a gamble,” she told the jurors. “They weren’t playing with dice. They were playing with kids.”

CONTRIBUTING: Associated Press