UPDATE: Penn State issues statement in response

Former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and former senior vice president Gary Schultz pleaded guilty Monday to endangering the welfare of children in the alleged Jerry Sandusky cover-up case.

Curley and Schultz entered their pleas in morning proceedings before Senior Judge John Boccabella. The agreement sets up the possibility that they will testify for the prosecution at next week's scheduled trial of the only remaining defendant in the case, former Penn State president Graham Spanier.

They each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count that carries a maximum possible penalty of a $10,000 fine and five years in prison. The judge said there was no agreement on the sentence they will receive.

"There is no provision of the agreement that would limit my ability to impose sentence as I see fit," Boccabella said.

The guilty pleas specifically related to a report by former assistant coach Mike McQueary that he saw Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a shower at Penn State in February 2001. He reported what he saw to Coach Joe Paterno, who in turn reported it to his supervisor, Curley.

Prosecutors said that none of the Penn State administrators who were told of the allegation reported it to law enforcement, childcare and youth services or made any effort to locate or identify the child.

Curley entered his plea first, followed by Schultz. Both mean answered questions posed by the prosecutor and the judge, but did not otherwise speak.

The move comes just a week before all three men -- Spanier, Schultz and Curley -- were scheduled to stand trial on accusations they were criminally negligent in handling child-sex accusations against Sandusky in 2001. Prosecutors claim their actions, or lack of same, exposed several more boys to molestation by Sandusky.

The case has been winding its way toward trial for four years, delayed in part to await a state Superior Court ruling that dismissed charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and other counts against the three defendants. Those charges involved violations of grand jury procedures, specifically the use by prosecutors of testimony against all three men that was obtained from former university counsel Cynthia Baldwin.

In the time that Spanier, Curley and Schultz have been awaiting trial, Jerry Sandusky was convicted of dozens of charges of child sexual abuse, former graduate assistant Mike McQueary won a millions in a civil case against Penn State, and the university has paid tens of millions to Sandusky victims.