Penn State football legend Jerry Sandusky is the subject of a grand jury investigation into allegations that he indecently assaulted a teenage boy.

According to five people with knowledge of the case, a grand jury meeting in Harrisburg has been hearing testimony for at least 18 months about the allegation, which was made in 2009 by a 15-year-old from Clinton County.

The teen told authorities that Sandusky had inappropriate contact with him over a four-year period, starting when he was 10.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley and retired university Vice President and Treasurer Gary Schultz were among those who appeared before the grand jury in January at the attorney general’s Strawberry Square office complex, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. Attempts to reach the three for comment were unsuccessful.

It is not clear whether university President Graham Spanier has testified and he declined comment on the matter when questioned earlier this week.

At one time, Sandusky was considered Paterno’s likely successor. During his 32 years on the sidelines, the State College man was credited with turning Penn State into Linebacker U., producing such pro football greats as Jack Ham and LaVar Arrington.

Sandusky, 67, retired from Penn State shortly after the Alamo Bowl in December 1999. In his 2000 autobiography, “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story,” he says he decided to leave after he “came to the realization I was not destined to become the head football coach at Penn State.”

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He spent the next 11 years focused on running The Second Mile, a nonprofit he founded in 1977 that reaches 10,000 Pennsylvania youths a year through summer and year-round camp programs. The charity was honored by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 as a “Point of Light.”

Last fall, Sandusky announced that he was retiring from day-to-day involvement in the charity to spend more time with family and handle personal matters.

Since then, rumors of misconduct by Sandusky have lit up Internet comment threads and message boards that are normally havens for Penn State football fan chatter.

Repeated efforts to reach Sandusky over several weeks to comment on the investigation have been unsuccessful. He has not responded to phone calls and other attempts to reach him at his home or through attorney Joseph Amendola in State College.

As is standard policy, the attorney general’s office would neither confirm nor deny whether a grand jury was meeting about Sandusky.

The 2009 investigation

The allegations against Sandusky surfaced in 2009, when he was volunteering as an assistant high school football coach at Central Mountain High School in Clinton County.

It was there the 15-year-old student told school officials that Sandusky had touched him inappropriately while they were alone in a gym.

John DiNunzio, Keystone Central School District’s interim superintendent at the time, said the boy’s mother reported the incident to the school principal and head football coach. At that point, DiNunzio said he was notified.

DiNunzio said he never spoke to the mother or the child. He said the principal and coach told him the boy alleged the “inappropriate” incident happened while the two were alone in a room on wrestling mats.

“It was strictly a touching type of situation,” DiNunzio said of the allegations.

DiNunzio, who is now interim superintendent with the Bellefonte Area School District, called Clinton County Children and Youth Services. Once it left his desk, he says, he never heard a word from police.

“It’s been a hush-hush situation,” DiNunzio said. “I’ve actually called [the school] — they’ve said they heard nothing about it.”

According to sources, the boy told Children and Youth Services that Sandusky had indecent contact with him several times over four years.

Children and Youth Services investigated the boy’s story and sent the case to Clinton County District Attorney Michael Salisbury. His office forwarded it to Centre County, where the incidents were alleged to have taken place.

Then-Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira transferred the case to then-state Attorney General Tom Corbett in March 2009. Corbett, now governor, declined comment through his spokesman.

Kelly Hastings, current superintendent of Keystone Central School District, said she has no first-hand knowledge of the report and that no documents from the school have been subpoenaed by police.

DiNunzio, who has had a long career in education, said he was shocked when he heard the allegation and surprised that he was not contacted again.

“No one has ever called me about it in any way shape or form,” he said.

When Sandusky quit as a volunteer in 2009 with Central Mountain High School, he told officials there he was leaving to devote more time to The Second Mile, DiNunzio said. Sandusky retired from The Second Mile about a year and a half later.

Second Mile Executive Director Dr. Jack Raykovitz, wrote in an email: “While we are aware of the rumors circulating regarding Mr. Sandusky, we believe it would be inappropriate to respond to rumors. Futher ... I am aware of no investigation of The Second Mile or our programs.”

A Second Mile Board member, who asked not to be named, said Sandusky informed the board of the allegations against him and the investigation. At that point in time, Sandusky distanced himself from the kids but continued fundraising for the organization for a period of time before he finally retired, the board member said.

“We all know there’s an investigation going on,’’ the board member said.

Earlier allegation

Two months ago, state police at Rockview in Centre County began calling witnesses to a May 1998 report by Penn State University police detailing an earlier allegation of inappropriate contact against Sandusky by another boy.

According to several sources, that boy, who was 12 at the time, alleged he and Sandusky were showering in the football building on Penn State’s campus when the incident took place.

The boy’s mother told The Patriot-News she was specifically instructed by state police at Rockview not to speak with a reporter. Her name is being withheld by The Patriot-News to protect the identity of her son.

No charges were ever filed against Sandusky.

According to sources close to the investigation, the boy told police in 1998 that Sandusky had showered with him in a locker room of the Lasch Building — home to the football program — during a tour. The boy claimed Sandusky washed his body during the shower, sources said.

As part of the May 1998 investigation, police had the boy’s mother call Sandusky to her State College home and confront him while they hid in another room, according to sources.

Another boy, now an adult in the armed forces, was named as a witness in the 1998 Penn State police report and has been contacted by state police, his wife confirmed.

When reached by phone, his mother said she took her son to Penn State police for questioning in 1998 but didn’t listen to the interview. She said she never asked her son what happened.

Retired Penn State Police Officer Ron Schreffler handled the 1998 case. When approached recently, Schreffler said he couldn’t comment and asked a reporter, “How did you see that report?”

While the grand jury has been hearing testimony, Sandusky has been devoting time to fundraising for The Second Mile.

In January, the organization received the go-ahead from Centre County commissioners to apply for a $3 million state grant to pay for an $8.5 million learning center on 60 acres near the University Park Airport.

The facility would eventually include housing for up to 100 children.

Sandusky’s devotion to the program was the reason he gave for turning down job offers for football head coaching jobs at Temple University and the University of Maryland.

In his autobiography, Sandusky wrote, “Any time you deal with young people, there will be extreme highs and lows. There have been moments of frustration, despair and heartache.”

In 2007

Patriot-News staff writers Jan Murphy and Bob Flounders contributed to this report.