U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7, of Upper Darby, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Tuesday requesting a probe into sex abuse allegations surrounding Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State University assistant football coach.

“Given the disturbing nature of these allegations, I am writing to respectfully urge you direct the Department of Education to conduct a full investigation into whether federal law was broken in the failure to properly report allegations of sexual abuse at Penn State,” Meehan, a former U.S. Attorney, wrote in a letter to Duncan.

Two Penn State officials, Senior Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley, surrendered on charges that they failed to alert police to the complaint about Sandusky. They were reportedly notified about Sandusky’s alleged behavior back in 2002 when a graduate assistant reportedly saw Sandusky attacking a young boy in the team’s locker room shower.

Meehan questioned whether failure to report the 2002 allegations broke Penn State’s own reporting methods and whether the Clery Act was violated. The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to publish an annual security report about all criminal offenses reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies.

“Had the 2002 allegations been properly reported, investigated and disclosed, the later instances of abuse could have been prevented and future victims protected,” Meehan wrote.

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Update:
State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi recently weighed in on this debacle. Check out the details here.