Second Mile CEO: Closing one option 
 
 The Second Mile, the charity founded by former Penn State University defensive coordinator and accused child molester Jerry Sandusky, could close its doors by the end of the year, according to the group's new CEO, David Woodle. 
 
 Mr. Woodle said closing the charity's programs for at-risk youths is one option, but that two other possibilities exist: continuing to run scaled-down versions of its programs or transferring the programs to other nonprofit groups. 
 
 Leaders of the State College-based charity began talking with the group's largest donors this week to find out if they will continue supporting The Second Mile, he said. 
 
 Many are still trying to decide, while others have pulled their support. 
 
 "Look, we're facing an uphill battle, but we want these programs to survive," Mr. Woodle said. "If we just don't have any support, they may have to go away, but we're working hard to make sure that doesn't happen." 
 
 Until his resignation in September 2010 -- by which time he had been under grand jury investigation for months -- Mr. Sandusky had been the group's primary fundraiser. The charity has annual revenue of about $2.9 million, and about 20 staff members in three offices. 
 
 The New York Times reported Friday that leaders of The Second Mile plan to dissolve the charity and possibly transfer its programs to a small number of nonprofit groups. It also reported that the nonprofit's board of directors had agreed to hire Lynne Abraham and the law firm Archer & Greiner to independently investigate the extent of Mr. Sandusky's contact with the program's children, when the charity learned of allegations against Mr. Sandusky and how it responded. 
 
 Ms. Abraham served as Philadelphia's district attorney from 1991 to 2010. As a prosecutor, she led a five-year investigation into sexual abuse by priests in Philadelphia. 
 
 Mr. Woodle, who was interviewed by the Times for its story, spoke with other news organizations later in the day to refute the claim that a decision had been made, saying closure was just one of the charity's possible steps forward. 
 
 The question of just how long The Second Mile can continue operating is difficult to answer because some donors are still contributing, and the group has some flexibility in what programs continue operating and at what level, Mr. Woodle said. But he promised that a decision would be made by end of the year, if not before. 
 
 "This won't drag on," he said. 
 
 Mr. Sandusky was charged Nov. 5 with 40 counts of sexually abusing eight young boys, and currently is free on bail. 
 
 The charity's former CEO, Jack Raykovitz, testified to the investigating grand jury that he was notified in 2002 that a Penn State football staff member had reported seeing Mr. Sandusky in the football building's showers with a boy, that it had made the staff member uncomfortable and that subsequently Mr. Sandusky had been barred from bringing Second Mile children onto campus. Mr. Raykovitz resigned on Sunday after 28 years as the group's chief executive. 
 
 Amy McConnell Schaarsmith: aschaarsmith@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1719. 
 
 First published on November 19, 2011 at 12:44 am ||||| One of the young men who has accused the former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse sought an injunction Wednesday to stop the Second Mile charity from transferring or divesting its assets. In court papers, the accuser said he and others planned to sue the charity, which was founded by Sandusky in 1977 and reported assets of more than $9 million last year. 
 
 In the papers filed in a Pennsylvania state court, lawyers for the accusers also maintain that there are at least 11 people who have been victimized by Sandusky who have come forward and who will probably file civil claims against the Second Mile. 
 
 Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator at Penn State, has been charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse. Lawyers for the accusers said officials of the Second Mile were negligent for failing to report what they knew of earlier sexual abuse accusations against Sandusky over several years. Grand jury testimony in the case indicated that the Second Mile learned of concerns about Sandusky’s contact with boys, including occasions when he showered with them, nearly a decade ago. 
 
 “We felt it was necessary to take this action after learning the organization was considering transferring its programs and not continuing its operations,” Benjamin Andreozzi and Jeffrey Fritz, lawyers for a client they referred to as Victim 4, said in a statement. “We believe it is in the best interest of our clients, as well as the other victims, to ensure that the organization is being financially responsible.” 
 
 Andreozzi, based in Harrisburg, Pa., has advised or is representing several Sandusky accusers. He recently partnered with Fritz, a Philadelphia lawyer. The injunction requests that Second Mile assets “not be dissipated, encumbered or in any way obligated or disturbed in any form and should be available to victims of sexual abuse.” 
 
 In the court papers, Andreozzi and Fritz assert that the Second Mile was reckless in its hiring, supervision and retention of Sandusky and negligent when it did not contact law enforcement or child protective services when it learned of sexual abuse accusations. The papers also maintain that the charity failed to properly supervise Sandusky’s one-on-one or overnight activities with the boys he came in contact with through the Second Mile. 
 
 On Nov. 14, the Second Mile accepted the resignation of Jack Raykovitz, who was the charity’s chief executive for 28 years. Last week, the Second Mile’s interim chief said the charity’s directors were considering closing the organization or transferring its programs, which primarily serve disadvantaged youths, to other nonprofit organizations. 
 
 “The injunction would not interrupt the everyday operations of the Second Mile or its existing operations,” Andreozzi and Fritz said. “We hope that the organization has enacted appropriate policies and procedures to prevent this tragic situation from ever occurring again. We have reached out to attorneys for the Second Mile in the hope that appropriate safeguards against the dissipation of assets can be reached, but are proceeding with these legal measures in order to protect the interests of our clients and other victims in the event we are unable to come to an agreement.”
– In the not-so-surprising department, the charity at the center of the Penn State rape allegations may shut down. The chief of Second Mile tells the New York Times that the charity is looking into how to transfer its money to other nonprofits that help disadvantage kids. He later tempered that by saying the organization was reaching out to its major donors to see whether there was any way to salvage it. "Look, we're facing an uphill battle, but we want these programs to survive," David Woodle the the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "If we just don't have any support, they may have to go away, but we're working hard to make sure that doesn't happen." Jerry Sandusky founded the charity in 1977 and had been the group's main fundraiser until he resigned in September 2010. Authorities say he used it to groom his victims, and Second Mile officials were reportedly notified of concerns about Sandusky's behavior in 2002. The charity has hired an outside law firm to investigate its handling of the case, and the inquiry is being led by former Philadelphia DA Lynne Abraham.