With other former FBI agents and federal prosecutors joining Freeh in an inquiry that will call upon the public to phone in tips (855-290-3382) on other possible victims, the trustee-directed inquiry should shed more light on the key question of how the apparent Sandusky cover-up was allowed to unfold.
Can the Freeh investigation satisfy critics in the Penn State faculty senate who, on Friday, rightly questioned the trustees' ability to offer an objective and fair look at the scandal?
That will be determined, in part, by whether the inquiry proves to be truly arm's-length. Freeh must not allow his former business relationship with Penn State while a credit-card company executive to cloud his ability to conduct an objective probe.
One good measure of the effort will be Freeh's eventual recommendations for policy changes to safeguard students and others against predators, and whether they're strong enough to reassure the public.
Certainly, the quick ouster of legendary football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham B. Spanier for failing to alert police to a 2002 rape allegation against Sandusky, a former assistant coach, demonstrated that the trustees, among them Gov. Corbett, mean to hold people accountable for what did - and didn't - happen in Happy Valley over the past decade and a half.
At the same time, it's important that other reviews go forward as planned. First and foremost, authorities need to determine whether there are other alleged abuse victims. Cases already under review by the state police grew by one over the weekend, with word that university police alerted them to a new allegation about a summer 2000 assault at a school facility, which may have involved Sandusky.
Legislators need to toughen reporting laws on suspected abuse and enact measures to give long-ago abuse victims a day in court. They can also assure more transparency at Penn State by bringing all independent schools that receive some state funding under Pennsylvania's open-records rules.
