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PSU says Phillips was permitted to play
Rob Biertempfel is the Pirates beat writer. He can be reached via e-mail. Also check out Biertempfel's blog, Pirates Q&A or follow him on Twitter.
Defensive back Anwar Phillips faces two felony charges stemming from a Nov.12 on-campus incident with a female student. The school's Judicial Affairs board expelled him for two semesters, beginning at the start of the spring semester in mid-January.
Phillips appeared before the board Dec. 12, a few days before the Nittany Lions left for the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla. He continued to practice with the team and played in the Jan. 1 game.
People in the athletic department, including coach Joe Paterno, knew about Phillips' expulsion before the team went to Florida.
"The nature of the (allegations) was known," athletic director Tim Curley said in a phone interview Friday.
"Based on the overall information we had at the time, we determined that he could be permitted to play. But, I don't want to get into details of who made what decision."
Paterno has refused to answer questions about Phillips. Penn State president Graham Spanier said the university has handled the situation "reasonably well, even though there may have been some miscommunication."
Spanier said Phillips' status as an athlete did not weigh into the decision made by the Judicial Affairs board.
"I don't think the issue is so much the judicial affairs process as what was learned within athletics and how they ... the decisions they made," Spanier said.
Yesterday morning, Curley released a three-paragraph statement that said the athletics department knew "in mid-December" that Phillips was facing expulsion.
"At that time, no criminal wrongdoing had been alleged," the release said. "The criminal charge was filed on March 19 and did not come to our attention until shortly thereafter."
The charges against Phillips were filed after a four-month police investigation.
According to the police report, Phillips, 20, said he had sex with a female student Nov. 12 at her on-campus apartment even though she told him, "No, I don't want to do this." Phillips admitted to investigators he did not believe the woman wanted to have sex.
Four days later, Phillips made his first career start against Indiana.
He is charged with sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault. The charges, both second-degree felonies, carry maximum penalties of $25,000 and 10 years in jail.
Last week, Phillips waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and pleaded innocent to sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault.
Phillips will be eligible to re-enroll at Penn State this fall. Curley said Phillips' scholarship is being held in reserve until the legal matter is resolved.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
