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Philadelphia. The former FBI director chosen to lead an investigation into child sex-abuse allegations against a former assistant coach at one of the biggest football programs in the US said on Monday his inquiry will go as far back as 1975, a much longer period than a grand jury report issued earlier this month.

Louis Freeh was named Monday to oversee the Penn State University board of trustees’ internal investigation into the abuse allegations that ultimately led to the firing of Joe Paterno, one of the country’s winningest football coaches, and university President Graham Spanier.

Paterno and Spanier have been accused of doing too little after a graduate assistant claimed he saw assistant coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in a campus shower in 2002. Sandusky is accused of molesting eight boys over a 15-year period beginning in the mid-1990s. Authorities say some assaults happened on campus and were reported to administrators but not to police.

The scandal has shaken the reputation of a college sports program that long had prided itself on integrity in an environment where the profits of endorsements and television deals have led some schools to compromise academics and the law itself.

Authorities say Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999, met the children through The Second Mile, a youth charity that he started in 1977. By going back as far as 1975, Freeh’s investigation would cover the entire time The Second Mile has existed and 24 of the 30 years that Sandusky worked at Penn Statfe.

Freeh said his goal was to conduct a comprehensive, fair and quick review with his team of former FBI agents, federal prosecutors and others.

“We will immediately report any evidence of criminality to law enforcement authorities,” said Freeh, who has no connection to Penn State.

Penn State faced criticism after announcing that its internal investigation would be led by two university trustees, Merck pharmaceutical company CEO Kenneth Frazier and state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis.

Faculty members on Friday called for an independent investigation.

“No one is above scrutiny,” Frazier said. “He has complete rein to follow any lead, to look into every corner of the university to get to the bottom of what happened and then to make recommendations that will help ensure that it never happens again.”

Paterno, who has the most wins of any major college football coach, has conceded he should have done more. Spanier has said he would have reported a crime if he had suspected one had been committed.

Sandusky has said he is innocent. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but said he never molested them.

Freeh said he spoke with Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly on Sunday night and was determined not to interfere with the ongoing criminal case. A spokesman for Kelly said she was aware of the Penn State trustees’ special committee, but declined comment about it.

Gov. Tom Corbett called Freeh’s selection “a good one,” noting his familiarity with grand juries and the role of prosecutors.

Former school administrators Tim Curley — who is on administrative leave — and Gary Schultz are charged with not properly alerting authorities to suspected abuse and with perjury. They maintain their innocence.

Freeh founded an investigation firm, Freeh Group International Solutions, after leading the FBI from 1993 to 2001. His firm was hired to look into the bribery case involving FIFA’s presidential election. Soccer’s governing body banned candidate Mohamed bin Hammam for life for bribing voters.

After his time at the FBI, Freeh also did work for credit card giant MBNA, which has business relationships with Penn State and its alumni association. But a spokeswoman for Freeh’s investigation said in a statement that it would not compromise the probe. The statement said Freeh has “no previous personal connection to Penn State” and had no role in negotiating MBNA’s longstanding business deal with the school.

Associated Press