Second Mile CEO Resigns Amid Sandusky Allegations
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Second Mile's CEO has announced his resignation following child sexual abuse charges against Jerry Sandusky.
On Monday, the Board of Directors released a statement saying that had accepted Dr. Jack Raykovitz's resignation.
Raykovitz had been with the charity for 28 years.
The organization said because the sexual abuse scandal involves children from The Second Mile, it plans to conduct an internal investigation.
The charity said it also plans to cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the Attorney General's Office.
Here is the full statement:
Yesterday, the Board of Directors of the Second Mile (TSM) accepted the resignation of Dr. Jack Raykovitz, the CEO of The Second Mile for the past 28 years. Both Dr. Raykovitz and the Board believe this is in the best interests of the organization. David Woodle, the current Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, will now be responsible for day-to-day operations of The Second Mile.
Although the allegations against Jerry Sandusky and the alleged incidents occurred outside Second Mile programs and events, this does not change the fact that the alleged sexual abuse involved Second Mile program children, nor does it lessen the terrible impact of sexual abuse on its victims.
The Second Mile's mission is to help young people - particuarly those in need - to achieve their potential.
The safety and well-being of the children participating in our programs is central to fulfilling that mission.
To that end, we made the following decisions:
- We will conduct an internal investigation to assess our internal policies, procedures and processes; and make recommendations regarding the organization's future operations. We hope to have those findings by the end of December.
- We have engaged as our General Counsel the firm of Archer & Greiner, including partner Lynne
Abraham. Archer & Greiner succeeds Wendell Courtney, who resigned from that position last week.
In addition, we will of course continue to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation by the Attorney General's office.
Over the past week the families of many participants have urged us to maintain TSM's programs, saying they continue to believe deeply in TSM's mission and the value it provides young people in our community. We remain committed to Second Mile children, teens and families.
Our continued prayers, thoughts and concerns go out to all those affected. Just as the Second Mile is making reports of any information we receive, we continue to encourage anyone with information regarding this investigation to contact investigators from the Office of Attorney General at 814-863-1053 or Pennsylvania State Police at 814-470-2238.
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