Penn State rescinds invitation for ex-official of Sandusky charity following complaints

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. _ Nineteen hours prior to Bruce Heim walking out of the tunnel at Beaver Stadium in front of a crowd as a coin toss honoree, Penn State rescinded an offer to the former board member of Jerry Sandusky’s Second Mile charity.tmpplchld Heim, who said he witnessed Sandusky enter showers with children, played football at Army and earned an MBA from Penn State. His selection, made public on Thursday to serve as a coin toss honoree for Saturday’s Army vs. Penn State football game, resulted in more than 100 complaints within the first 24 hours from Penn State fans and alumni.tmpplchld “Bruce Heim is a former football player and graduate of West Point and recipient of the Bronze Star in Vietnam who has served our nation with distinction,” Penn State president Eric Barron said in a statement Friday evening. “Unfortunately, his participation in Saturday’s coin toss ceremony has re-opened deep wounds in our community that do not involve his service to country, but have distracted the public from the purpose of the day.”tmpplchld With the Nittany Lions playing Army for military appreciation day, Heim was selected more than a month ago by a committee of 25 people, both inside and outside the university, who didn’t voice any concerns about his selection. Penn State trustee Ryan McCombie nominated Heim for the honor, citing his military service as the reason. Heim said Barron, who took over as Penn State’s president in May of 2014, even called him last month to congratulate him on the honor.tmpplchld Heim, the former vice chair of the Second Mile who was also the largest donor for the charity that aimed to help at-risk youth in Central Pa., said in an interview with the Post-Gazette Thursday that he and the Second Mile didn’t do anything wrong. Heim said he was surprised to learn Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 charges in a child sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Penn State community.tmpplchld “I’m not guilty of anything,” Heim said Thursday. “I’ve been married for 50-some years, I never had an affair, never did anything, never was arrested for anything, I’m just a good old American boy who happened to have a very happy life and anyway, here we are.”tmpplchld Heim, the founder and chairman of Keystone Real Estate Group, is also is a donor to both Army and Penn State.tmpplchld When reached by telephone Thursday evening he said “it was a bolt out of the blue” that people would voice complaints about him serving as one of the coin toss honorees. He said never in his wildest dreams did he expect it would be a problem for him to do the coin toss.tmpplchld Heim said he intended to walk on the field unless Penn State told him otherwise.tmpplchld As for the people complaining about him, Heim said he didn’t think people would voice their frustrations to his face.tmpplchld “I would love to have those people who are complaining come and look me right square in the eye and tell me why they’re complaining and why they think I shouldn’t be out there,” Heim told the Post-Gazette Thursday. “I would bet you there would be very, very few of them who have the fortitude to walk up to me _ an airborne Ranger _ and look me in the eye and tell me I have harbored a pedophile. I think they should be afraid to do that and they would be and they wouldn’t do it.”tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Pittsburgh Post-Gazettetmpplchld Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld