Lawyers for two Penn State officials say that they’ll fight charges against their clients in connection to allegations of child sex abuse by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

University Athletic Director Tim Curley and Senior Vice President Gary Schultz are charged with failure to report suspected child abuse and perjury before a grand jury. They are accused of looking the other way after learning in 2002 that Sandusky was suspected of sexually abusing a boy on Penn State’s campus. 

Curley has taken a leave of absence from his job, while Schultz has retired.

In the middle of a noisy media scrum after Tuesday’s arraignment, Curley’s attorney, Caroline Roberto, said that the “failure to report” charge is an offense no stronger than a “speeding ticket.”

“Under the law, the duty to report didn’t even apply to Tim Curley or the situation at Penn State,” she said.

Schultz’s attorney, Thomas Farrell, said that both men told the truth to the grand jury. He said prosecutors have “manufactured” their charge of perjury, and added that Joe Paterno told Schultz and Curley a vague account of inappropriate behavior.

“You folks may have seen Mr. Paterno’s statement. Mr. Paterno’s statement matches their statement. They were given a general allegation,” said Farrell.

Both attorneys said that the charge of failure to report is weak and the charge of perjury is a last-resort type of charge for prosecutors.

A preliminary hearing, when the prosecution will likely lay out the details of the case, is set for November 17.