STATE COLLEGE — Joe Paterno’s family strongly denies the findings of a special investigator who described the late coach as one of four high-ranking university officials who covered up child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky.

In a statement today, the family says they “vehemently disagree” with the conclusions reached by a team of investigators led by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

Freeh’s scathing report last week said Paterno and other university officials covered up for Sandusky to avoid bad publicity. It says administrators reversed a decision to report a 2001 encounter between Sandusky and a boy after the athletic director discussed it with Paterno.

Sandusky was convicted last month.

The family has attorneys reviewing the Freeh report and says it is “absolutely not” the last word in the case.