For each month Graham Spanier, the former Penn State university president, was sentenced to spend in jail, the state Attorney General's Office spent 28 months prosecuting the case against him.

But attorneys say the case will likely leave lasting impacts in an emerging area of law, and should serve as a warning to all supervisors that child sex abuse claims must be taken seriously.

In March, Spanier was convicted on one count of misdemeanor child endangerment over allegations that he failed to stop convicted serial child molester Jerry Sandusky from abusing children on university property. Spanier was also acquitted on a felony count of child endangerment, as well as a conspiracy count.