Penn State Apologizes for Sandusky Scandal -- We Are 'Deeply Ashamed'

The Penn State Board of Trustees takes "full responsibility" for not stopping Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing children -- saying it's "deeply ashamed" about its failures ... and indirectly implicates Joe Paterno.

Karen Peetz -- the PSU board of trustees chair -- just spoke at a news conference, claiming the panel "accepts full responsibility for the failures that occurred" in the sex abuse scandal.

The failures were exposed in a recent investigation -- the results of which were released today, showing most senior leaders of PSU "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade."

Board trustee Kenneth Frazier said, "Our hearts remain heavy and deeply ashamed."

He added, "We are accountable for what's happened here ... People who were in a position to protect children and to confront a predator ... did not put the welfare of children first" -- a thinly-veiled shot at Joe Paterno and other senior PSU officials.