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Ex-Top Pa. Prosecutor Scaled Back Email Retention

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former acting Pennsylvania attorney general says his decision to shorten the period before emails were deleted had nothing to do with the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse investigation.

Bill Ryan said Friday that he shortened the retention period in February 2011 from five years to six months because storage was expensive. Both Ryan and a spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett say the governor hadn't suggested the policy change.

Attorney General Kathleen Kane is reviewing how the office handled the Sandusky criminal case. She says her office now keeps emails for two years.

Ryan was a top deputy when Corbett was attorney general and the Sandusky investigation began in 2009. Ryan ran the agency for about four months after Corbett left to become governor. Sandusky was charged in November 2011.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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