AUGUSTA (AP) — After a lengthy debate that included references to the Penn State child sex abuse scandal, the Maine Senate on Thursday finalized the appointment of former college president William Beardsley for a state Board of Education seat.

Senators confirmed all 70 of Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s nominees for judicial, Cabinet and board posts, and Beardsley’s was the only one to draw serious debate. But the 13 votes to overturn a committee recommendation for his appointment fell far short of the two-thirds majority needed to deny him the seat. Nineteen voted to accept the committee’s recommendation.

During the debate over Beardsley’s nomination, members of both parties praised the qualifications of the longtime educator and former conservation commissioner for the Board of Education post. But Democrats said a cloud hangs over the appointment due to a childsex investigation of the Rev. Robert Carlson, who had been campus chaplain at Husson University where Beardsley was president for 22 years.

Since Carlson committed suicide last November, questions have been raised about what Beardsley may have known and what steps he should have taken at the time. Beardsley has said he received phone calls around 2005 from people who reported inappropriate sexual behavior by Carlson, and Beardsley later asked Carlson to stay off the Bangor school’s campus. Beardsley said as recently as Wednesday that he knew of no illegal behavior by Carlson during his time at Husson.

“One must look at more than just a resume,” Sen. Justin Alfond of Portland, the assistant Senate Democratic leader, said during an hourlong debate.

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