Okay....and it was knowingly.
(If there is anyone in the film industry that knows if studios do criminal background checks on filmmakers, please let me know.)
However, when Nathan Winters came forward, they most certainly knew it then. And Francis Ford Coppola, the man who bankrolled Clownhouse (the film Salva was making with Winters while he was molesting this kid) and the two Jeepers Creepers films definitely knew what had happened and is willing to turn a blind eye. For Coppola, and MGM who distributed the latter, there is no excuse.