PITTSBURGH — Two off-duty Pennsylvania police officers who were working for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger the night he was accused of sexual assault in Georgia still face internal investigations that could cost them their full-time jobs.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell punished Roethlisberger even though a prosecutor declined to charge him over the case, saying the league's players must abide by a higher standard.

In Pennsylvania — and across the country — so must police. That's why the quarterback's police buddies still face scrutiny for being present when Roethlisberger was accused of assaulting a 20-year-old college student at a Milledgeville, Ga., nightclub March 5. Internal investigations will look at more than just each officer's actions related to the alleged assault. They'll also review questions such as whether either officer provided alcohol to minors, or knew that was happening.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police Code of Ethics says, "'I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all,"' said Thomas Martinelli, a former Detroit officer-turned-attorney who serves as an expert witness on police misconduct.

"You bring up an example like this and say, 'Look, this is turning into a potential scandal, a potential ethical conflict. It's my duty as a law enforcement officer to extricate myself from this scenario."'

Witnesses and Roethlisberger's accuser say a man investigators later identified as Officer Anthony Barravecchio of suburban Coraopolis escorted the woman down a hallway to a restroom where she says Roethlisberger forced her to have sex, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's file on the case. The accuser's friend said state Trooper Ed Joyner refused to intervene — or even make eye contact — when she asked Joyner to help get her friend out of the restroom.

Joyner hasn't returned calls to a cell phone number he gave to Georgia investigators or messages left at his barracks and home. Barravecchio's attorney Michael Santicola insists neither officer did anything wrong. He said the officers' version is more reliable because they were sober and drinking Red Bull energy drinks while their accusers were drunk.

The attorney specifically denies Barravecchio led the accuser to the restroom.

The GBI report says Barravecchio told investigators he spent most of his time at the club seated on a barstool by the door to the back hallway and didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary.