Pennsylvania State University, home of the storied Nittany Lions football team and its legendary coach, Joe Paterno, was rocked by allegations that one of Paterno’s former assistants, Jerry Sandusky, was charged with sexually assaulting eight young, disadvantaged boys.
The point of the article I posted earlier today, about former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo, was abuse of power. This sex abuse scandal is a variation of the same theme. Sandusky’s inappropriate behavior went on for years, probably because no one wanted to challenge a football dynasty.
According to the grand jury report:
• In 1998, Sandusky brought an 11-year-old boy into a Penn State locker room shower and behaved inappropriately. The boy’s mother reported it to Penn State University police. After a lengthy investigation, the Centre County District Attorney decided there would be no criminal charges.
• In 2000, a janitor saw Sandusky in the showers with an 11- to 13-year-old boy pinned against the wall, performing oral sex. He was distraught as he told his fellow janitors and his supervisor what he witnessed. But most of the janitors were new employees, and they were afraid that if they reported what had happened, they would lose their jobs.
• In 2002, a Penn State graduate assistant witnessed Sandusky having anal sex with a 10-year-old boy in the locker room showers. The graduate assistant told Joe Paterno. Paterno told his supervisor, Athletic Director Tim Curley. There were a few meetings, but no official investigation. In the end, all that happened was that Sandusky was told he could no longer bring boys to Penn State. Then, when the grand jury investigated, both Curley and the university’s Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz, downplayed the incident.
For more, read reporting in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Ex-Penn State coach charged with sex crimes
Paterno says all at Penn State were fooled by Sandusky
Mr Paterno did not walk his own talk. Sad that his career is defined by this but look at all the lives ruined b/c of his silence. He mis used his power and children were raped b/c people were afraid of his power. Winning football was more important than the children being damaged for life. I Got No sympathy for a person with that kind of value system. Remember, he’s Mr Pity Play with his “i shoulda done more.” He didn’t do more until he was FORCED.
Reminds me of cheaters who say they regret AFTER they were caught.”wah wah wah wah wah”.
Everyone who failed these kids should be appropriately punished so the victims can have justice and have some faith restored in the world. An entire organization failed to protect these children, and who knows how many more there were who didn’t come forward? Yeah, a slap on the wrist just doesn’t cut it. What a totally disgusting story. It was right out there in the open, and yet it was allowed to continue for years. I’m utterly disgusted.
Kip Richeal was a friend of Sandusky’s for 33 years. I saw an interview of him tonight……he said, he is a perfectly normal guy and just like the guy next door! “he was a good man”, I always knew him to be a loving person who wanted to give at risk children a chance.in life”. He helped over a 100K kids a year.
I’m surprised at the ‘supposed’ number of victims.
I didn’t know him like this.
UH…..ofcourse NOT….because if he was ‘out in the open’ with his behaviors……HE”D OF BEEN SHUT DOWN AT THE GETGO!
It’s interesting to see people respond to this type of predatory behaviors.
Its so hard for society to ‘wrap their heads’ around something that wasn’t obvious to them….OR didn’t happen to THEM personally.
A pedophile isn’t acting out in that capacity when he’s on the ball field….or at an adult christmas party, or sitting in church or behind his desk…..he’s the pedophile when he’s doing the act in PRIVATE….or not so private. But generally……NOT IN PLAIN DAYLIGHT!
Yes…..it’s the risk of getting caught….and thinking they can ‘talk’ their way out of it. It’s the gamble.
It’s amazing how when the mask is ripped off……people around the predator wiggle with the new info!
Crazy…….we want to believe people are good!
THEY ARE NOT!
The Penn State graduate assistant coach who witnessed the alleged sexual assault of a boy in 2002 has been identified as Mike McQueary, who is now an assistant football coach at Penn State. People ask, why didn’t he intervene? Here are two views of the topic from the Philadelphia Daily News:
Where was the fury over the rape of a boy?
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/20111110_Ronnie_Polaneczky__Where_was_the_fury_over_the_rape_of_a_boy_.html
‘Most are reluctant to get involved’
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20111110__Most_are_reluctant_to_get_involved_.html
Even the cog/dis McQueary must’ve felt during that encounter, should not have over run his empathy. It is my opinion that he is lacking in empathy. Who the hell, at age 28, needs to run to daddy and ask what to do when he encounters a rapist?
The question is easily answered with empathy: what if *I* was the one being raped? What would I do?
Answer: beat the crap out of the rapist.
Isn’t it interesting that McQueary has a JOB at Penn state where all he had to do to keep it was KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT for the last 9 years.
This whole thing makes me cringe, makes my blood boil….and yes, I once saw a child who I thought had been abused (I was doing a preceptorship with a family physician) and I reported it to him, and he DID NOT REPORT IT and I did not report it to higher authorities or the cops and I have felt guilty about that ever since and that has been decades ago, but I have not repeated that since then. I have reported every child that I even SUSPECTED was abused.
Sure, people are “reluctant” to get involved, just as I was afraid to get in trouble by going against the physician I worked for. I didn’t have the moral back bone as a student, and I can imagine myself in the shoes of that young man at that time. I too was a STUDENT at the time.
Paterno however, and the administration of the college were NOT STUDENTS, they were fully vetted ADULTS who cared more about “the program” of their foot ball team than they did about children.
I’m glad the board FIRED Paterno and I hope his entire career however many games his teams won, is smeared forever by his decided FAILURE TO ACT to save a child and to STOP a pedophile. POX ON PATERNO!
In the article that Donna just posted, it stated that the psychology professor at Virginia Tech said “McQueary could simply have been in shock”
Well, my question would be, has he stayed “in shock” for the past nine years? How could he possibly work side by side with men like Sandusky, Paterno, knowing what kind of men they were and what they were capable of. I would like to ask him two questions – Do you have children? Was the money worth it?
Disgusting.
So Kip Richeal is defending Sandusky as such a nice guy who helped 100K at risk kids. WTF is he saying, the good outnumbered the bad?
Well Mr Richeal, what he did was set himself up with a smorgaborg of kids who didn’t have anyone to stand up for them. Not Mike McQuery (who needs to be fired too), not Joe Paterno.
My father was a pedophile. He LOOKED like a very nice man who people felt sorry for b/c my mom was such a B* to him. But what he did was take little daughters and do them on mommy’s bed when she went out for the day. Or he’d play with their peepees when he gave them their Saturday night bath until they cried bc it HURT. Such a good daddy. (sarcasm) At his funeral, we were supposed to speak about him but I couldn’t find anything to SAY. My relationship with him was defined by his pedophilia. That he was nearly killed in a car accident so I avoided “my turn” didn’t change who I watched him be from toddler age until his car accident.
I am not the only one on here with the pedo father.
Oxy,
Ah yes… I get your drift…
It would seem that someone who knows too much would feel endangered of being “knocked off” BUT the spaths like the powerplay. By keeping him alive and working for them, they share “a little secret” and the pedophile has slimed them all with the guilt for not reporting him.
He kept his mouth shut in exchange for a job and the spath got off on the power he had to make a grown man turn his back on his conscience.
I had suspected that spaths like to ensnare others into doing evil for a while. Then when I found my spath’s letter to God in the bible ADMITTING that he did that, I was convinced that this is one of their powerplays.
Do I have this right? McQueary is the one who actually witnessed the rape, correct? He did report it to school officials or Paterno or whoever, but he didn’t go to the police either, correct? So why will HE still be coaching this weekend?? Something is not right here! Why has he not been dismissed??!!!