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
Read the grand jury presentment
skylar
Athena,
I’m not saying that the woman was a spath or that cross dressers are spaths. Just that they are obsessed with the external representation of a thing much more than with the actual thing or person. That’s just narcissism.
That person may have some depth to them and also the potential for developing other values beyond their facade.
I think the spath takes caricature to a new level. My own spath seemed SO REAL! In fact, one day, he came home and said, “this guy at the airport, said that I was a phony.” I was astounded. No way! I replied, “that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve EVER heard. There is no one LESS phony than you.”
So, you see, I always imagined a phony person to look and act like the woman you saw on the street today: concerned with her outward appearance and trying to be like something out of a glamour magazine.
I never imagined a phony person would dress in rags, not bathe, drive a geo and profess to be the most humble person alive. He had me sincerely believing that his true nature was that of someone who rejects phoniness, someone who doesn’t care about outward appearances and possessions. He made me want to be more like him.
I was SOOOOO COMPLETELY DECEIVED. This was not a narcissist. This was simply a predator.
callmeathena
Yes, it was all about an external representation. I really agree. Your spath took it to such a bizarre level, I can’t even get my head around the mindfk he did. It’s so extensive. In your some of your writing, Skylar, it’s hard to describe the feeling I get from it, but I sense the tenseness and potential SOMETHING lurking under the surface. I don’t know if it’s because you’re so direct, or because of the knowledge that you have, but it’s so pointed and true.
skylar
Athena,
I know what you mean about my expression too. I can see it in my writing, but not sure why it’s there and I don’t think I can change it.
It has to do with how I’m dealing with this reality – which mind fucked me so off the charts. Any expression other than just what happened, would do a disservice to the experience.
The only way to get your head around what he did, is if you imagine yourself taking a vow to serve the devil. And then working to do it in the best way you possibly can, studying humanity for all the weaknesses to exploit. And studying yourself for all of your strengths and working to see how you can use them at the service of the devil.
And then never getting tired of it or taking a break from it, because it has become second nature.
I’ve accepted that this is what he was and did. I don’t think I can be shocked anymore. Famous last words, right?
Ana
Skylar,
I love the way you write. So honest and brutal at the same time = REAL!!
I used to cuss all the time in my younger days, I mean really young teens etc.
When I met spath she used the “c” word every single day!
I was shocked at first, then got used to it. Turns out she’s the biggest “c” around! Go figure.
callmeathena
LOL, famous last words.
What you’ve said is so true about your spath serving the devil. I can understand it.
Maybe what we see in your writing is that when you go there, you REALLY go there, and then you snap back. It is very hard to describe.
I believe that for some reason you really do attract spaths like you say you do. I can’t say why, but I can sense it. It has something to do with the insight and flexibility that you have.
Athena
skylar
Ana and Athena, thanks for understanding me.
Some people think I spend too much time studying these creatures, but I’m just trying to stay sane. I can’t allow myself to look away from the horror because last time I did that, I ended up living with a spath for 25 years.
This time I’m just going to stay grounded in reality no matter how offensive it is.
Maybe I attract the spaths because I’m too honest, too open.
The Rush song, “Cinderella Man” has always resonated with me.
A modest man from Mandrake
Travelled rich to the city
He had a need to discover
A use for his newly found wealth
Because he was human
Because he had goodness
Because he was moral
They called him insane
Delusions of grandeur
Visions of splendor
A manic depressive
He walks in the rain
Eyes wide open
Heart undefended
Innocence untarnished…
Cinderella Man
Doing what you can
They can’t understand
What it means
Cinderella Man
Hang on to your plans
Try as they might
They cannot steal your dreams
In the betrayal of his love he awakened
To face a world of cold reality
And a look in the eyes of the hungry
Awakened him to what he could do
He held up his riches
To challenge the hungry
Purposeful motion
For one so insane
They tried to fight him
Just couldn’t beat him
This manic depressive
Who walks in the rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diUNDsP3Hns
Ana
Skylar,
Yes, this song reminds me of you.
God Bless you for helping on this blog, while trying to maintain your own sanity! It’s much appreciated.
skylar
((Ana))
Allergic to Spandex
Guys, just when I thought this couldn’t get any grosser, it just did. There are unconfirmed reports coming in from several sources that Sandusky pimped young boys in exchange for big fat donations to his charity… and guess which very famous, now ex-football coach is still on the board of that charity?
As to McQueary, my sister went to high school with him. He sat behind her in one class and copied off her notes… but more to the point, he was always a big guy, star high-school QB, who liked to shove nerds into lockers and intimidate people with his physical presence. I understand being shocked, but there is no way McQueary wouldn’t have been physically capable of either shoving Sandusky to the ground, or grabbing the boy and running like hell to get him to the hospital. Of course he did neither.
I am a two-time rape survivor, the first time when I was 16 by my first boyfriend, the second time by my spath husband of 14 years in 2007. (Yes, I dumped him at that point. Finally.) It is literally making me ill to know that the rioters care more about their precious football coach than the welfare of as many as 20 children who were raped — by someone they had come to know and trust — the most violent and disgusting betrayal possible. And McQueary just walked in, SAW what was going on, and by his own account looked the victim in the eye and walked away.
I never used to think Cluster B personality disorders were contagious, but goddamn.
MoonDancer
McQueery will get his in the end. If justice prevails.