On Friday, June 22, 2012, the verdicts were announced in two important child molestation trials that had been going on simultaneously in Pennsylvania:
Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant football coach of Penn State University, was convicted of 45 of the 48 child molestation charges against him. And, Monsignor William J. Lynn was found guilty of essentially contributing to a cover-up of sexual predators among Catholic priests in the archdiocese of Philadelphia. The priests had been molesting children for years. Lynn was the first high-ranking church official to be prosecuted for failing to protect children.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported on both of these cases extensively. You can read more about them here:
Complete coverage: Scandal at Penn State
Complete coverage: Clergy abuse case
In both of these cases, sordid details of men using their positions of prestige and power to seduce and manipulate children were aired in public. The eight young men who testified in the Jerry Sandusky trial were incredibly brave, and prosecutors in the church trial were able to introduce into evidence decades worth of rape and molestation charges. For victims everywhere, many of whom probably thought they would never be believed or see any modicum of justice, the verdicts are great victories.
But here is the real change brought about by these trials: Big, powerful institutions are now on notice. They can no longer sacrifice the innocents in order to preserve their reputations and protect their treasuries. Whether it is the Holy Roman Catholic Church or Penn State Football, the hierarchies will be held responsible for the crimes of their representatives.
According to the Inquirer, since priest abuse allegations first started surfacing in the mid-1980s, more than 3,000 civil lawsuits have been filed, and the Catholic Church has paid out more than $3 billion in settlements. Dioceses have closed parishes and sold property to cover the costs. The Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, filed for bankruptcy.
Read Sex-abuse crisis is a watershed in the Roman Catholic Church’s history in America, on Philly.com.
Penn State University, with two officials already indicted for perjury related to the Sandusky case, anticipates more criminal proceedings and an onslaught of civil suits. The university has already embarked on damage control. As soon as Sandusky was declared guilty, the university announced a program to offer cash settlements to the victims.
Read: Bob Ford: In Sandusky case, Penn State tries to get ahead of civil actions, on Philly.com.
(By the way, more Sandusky victims, besides the 10 listed in the trial, have come forward. Read: Jerry Sandusky trial did not include all of his alleged victims, on ABCNews.go.com.)
So, for all of us at Lovefraud, all of us who have been manipulated, molested and abused, these verdicts are worth celebrating. Evil was exposed. Evildoers are going to prison. Enablers of evil are paying the price for averting their eyes, shutting their mouths and failing to act.
All of us who are fighting the good fight should feel encouraged. Perhaps the time is coming when we can go up against the rich and powerful—and win.
Here is an interesting article on the “internal investigation report”
BREAKING NEWS: Report says Joe Paterno and other Penn State leaders ‘repeatedly concealed critical facts’ and showed ‘total disregard’ to Sandusky’s sex abuse victims
By Associated Press
PUBLISHED: 07:36 EST, 12 July 2012 | UPDATED: 08:50 EST, 12 July 2012
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Penn State’s internal investigation into the Jerry Sandusky scandal found that top University officials including the long-beloved football coach Joe Paterno ‘repeatedly concealed critical facts’ about former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of young boys.
A team of investigators, led by former federal judge and FBI director Louis Freeh, interviewed hundreds of people to learn how the university responded to warning signs that its once revered former defensive coordinator – a man who helped Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno win two national titles while touting ’success with honor’ – was a serial child molester.
Mr Freeh said that the men showed ‘total disregard’ for Sandusky’s victims, and treated them in a ‘callous’ way.
From beyond the grave: Joe Paterno died in January and a letter that he wrote about the role of the sex abuse scandal is has been circulated among former players and students in recent days
From beyond the grave: Joe Paterno died in January and a letter that he wrote about the role of the sex abuse scandal is has been circulated among former players and students in recent days
‘The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest,’ Mr Freeh said in a statement as the report was released.
WHO KNEW WHAT: EXCERPTS FROM THE FREEH REPORT
‘The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.’
‘They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky’s victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being…’
‘These individuals, unchecked by the board of trustees that did not perform its oversight duties, empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have continued, unrestricted and unsupervised access to the University’s facilities and affiliation with the university’s prominent football program.’
‘The most saddening finding by the by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims.’
The early pages of the 267-page investigation looks back to the 1998 police report, which was the first formal document to note that Sandusky was behaving inappropriately with boys he met through his charity, bringing them on campus and forcing them into sex acts.
It states that while the school’s board members did not know the extent of the charges, the report finds that then-athletic director Tim Curley, then-school vice president Gary Schultz, former university president Graham Spanier and Paterno all did.
‘Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University… failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade.
‘These men concealed Sandusky’s activities from the board of trustees, the university community and authorities. They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky’s victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001.’
You can read the rest of it here at this link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2172527/Penn-State-report-says-Joe-Paterno-repeatedly-concealed-critical-facts-Jerry-Sandusky-sex-abuse.html
Girls and guys you can get a “fro” from reading this report as it will CURL YOUR HAIR! My hair may never be straight again. I have also ground all my teeth down to the gums! UHG!!!!
WHOA! There is a God!!
Here are two more links. The first one has the report – 267 pages!
It also have a video of the press conference. Watch the video if you are able to open it. It is chilling and sickening.
Some points that he mentions in the press conference are:
1. How Penn State warned Sandusky that he was being investigated and that Sandusky was the only one who knew the victim’s name.
2. How Paterno didn’t do anything because he didn’t want to ruin anybody’s weekend.
3. The things need to be done to prevent such “catastrophic” occurrences in the future.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf–freeh-report-penn-state-key-findings-joe-paterno-jerry-sandusky-.html
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/12/12699159-report-finds-penn-state-president-paterno-concealed-facts-about-sandusky-sex-abuse?lite
Then what does Paterno’s family claim? That they weren’t afraid of the truth. Really? They certainly sounded like they were doing damage control a few days ago. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48159488/ns/today-today_news/
Let’s see how this news hits the fan and what the fallout will be.
I wonder what dear ol’ Mrs. Sandusky is going to claim now.
I bet Sandusky’s roommates are going to be very interested in this report and press conference.
I’m not sure Sandusky has any “room mates” yet,l he may never have any, with some high profile cons they are kept segregated for their own protection—solitary confinement in other words! Serves him right. He can sit in there and play with his own little weenie.
In as much as Penn State’s previous administration should be condemned for its illegal, immoral and self-serving handling of the whole affair, I applaud the report released today for its candor.
Can anyone imagine the Catholic Church doing the same?
Now, I hope appropriate legal action will extend beyond Sandusky to his enablers.
Blue Eyes,
One thing that I suspect will be an outcome of today’s report is that people are going to start expecting similar reports for similar situations.
It also put a lot of organizations, schools, and businesses on notice that people will look and will ask questions. If these groups don’t have policies in place already, I hope they’re scrambling to create them now.
Thank God for the Internet. People are learning more and more that these are not isolated incidents or one-time occurrences.
Right or wrong, I believe that there are people who are unaware that how Penn State handled things was unacceptable. A lot of us have been thrown under the bus because the individual has been considered unimportant and “think of how it will make us (the organization) look.”
If that’s been a person’s norm and repeated experiences, and there is nothing to counter that or say otherwise, it’s not unreasonable to eventually believe that “this is how things are done.”
Oxy,
I meant “housemates” not “roommates.” Maybe there will be a guard who forgets, gets busy with something else, or looks the other way some day. Isn’t that what happened to Jeffrey Dahmer?
This is an interesting article (beginning of the fallout.)
The author is saying the abuse is overlooked because of money.
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/jerry-sandusky-penn-state-louis-freeh-report-nothing-changes-big-money-ncaa-athletics-playoff-system-071112
I agree. Not only for the reasons that he states, but because if we don’t admit that it is happening, then we won’t get sued.
It’s all about protecting the corporation and keeping its coffers full.
Everybody else is expendable.
Grace,
yep. They’ll just go further underground, but they won’t stop abusing.
Abusers have always been around. Wife beating and child beating was acceptable in previous generations. It still is, in some places. Now that it’s not so acceptable, the abusers simply move on to other types of abuse: financial, emotional, legal. This is more covert and they can get away with it for a while.
Abusers are experts at keeping their behavior hidden. It’s not until spath red flags become common knowledge that people will finally be able to spot them in the wild no matter what type of camoflauge they wear.
to skylar and kim.
Ennis Delmar said to Jack Twist ” what I don’t know about you might get you killed “
“Paterno, Curley, Schultz, and Spanier were aware of an investigation about improper conduct with Sandusky in a shower with a young boy in 1998.
“Then, when they learned from Michael McQueary that another incident occurred — and this time much more graphic details were provided — they only asked Sandusky not to bring his ‘guests’ into Penn State showers.”
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/12/12703541-analysis-paterno-could-have-been-indicted-if-he-had-lived?lite&g1=43001
Philadelphia church official sentenced to at least 3 years in prison.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/25/us/philadelphia-church-official-to-be-sentenced-in-abuse-case.html?_r=1&emc=na
Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader.