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Subscribe to RSSPenn State released the findings of an internal investigation by former FBI Director Louie Freeh, which revealed how much top University officials knew about Jerry Sandusky's behavior and the failure of them to do anything about it. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and other university leaders "repeatedly concealed critical facts" relating to assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s child sex abuse from authorities, according to Louis Freeh, the former FBI director who conducted an investigation for the university in the Sandusky scandal.
Freeh also found that "although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed" by university officials, including Paterno and the university president, for Sandusky’s victims. The report says that five boys were assaulted by Sandusky on university property after officials knew about a 1998 criminal investigation.
Update: Members of the Penn State board of trustees spoke at an afternoon news conference.
"Our hearts remain heavy, and we are deeply ashamed," said trustee Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman, CEO and president of Merck & Co., the pharmaceutical company. "An event like this can never happen again in the Penn State University community. Judge Freeh's report is both sad and sobering."
The president of the university, Rodney A. Erickson, said, "It has become clear to me that I need to reconsider our community's leadership culture." He said the university is partnering with the Pennsylvania Coalition against Rape, and creating a center for the protection of children. "This is a problem that plagues our nation," Erickson said, "and we have a special duty" to prevent and treat child sexual abuse.
A statue of Paterno remains outside Penn State's 106,000-seat Beaver Stadium. Members of the board of trustees were asked whether it should remain.
"The whole topic of Joe Paterno being honored or not being honored is a very sensitive topic," said Karen B. Peetz, a banker and chairman of the board. "We believe this is something that will continue to be discussed."
Trustee Frazier added, "You have to measure every human by the good they've done and the bad they've done. I'm not trying to make light of what we've found in the report, but I will say that if you want to measure the man's life," you have to measure the good and bad. "I think we have to take some reflection and some distance before we make decisions about what we think about Joe Paterno's entire life."
The Freeh report says the main cause of the university's failure was a desire to avoid bad publicity. Also contributing:
- A striking lack of empathy for child abuse victims.
- Lack of oversight by the board of trustees.
- "A president who discouraged discussion and dissent."
- Ignorance of child abuse issues and laws.
- A football program that had opted out of university programs and training on reporting requirements.
- "A culture of reverence for the football program that is ingrained at all levels of the campus community."
The full investigative report is available in this PDF file.
Freeh's findings may affect the reputation of legendary coach Paterno, who died soon after the Sandusky allegations became public, as well as the university's standing with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which so far has not announced any punishments of Penn State. The NCAA said Thursday it is studying the report.
Paterno had testified to a grand jury in 2011 that he knew nothing of the 1998 criminal investigation, but Freeh, based on multiple university emails, said Paterno was among the officials who knew, and who allowed Sandusky to keep his university access until 2011.
Summary of the report
Freeh was hired by the university in November to review the school's dealings with Sandusky and its response to a 2001 report that he sexually abused a boy in a Penn State shower room, an incident witnessed by football assistant Michael McQueary. (McQueary's term was allowed to expire this year, and he is no longer employed by the university.)
Freeh's team of investigators found:
"The most saddening finding 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. As the Grand Jury similarly noted in its presentment, there was no "attempt to investigate, to identify Victim 2, or to protect that child or any others from similar conduct except as related to preventing its re-occurrence on University property.
"Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University -- President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President-Finance and Business Gary C. Schultz, Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley and Head Football Coach Joseph V. Paterno -- failed to protect against a child 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. Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child's identity, of what McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001.
"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. Indeed, that continued access provided Sandusky with the very currency that enabled him to attract his victims. Some coaches, administrators and football program staff members ignored the red flags of Sandusky's behaviors and no one warned the public about him."
Jay Paterno, the son of legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno, says that his family is awaiting the release of former FBI director Louis Freeh's "thorough report" into the sex scandal and possible cover-up at the university.
Mark Parker, the CEO of Nike, the athletic equipment company, said Thursday it would remove Paterno's name from a child care center. Parker had given a eulogy at Paterno's funeral, defending the coach's response to the allegations. "I have been deeply saddened by the news coming out of this investigation at Penn State," Parker said. "It is a terrible tragedy that children were unprotected from such abhorrent crimes. With the findings released today, I have decided to change the name of our child care center at our World Headquarters. My thoughts are with the victims and the Penn State community."
Paterno family responds
The Paterno family released a statement saying there wasn't much new in the Freeh report: "From what we have been able to assess at this time, it appears that after reviewing 3 million documents and conducting more than 400 interviews, the underlying facts as summarized in the report are almost entirely consistent with what we understood them to be. The 1998 incident was reported to law enforcement and investigated. Joe Paterno reported what he was told about the 2001 incident to Penn State authorities and he believed it would be fully investigated. The investigation also confirmed that Sandusky's retirement in 1999 was unrelated to these events."
"One great risk in this situation," the Paterno family statement continued, "is a replaying of events from the last 15 years or so in a way that makes it look obvious what everyone must have know and should have done. The idea that any sane, responsible adult would knowingly cover up for a child predator is impossible to accept. The far more realistic conclusion is that many people didn't fully understand what was happening and underestimated or misinterpreted events. Sandusky was a great deceiver. He fooled everyone - law enforcement, his family, coaches, players, neighbors, University officials, and everyone at Second Mile," his charity for children.
"Joe Paterno wasn't perfect. He made mistakes and he regretted them. He is still the only leader to step forward and say that with the benefit of hindsight he wished he had done more. To think, however, that he would have protected Jerry Sandusky to avoid bad publicity is simply not realistic. If Joe Paterno had understood what Sandusky was, a fear of bad publicity would not have factored into his actions.
"We appreciate the effort that was put into this investigation. The issue we have with some of the conclusions is that they represent a judgment on motives and intentions and we think this is impossible. We have said from the beginning that Joe Paterno did not know Jerry Sandusky was a child predator. Moreover, Joe Paterno never interfered with any investigation. He immediately and accurately reported the incident he was told about in 2001.
"It can be argued that Joe Paterno should have gone further. He should have pushed his superiors to see that they were doing their jobs. We accept this criticism. At the same time, Joe Paterno and everyone else knew that Sandusky had been repeatedly investigated by authorities who approved his multiple adoptions and foster children. Joe Paterno mistakenly believed that investigators, law enforcement officials, University leaders and others would properly and fully investigate any issue and proceed as the facts dictated. This didn't happen and everyone shares the responsibility."
On NBC's TODAY show on Thursday morning, the coach's son, Jay Paterno, told host Matt Lauer that all the family has wanted is for an investigation to find the truth. "We have never ever at any time been afraid to see what people have had to say," and he called the Freeh report "one opinion, one piece of the puzzle." "We've never been afraid of the truth, so let's have the truth come out and let's go from there."
Former college president responds
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier has come under particular scrutiny in recent weeks amid news reports suggesting he was made aware of suspicious activity involving Sandusky in 2001 and that no report of the incident was made to authorities.
"At no time in the more than 16 years of his presidency at Penn State was Dr. Spanier told of an incident involving Jerry Sandusky that described child abuse, sexual misconduct or criminality of any kind, and he reiterated that during his interview with Louis Freeh and his colleagues,'' Spanier's attorneys, Peter Vaira and Elizabeth Ainslie, said in a written statement.
An "independent" investigation
The investigation is billed by Pennsylvania State University as "independent," though the university is paying the law firm of Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Sandusky, 68, was found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse last month and is currently in prison awaiting sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of more than 400 years in prison.
Jim Prisching / AP file
How will Penn State's "independent report" affect the reputation of its much-beloved former football coach, Joe Paterno, who died after the scandal broke?
Gary Cameron / Reuters file
Former FBI Director Louis Freeh was hired in November to determine whether Penn State University officials knew about child sex abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
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Ghosts of Sandusky's dreams haunt empty house where his charity was born
The Sandusky scandal led to the ouster of Spanier from the university presidency and Paterno, and charges against Timothy Curley, the athletic director who is on leave from the university, and Gary Schultz, the VP of finance and business who has since retired. The latter two are accused of perjury for their grand jury testimony and failing to properly report suspected child abuse.
Spanier hasn't been charged. He remains a tenured professor of sociology at Penn State. He has sued the university to gain access to internal emails that his attorneys say will exonerate him.
On Wednesday, the Paterno family released a letter written six months earlier by Paterno, saying, "This is not a football scandal."
More from the report:
"In critical written correspondence that we uncovered on March 20th of this year, we see evidence of their proposed plan of action in February 2001 that included reporting allegations about Sandusky to the authorities. After Mr. Curley consulted with Mr. Paterno, however, they changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the authorities. Their failure to protect the February 9, 2001 child victim, or make attempts to identify him, created a dangerous situation for other unknown, unsuspecting young boys who were lured to the Penn State campus and football games by Sandusky and victimized repeatedly by him.
"The stated reasons by Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley for not
taking action to identify the victim and for not reporting Sandusky to the police or Child Welfare are:"(1) Through counsel, Messrs. Curley and Schultz have stated that the “humane” thing to do in 2001 was to carefully and responsibly assess the best way to handle vague but troubling allegations.
"(2) Mr. Paterno said that “I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn’t work out that way.”
"(3) Mr. Spanier told the Special Investigative Counsel that he was never told by anyone that the February 2001 incident in the shower involved the sexual abuse of a child but only “horsing around.” He further stated that he never asked what “horsing around” by Sandusky entailed.
"Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large.
"Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky’s victims.
"The evidence shows that these four men also knew about a 1998 criminal investigation of Sandusky relating to suspected sexual misconduct with a young boy in a Penn State football locker room shower. Again, they showed no concern about that victim. The evidence shows that Mr. Paterno was made aware of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, followed it closely, but failed to take any action, even though Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30 years, and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno’s. At the very least, Mr. Paterno could have alerted the entire football staff, in order to prevent Sandusky from bringing another child into the Lasch Building. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley also failed to alert the Board of Trustees about the 1998 investigation or take any further action against Mr. Sandusky. None of them even spoke to Sandusky about his conduct. In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity."
Land deal for Second Mile charity
According to the report, Schultz met with Second Mile officials on July 24, 2001, or six months after McQueary reported seeing Sandusky abusing a boy in a Penn State locker room, and agreed to sell 40 acres of land to the organization. The land, purchased by the university in 1999, was adjacent to the home where Sandusky started the Second Mile. It would be used to build the Second Mile's $11.5 million dollar "Center For Excellence."
In September 2001, the university's Board of Trustees approved the sale to Sandusky's charity for $168,500.
The report states that neither Spanier, Curley nor Schultz informed the Board of Trustees of the 1998 or 2001 investigations of Sandusky:
"Nothing in the board's records or interviews of Trustees indicate any contemporaneous discussions of the 2001 Sandusky incident and investigation, the propriety of a continuing relationship between Penn State and the Second Mile, or the risks created by a public association with Sandusky when the land transaction was discussed," the Freeh report says.
"Schultz, who oversaw the transaction, did not make any disclosure of the Sandusky incident during the Board's review of the land deal. In fact, Schultz approved a press release, issued September 21, 2001, announcing the land sale in which he praised Sandusky for his work with Second Mile."
Eight years later, according to the report, Schultz contacted a bank on behalf of Sandusky and the Second Mile, in an effort to secure financing for the Center for Excellence. In 2009 he told officials from an unnamed bank that "the Second Mile is raising funds to support an expansion of their facilities here in State College…Would you be agreeable to meet with Jerry Sandusky…and me? They are really good people and this is a great cause related to kids."
The bank officials agreed to meet with Sandusky.
More on this land deal is in our earlier story, Ghosts of Sandusky's dreams haunt empty home where his charity was born.
NBC national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff, producer Tom Winter, and investigative researchers Lisa Riordan-Seville and Hannah Rappleye contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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PSU alumni and students - we need another voice on this issue, other than those who are determined to deny any accountability or responsibility for the failure to act, the failure to notify the police, and the failure to notify the child welfare organization in Pennsylvania regarding Mr. Sandusky's actions (of which he has been convicted in a court of law). We need a voice of responsibility that is not focused on denial, defense, or misdirection, but that accepts that there was wrong-doing and calls for accountability, responsibility, and change at PSU to reject the environment that allowed these actions over a decade. I urge you to become part of that voice of responsibility, and visit our new web page and petition for PSU Alumni and Students for Children's Rights and Dignity at A legacy of responsibility, accountability, and unwavering commitment to children's human rights - should be the only legacy we are concerned about at Penn State. Jeffrey Imm, PSU Alumnus
Well, football season is almost here, so there's no time for such nonsense. Game on!
Yet another possible institutional cover-up. rcc, boy scouts, penn state, and it goes on and on. We need responsibility and accountability. Seems that corruption will be the downfall of our wonderful democracy. The same type that brought down ancient Rome. I guess we will NEVER learn.
Our position and position at:
psuchildrights.com
Good to see there's a significant number of PSU alumni and staff who realize this was a totally avoidable tragedy.
It's amazing how many people, not just vested PSU football fans but people across the country, continue to defend JoePa's and the administration's inexcusable actions. This tragedy produced AT LEAST eight victims of Jerry Sandusky (the eight that were brave enough to testify at trial) and those who continue to defend JoePa, McQueary, and the other administrators involved in this detestable web of lies are in dire need of replacement of their ethical and moral barometers.
The only person responsible for tarnishing JoePa's otherwise brilliant career was the guy staring back at him in the mirror each morning. I don't believe in hell, so I think JoePa got off easy, but if anyone deserved to go to hell for INACTION, JoePa will be there right along with his other PSU buddies.
The only way Penn State got to be such a football powerhouse was by sheltering and protecting a PEDOPHILE. Kill the program.
if paternos family wants to do the right thing, they should address the victims directly rather then trying to defend his honor - when he clearly doesnt deserve any respect from anyone dead or alive. its obvious, and has been since the beginning, that he helped cover this up. just sickening. he was a great coach and a despicable man.
As a current student of the university, I am appalled by the injustices exposed by this report. I am glad that these men are no longer in power.
But now I cannot help but wonder what all of this will mean for me and every other current student. I'm there for an education, not for football, as are so many others. (Yes, some were attracted to the school for its program, but unless you are an athlete that's just not what school is about.)
What happens now?
It's clear that these men put the health and welfare of the Penn State football program far above the health and welfare of the children Sandusky was sexually molesting. Wait until the Feds get involved as this filthy pervert shuttled these kids over state lines to perform these illegal acts. This guy will now, thankfully, never again see the outside of prison walls.
Please sign and share this petition:
petitions/pennsylvania-state-university-ensure-focus-on-education-and-prioritize-children-s-rights-and-safety#
Good luck getting that out of the delusional PSU fans who have denied every bit of evidence before them. Choke on it PSU fans who can't see the nose on their face. It's systemic....even within the fan base.
STUDENT OF PSU: There is nothing the students can do to change the minds of shallow thinking people who will hold this against you. Penn State is a good college and what these men did has no bearing on that. They are nothing but men, they are not the institution. You have to hold that true in your heart and be proud of yourself and your college. You don't carry the burden of what these men did and anyone who tries to put that burden on you needs to be ignored. Rise above that.
Intelligent people will be able to separate the institution from the actions of these men...and those who can't - aren't worth worrying about.
Bravo. I am so sick of seeing PSU Alumni and Students defending the University (especially Paterno) and its actions regarding this horrific scandal. By knowing about the molestation and not taking any steps to end the sexual assaults, the leaders of the University (Spainer, Paterno, Curley, etc.) allowed Sandusky to perform these heinous acts and provided an environment in which he was safe to continue. Claiming otherwise is absurd and shows a completely blind devotion to PSU.
Paterno's statue should be pulled down just like Saddam Hussein's statue was pulled down.
And yet, institutions protecting themselves goes on. Too bad Joe Pa is not alive to experience more shame and the annihilation of his reputation, although his guilt is probably what killed him.
Penn State - Football and Buttholes - That's all that matters to us! Go Nittany!
I wish more of the administration felt like this alum does. Too much denial in a such a grave matter, instead of owning up to the FACTS and moving forward from there.
I'd like to know why we're not seeing a similar report concerning the police officers and a victim's mother who knew about Sandusky showering with her boy in 1998, 3 years before the above incident. I'd like to know why the DA at the time didn't pursue it even though he knew. Hindsight is always 20/20, and it's easy to blame those who are in the spotlight and say they just didn't want to lose the spotlight. Again, where are those officers, that mother, and that DA, and why didn't that go anywhere?
Just a thought: Did it strike anyone else as strange that next to the University President and Financial officer, the Athletic Director and football coach are, or at least were, considered to be among the most powerful, if not THE most powerful figures at that institution OF HIGHER LEARNING?
Eliminate the Penn State football program.
The entire institution has proven that it considers its football program to be more important than the safety and welfare of children who were repeatedly molested and raped within its own halls. Everyone from the assistant coach up to the top administrators were willing to look the other way as long as the football team kept winning.
Cut the program. You're in college to learn, not to play football or to rape children in the showers.
Report finds Penn State president, Paterno concealed facts about Sandusky sexual abuse
That's NOTHING, someone concealed a District Attorney who investigated Sandusky so well they still haven't found him !!!
Penn State is a DISGRACE, and even more disgraceful for the fact that the last year was the second highest EVER for Alumni donations, despite this despicable scandal, a scandal that may well have a body count in addition to the ruined lives of Sandusky's victims .
A tuition hike for one, to pay for the lawsuits.
Funny how Paterno's son says that Joe knew nothing. Of course the Paterno family will deny his involvement, they want to protect the Paterno fortune from the lawsuits that will be coming. Paterno knew about it, and did nothing. They deserve to be sued.
The NCAA needs to cut Penn State from football.
The economic consequences of this scandal will scorch the butt of the Pennsylvania taxpayer. If the NCAA passes the "death sentence" similar to the one at SMU (even though this is far, far, far more serious) it will cost Penn State over $100 million that it simply cannot pay without either pulling it out of existing educational programs or going to the state. If the football program is dismantled permanently, the costs would be far more.
While there are currently only two lawsuits against Penn State (the two victims who did not testify at Sandusky's trial) there could be as many as a hundred more including one or more of Sandusky's adopted children. These suits could easily spiral into over a billion dollars in punitive and real damages. Already at least one Penn State official has been identified who was forced from her position as a part of the coverup --- more millions in a lawsuit that PSU will try to settle.
The problem here is that this is not just maintaining a slush fund to pay athletes like SMU. This is blatantly covering up the wanton destruction of innocent young men's lives. The first thing that can be done is the removal of tenure and pensions from Spanier, Curley and Schultz. The second is to throw the full force of the state of Pennsylvania into the prosecution of everyone involved. And finally, the statue of Joe Paterno should be melted down and sold as small medals to benefit victims of child abuse. The name of Joe Paterno should be expunged from all historical records of PSU and the NCAA, all Paterno's winning football games forfeit, and never again should the unregulated and unsupervised millions that flow through professional college football should be stopped completely.
NO FOOTBALL COACH IS WORTH THE MILLIONS THATR THEY ARE PAID. PERIOD. Every college and university with major sports programs has its own stories or rapes and beatings and racial incidents that are hushed up by the Athletic Department. Auburn's Cam Newton is functionally illiterate and fled his previous school ahead of charges of felony theft and we still pretend that they are "student athletes" who are only inb it for the degree. Maybe the NCAA needs to think about how to stop the money and how to make them student athletes again. A good step would be to require the repayment of all scholarships and expenses for any athlete who leaves for the NBA or NFL prior to successful graduation.
IF they are all found guilty, which according to the report, they are - then all should be forced or legally obligated to pay to the ones that were abused all that they have coming to them. Shame on those men for covering this up all these years, just so football did not get a black eye.....we have our priorities so screwed up....a football program and an "old fart' that would just not give it up - over the well being of a child...
These men need to punished to the full exent that they can be and we need to be totally assured that they will never work again in any sort of leadership postion....let them all rot in hell.
Paterno's family should be so ashamed that they would not show their faces again in Happy Valley...move out and let the scares heal without you and the legacy of the "old fart' that put his pride and football ahead of his morals.
Steve - no kidding. I can see at first wanting to make sure the facts are in, but they are here and yet people keep on defending him. Well guess what, It is time to face the facts. Yeah he was a good football coach and maybe an decent guy otherwise but his moral character failed when he needed it most and he knew better, therefore he, or rather his family and legacy have to live with that. I will admit when this first broke I was more upset that the media was playing the legends fall card instead of focusing on the real problem of the case (sicko Sandusky raping and molesting kids) at hand but I will say I'm glad this is out there now and everyone should be aware of what happened.
These men I don't think deserve to fry or anything but they all need fired, as do some other higher ups and should face several years of prison time and fines for the cover up. The school and specifically the football program should also receive major punishment which I think needs to include suspension for a few seasons and fines as well as loss of accreditation and other monies for x amount of time (most of which coming from the athletic program and budget). Sorry for the players who get screwed by that but this is what happens when things like this go unreported (if you are still signing onto play for this school, at least football, you need to really think hard and maybe have some one slap some sense into you). Had those men done the right thing this could've been avoided but they didn't so everyone can only blame them. There is no way this can go unpunished. As for Sandusky, take that POS outback and put a bullet in him. Cleanse society now and be done with it. He deserves worse but that will have to do so we don't stoop to his level.
I think that this report is unfair to Paterno. Paterno did not have the authority to investigate anything or to ban Sandusky from the Penn State facilities. The allegations against Sandusky did not come to light until after he was no longer part of Paterno's coaching staff. At that point it was up to the Athletic Director, not Paterno, to take action to ban Sandusky from Penn State facilities. Paterno was also not in a position to alert anyone about Sandusky. Without the evidence that an investigation would have uncovered, Paterno could have found himself being sued by Sandusky for slander if he started warning people on the Penn State staff about Sandusky without having proof to back up the statements. I think that this statement pretty well sums up the position Paterno was in:
Paterno did what he was supposed to do and reported the information he was given by McQueary to his superiors for them to conduct an investigation. I do not know how Paterno could could be accused of covering up any evidence when he did not actually witness the event. If anyone is guilty of this it would be McQueary who was the actual witness. If people did not know what "horsing around" meant McQueary was the only one that could provide details on what he observed.
Paterno is a good target for everyone because he was the head football coach and is the most well known name associated with this case, but that does not mean that Paterno did anything wrong. He followed the procedures put in place by the university to address the accusations made by McQueary. There has been no evidence presented in any e-mails or anything else to show that Paterno tried to cover this up or encouraged his superiors to not investigate. In fact, the only evidence that has come out shows that he did in fact refer the matter to the Athletic Director, University Police Chief, and University President for them to investigate and take appropriate action. These were the people that failed to take appropriate action to stop Sandusky and see to it that he was prosecuted for his actions. Paterno had no authority to do anything to Sandusky since he was no longer part of Paterno's staff when all of this occurred. It was up the Curley and Spanier to ban Sandusky from Penn State facilities, Paterno had no authority to do this. I think that people are unfairly going after Paterno, particularly since he is no longer around to defend himself and his actions. Criticizing Paterno for not going to child welfare about the accusations is absurd. Child welfare would not have acted based on hearsay from Paterno. McQueary was the only one that witnessed the incident, so if anyone is at fault for not reporting it the child welfare it is McQueary. Without hearing directly from McQueary about what he witnessed, child services would not have done anything. I will be very interested to read what is in this report coming out about what actions Freeh thinks that Paterno took that were wrong. For Freeh to be slinging mud at a man who is not around to defend himself is wrong and unless he has some proof of inappropriate actions by Paterno he should be prepared for a suit from Paterno's family for his statements impugning Paterno's character. It is pretty obvious that Curley, Spanier, Schultz, and probably McQueary are guilty of not doing what was required of them, but I have yet to see any evidence of wrongdoing by Paterno. I am also puzzled that, from what is in this article, that Freeh has not faulted the University Police Chief in any of this. He was made aware of the accusations by McQueary and as a law enforcement officer should have been the one to take the lead in any investigation.
You are an idiot for trying to get Paterno out of this. The man was a god at that school and he is one of the reasons all the money kept coming in. Why do you think they let the "old fart' keep his job? If you think for one second he was not consulted or totally involved than you are a total fool !!!!!
Corbett was a trustee a board member and attorney general at the time i want to know what he knew and when. This is a top state law official lets hear the truth and then we know hen to point. We dont want Corbetts account we want proven facts emails, minutes of meetings, and documents. A grand jury would be good investigating his involvment.If he was a Democrat they would be on it like a cheap suit.
I'd like to know how high this coverup goes. The DA who originally investigated Sandusky disappeared, never to be found. The only thing investigators were able to uncover was his computer, minus the hard drive. We all know Sandusky is too stupid to make someone disappear forever, so again I ask, how high up does this go?
" we are" in denial
As a mother, I would like to see all those involved horsewhipped in the public square.
To the students who are bemoaning what is to happen to them, kids, this is not about you. That is just plain selfish talking to even begin to ask...what happens to me.
Time to end the coddling of these monsters and the people who protect them.
JoePa deserved jail.... he turned away from decades of heinous child abuse....
all the JoePa groupies come on and talk about what a great guy he was blah blah blah....
He conspired to conceal a decades long, gross sexual abuse of children for his personal gain.
Screw JoePa.... I hope he rots in hell.
of ABUSE!
I absolutely agree, and anyone who believes otherwise are ignorant to the facts presented to them.
Is it just me or does it seems that we are being lied to about everything by everybody...that in any way constitute the "elite?"
peter jacobs- what an overly dramatic post! i didn't know a pedophile brought down ancient rome. it's tragic, but lets find out where people messed up and fix it. i think america can survive and move forward.
All people that knew about the "shower incident" should be held accountable for every single little boy Sandusky molested after him. They are just as guilty. I will never understand how they could look the other way nor how JoePa could work with this man everyday knowing what he did. Even if they wanted to protect the football program why didn't they fire his arse and not let him use Penn State football games as bait for his victims?
Will those Paterno children just give up. I believe that they gave their father bad advice resulting in that disgusting arrogant speech JoPa gave before his dismissal. He should have been more contrite, admitted that he had a moral failure and resigned immediately. Instead the communications coming from him sounded like lawyer speak. I would suggest the tremendous guilt he felt hastened his death.
The fact that JoPa was going to dictate the terms of his retirement, play out the season. And the attempt to separate football from the reality of the situation when he disgustingly said don't give it a minutes thought. Goes to show how corrupt the web that JoPa was ensnared in and if only one honest man stood up to advise him, he could have repented cleanly instead they clung to his fame. Ironically his fame is now crumbled but would have been saved if only he admitted his short comings and failures. If there is one thing Americans know, is no one is perfect but a honest man in the face of despair is rare.
Did you actually READ this article? It's LITERALLY showing that Paterno and his cronies concealed truths and did nothing to protect innocent children. Worse yet, their actions continued to enable Sandusky to perform his atrocious acts. They protected the molestor, not the victims; they shielded the program, not the children. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND.
Waw, When he knew, he started the investigation. The case was brought, as it should have been, to the local DA-who passed it on to the AG, Corbett, because he had a personal relationship. There was very little to go on then-only one kid in the original report when Corbett was AG. They had to go back to the past case, long before he was AG, which didn't have enough info for even a grand jury investigation then.
Corbett could not say anything because it would have been illegal for him to do so. For the sake of the investigation, it is illegal to comment on grand jury investigations.
However, seeing that Sandusky was found guilty of 45 charges-I think they did a good job. Yes, it took a while-but it is not as though all of the victims were in the same place shouting their stories. Reseach had to be done to find them, verify their story, make sure they were credible. Look at what the defense tried to pull in discrediting them. Having an air tight case-especially with a psudo celebrity/wealthy person is key. We have seen so many get off.
There is a huge difference beterrn paterno and others not going to the police and corbett not saying anything because it would be illegal and hurt the investigation-which turned out to be a very solid investigation proving guilty verdicts on 45 charges. The investgation for those kind of results/grand jury indictments does not happen as fast as we wish.
The second it was legal for him to do so-when the indictments came out-the led the charge to fire paterno.
I invite you to look at my past posts. I am a liberal and do not have a lot of reason to defend Corbett politically. However-he definately got this one right. Rich guy going to jail for the rest of his life on victim testimony alone. Job well done.
It is a shame Paterno did not live long enough to see his statue taken down and really experice the shame he should have.
His family needs to stop defending him and start working to help the victims.
In Mr. Paterno's defense: I worked as an assistant for the marching band program at the high school level and was told upon hire that there was a chain of command to follow for any problem that might arise and that I was ALWAYS and WITHOUT FAIL to follow it. It sounds to me that in this case Mr. Paterno was doing just that. HE FOLLOWED THE CHAIN OF COMMAND and now God rest his soul it's coming back to BITE HIM IN THE BACKSIDE!
OF COURSE JOE KNEW AND ALL THE OTHERS! Sandusky needs a shower date with a jagged-edged, rusted pipe and a dull straight razor. HE IS AN ANIMAL! THIS IS HORRIBLE AND THE MORE I HEAR AND READ MAKES ME SICK! *(&$#! Penn State and I agree, destroy that dam statue of Joe! There is no respoect, honor or anything good about this tragedy! I wish them all to hell...well Joe is there and Sadusky is soon to follow. THe families of these men should be so enraged and remorseful!
Is he Catholic, or is it too soon, he is criminally and civilly responsible, once you become aware of an individual engaged in a ongoing crime, to withdraw you have to take the step necessary to stop future crimes. He and the many popes are in the same boat.
those kids asked for it, prancing around in their under roos...
seriously tho, very disappointed in paterno. I expect a cover up from some admin.
Not that it will solve any problem meaningfully - but at least symbolically, when can we take down the Paterno statue and rename the library? I am embarassed to say that I am embarrassed enough to have taken out the PSU decal and the lion paws from my car - wasn't pleasant one bit.
Wait.. wait.. Okay so he knew that an investigation started and he was supposed to do something? Like what? This is ridiculous. He didn't see it happen, he reported it, an investigation was happening, they report that he followed that investigation closely, that investigation found the allegations to be false (even if they were true) and some how paterno was supposed to do something? The guy wasn't under him. He had no control over the guy when it happened. I think the issue isn't paterno but reather those that conducted the initial investigation. Paterno is being used as a patsy. Nothing more, nothing less.
JS - I disagree, the first responsibility is to protect the child, Period! That doesn't require anything but common sense and action. Anyone who sits back when they are aware of such abuse and doesnt rush to the aid of the child is guilty, PERIOD.
No sense of urgency to protect the victims at all, just narcissism.
We are State Pen!
For those of you defending Paterno, did you actually read this report? They're saying that the Curley and Schultz had discussed this after hearing from McQuery and had decided to report it to social services, etc. THEN, one of them talked to Paterno and the next day told the other that based on that conversation, he didn't feel comfortable going along with their original plan. They jointly decided to take what they called the more "humane" route and talk to Sandusky about it and took a wait and see approach. It is obvious from these facts that Paterno had a great deal of influence in talking them out of reporting this to outside authorities. Note that McQuery reports that he told them it was more than just horsing around. Of course, they aren't going to admit that is what they were told, that would just make their actions worse.
If you think about it rationally, don't you think Paterno told his wife and children to make sure their grandchildren are not exposed to this destroyer? I'm betting he protected his family and friends from Sandusky but did not even try to prevent further destruction away from the football program. Every action was to protect a football program and himself. JoPa's wife should come completely clean for her sake and JoPa's. I'm sure he laid awake at night struggling to know what to do, what was right. Unfortunately he determined the FB program was so important that it could not be tarnished at all cost thus the culture of corruption. Hopefully someone a lot smarter than myself will study this football phenomenon and explain why it can become bigger than the safety of children.
don't get me wrong,what happened at state is sickening, but where were all of you when word came out about the pedifiles in the cathlic church? i didn't hear you wanting to shut the churchs down,and there were a lot more victims there than at penn state!
To everyone saying chain of command, higher ups, ect. It does not matter. Anyone of these men could've done the right thing and gone to the police and reported this. No different than you or I. They didn't. They let the protect the university and good ol boys club mantra come first. Had they done the right thing back then Penn State would've gotten a black eye at best and would've got over it rather easy. Instead they covered up and now Penn State has gotten a black eye and them some, and is likely (better be) pending a full on beat down. While at the same time all these men have had their reputations tarnished and/or destroyed. Everything that has resulted from this has been much worse than it would've been had they done the right thing from the start (specifically including the additional kids that were hurt and still hurting from what that sick F*** Sandusky did), something they had the power to do all along regardless. And don't say Paterno had no pull or was just falling in line. The head coach has a lot of pull and he was far enough up the chain that he could've done something about it. Like I said before these guys failed everyone and its time for the university, fans , these men and others who likely knew something to face the facts and fallout from it.
NCAA big boy sports are all corrupt. Corrupted by money. This "look the other way club" that allows student athletes to be virtually developmentally challenged and still be admitted to universities has taken it's toll but there is more to come. Many Universities have had athletes get arrested for property and drug crimes and violent crimes from sexual assault to shootings. Universities have had academic cheating among it's athletes where they were assisted by athletic Dept staff in an effort to keep them qualified to play. Booster money illegally given to the students. Now we have pedophilia. The next step is covering up murder. And this may already have been done. You have athletic coaches making millions per year and their main management talent is how to keep their criminal students from being arrested, how to keep their stupid students academically elegible, and how to cover up the many embarrassing acts the staff and students are committing each year. Once they get that under control they can try a little coaching. It's time to break up the old boy club and send these people packing.
I'm a guy that sees the world in black and white. I don't see gray in anything. Either you did a thing or you didn't do a thing. Other accomplishments don't balance a scale of good and evil over other deeds. Every deed is separate. When it comes to Paterno and whether he was involved in a cover up of Jerry Sandusky I could care less about how many wins he has under his belt, titles he has, how important he held academic courses before football for his players, or that he gave Penn State a brand name and wealth through his football legacy. If he got himself involved in a cover up and gave orders to conceal the Sandusky case, he is a terrible, awful, and evil person. Even if in his mind he could somehow justify a cover up and he doesn't understand why it's terrible, awful, and evil to cover up this scandal just to protect the image of a school. I believe it to be unforgivable.
I am fully prepared to condemn Paterno if a smoking gun ever comes along to prove his guilt. However, I have seen no evidence that he participated or gave orders to cover up anything. In this entire report, all we have are two emails that indirectly mentioned Joe. If the emails are true all we learned is that Joe was informed of the 1998 incident in 2001, which had a full investigation and went to the District Attorney, who decided not to file a case. Why? No idea, but no cover up evidence against Penn State that I can see has been established. The police and the DA had this case and decided not to pursue with charges.
Now the 2001 incident I have to say was a cover up but we can't group four people into one guilty person. Each person has to be found guilty on the evidence presented. Gary Shultz, head of the police department did cover up this incident. He decided to break his sworn duty to file a report and investigation or report to child welfare what had occurred. As explained in the Grand Jury report with his position comes a sworn duty to do these things within 48 hours and he never did. These emails between Spanier and Shultz show that they discussed it and concluded they would not pursue an investigation because it would look bad for the school. I'm not sure what Curley's involvement is in a cover up or what his duties as Athletic Director require him to do legally. Same with Paterno, Paterno reported this to his superior, who is Curley, then they both reported this to Shultz who is head of the campus police department. Shultz and Spanier seem to have conspired to cover this up. Shultz had a sworn duty to uphold the law and Spanier was his boss and on board in keeping this hushed. To me this evidence is a smoking gun that Shultz and Spanier were involved in a cover up. Curley was involved in some of the emails but doesn't seem to be as informed or in the loop of any cover up or actively participating. Joe isn't involved in any of the emails but is mentioned vaguely by Shultz that "after talking to Joe" I've decided not to report this. What exactly did Shultz talk to Joe about? Could it be Joe demanding a cover up? Maybe. Could it be Shultz going over with Joe one more time about Joe's knowledge of what happened that night and Joe saying he doesn't know anything, only what McQueary told him (which was McQueary catching Sandusky in a shower with a boy and according to McQueary he didn't give Paterno detail infomation about the sexual nature)? Maybe. Could it be anything relating from a cover up or just a check up with Joe to see what he knew? Maybe.
I wait for evidence to come along to show Paterno's guilt but I haven't found it yet. If that happens I have no problem condemning Paterno like the mob here is doing under speculation alone or a "feeling" they just have. Me, I'm still waiting for that day which hasn't come yet. I personally feel like it won't come because I see a man who was indirectly involved, was approached by a witness about something that was way over his head and Joe reported this incident to his superiors and the head of police department, Gary Shultz. That is where he left this and trusted them to use their jurisdiction, judgement, and experience to investigate this crime. Those are my thoughts and I think they are pretty sane.
Just so everyone knows --- there is a Clery Act that REQUIRES every employee or faculty member in any college or university to report any suspicion of child abuse or other crimes on campus to the police and in public logs and records. Here is a link to the Clery Act on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clery_Act
This will certainly result in huge fines and sanctions against PSU (just as it did, for example with Virginia Tech) and could result in PSU losing all federal money and all federal financial student aid. The breaking of the Clery Act was specifically noted the full report.
This is NOT a chain of command issue. Period. Paterno had an individual responsibility to report it directly under the Clery Act and PSU had specific obligations to record and make public the accusations and incidents it knew of. The feds are already investigating the Clery Act violations.
The NCAA just announced that it was investigating the issues.
You have to remember that SMU gor a five-year death penalty from the NCAA for maintaining a slush fund to pay its semi-pro "student" athletes. Whatever happens with PSU will have to be proportionally worse. The smart thing would be for the PSU to dismantle the football program permanently and focus their sports interests elsewhere, but I doube that they can afford the costs --- well over $100 million and counting.
@comeonreally,
YOU NEED TO GO READ THE FULL REPORT BEFRORE COMMENTING.
Chris, I didn't disagree with anything you said. I'm talking about who is guilty and you're talking about what should be done to the football program.
What do I have to read, what am I missing? I'm open to being informed and I seek the truth.
And somewhere in sunny Florida Bobby Bowden smiles...
For anyone still questioning Paterno's guilt, just read the report. It's black and white.
@comeon,
The full PDF is online and available. It will take a while to read it, but it is time well spent if you have any real interest in the subject. Especially interesting are the Clery Act violations and the fact that the investigators were cooperating with the NCAA. People are still trying to digest the full report because the accusations are so specific. The report basically states that Spanier, Culey, Schultz, AND Paterno knew about Sandusky for 14 years and did nothing. Its most damning accusation is that while these people sought to be "humane" to Sandusky, they did absolutely nothing to identify the victims, stop Sandusky or comply with existing federal, state, and local law and were alowing Sandusky to continue his on-campus rapes of children until November 2011.
That's pretty aggressive stuff and it is only the investigation that PSU commissioned ---- more fact-finding that a prosecutorial investigation.
JS in SD: So your argument is that same as if I personally know that your child is being violated, humiliated, and molested by some pervert, and I call the authorities... but yet they don't do anything... then I should look at it like, "hey I did my part". That's a pretty generic way of passing the buck. It's amazing to me how blind some people are that even after a non biased report condemning Paterno, there are still a handful that try to justify him turning his head to some little boy being raped in his shower room.
Yes, the report groups four people into one person. There is no reason why Paterno should be grouped with the deeds of Shultz and Spanier to actively cover this up.
If you feel that's okay to group four people together, you should be glad Mike McQueary didn't tell you what he witnessed and you didn't report this to the head of the police, Gary Shultz. Because when Gary Shultz decided not to report or lead an investigation then you would be the fifth person labelled as a conspirator according to this investigator.
Raze the campus and salt the earth. Throw the living accessories in jail beside Sandusky. Then dig up Paterno and piss on his coffin. Nothing is too harsh for these jackasses.
A couple things:
1. come on, really?, you obviously did not read the report. The amount of evidence against JoePa is substantial. This is damning to his credibility and his future defense in civil court, and if he were alive today he would be behind bars for perjuring himself and violating the Clery Act. We have actual proof now that he knew about and was extensively following the 98 investigation. That right there proves he was lying when he told the Grand Jury that he had no knowledge of any prior incidents.
2. Iwastheassistant, chain of command has no standing here. The Nuremberg Trials made it perfectly clear to everyone in the world that chain of command NEVER takes precedence over basic human rights. If the chain of command of a nation's military does not supersede basic human rights, then no chain of command could either.
3. Jim Lahman, then you have not been paying attention. Many people wanted the doors to those churches closed after the scandal broke. In both these situations, some of the people associated with the institutions are in denial and stick by their institution. The only difference is that there are MANY more people in bed with the church than there are with PSU. Don't sit there and claim that no one was against the church when you never even put in the time to look for those people.
4. Saying that the PSU football team should not be punished because they didn't have anything to do with it is not a valid argument. Name me one time that a punishment has not hurt innocent people. When you send a man to jail, you are taking away a family's loved one/provider. When you ground your child, your child's friends now can't play with him. When you institute sanctions against a country, their citizens run out of food/medicine/money/supplies. There is absolutely no way to punish PSU without punishing the players. Are you really saying that we shouldn't send the message that a football program is not more important than protecting children because a few 20 year olds can't play football?
5. This goes to anyone still defending Joe Paterno: We know that he:
What more do you need? What evidence could POSSIBLY come forward and justify this?
As a Michigan Alumnus, I want PSU out of the B1G. This entire situation came about because people put football ahead of everything else. If the PSU community can't keep their football team in check, then they don't deserve to have one.
As true as everything Freeh says may be, I say so what? Tell me the FIB under Freeh, and other directors, hasn't also lied and obfuscated to protect its own, at the expense of the innocent.
Also, an interesting distinction on the NCAA's part here. I wonder if this will also apply to PSU?
"Despite the NCAA's apparent wariness about imposing a death penalty, it has indicated that the SMU case is its standard for imposing such an extreme sanction. For example, in its 2005 investigation of Baylor Bears men's basketball, the NCAA determined that the Bears had committed violations as egregious as those found at SMU 18 years earlier. However, it praised Baylor for taking swift corrective action once the violations came to light, including forcing out head coach Dave Bliss. According to the NCAA, this stood in marked contrast to SMU, where school officials knew violations had occurred and did nothing.[20]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penalty_(NCAA)
come on, really?
You know what I would do in that situation? I'd ask Schultz why Sandusky had not been arrested yet. I'd ask him why I hadn't been contacted by the police about providing a witness statement. And when I finally figured out that he had never really looked into it, I'd have punched him in the face and went to the police myself. Of course, I would have gone to more than just campus police myself.
@madd-dawg,
Good post. And the most damning thing is that in 14 years, Paterno, Spanier, Schultz and Curley NEVER ONCE tried to identify the victims or to inquire as to their welfare. In fact, quite the opposite, they alerted Sandusky and actually put every single one of his victims at risk. With all that was at stake, Sandusky could well have used the alerts from the Big Four to kill every one of his victims instead of trying to intimidate them as came out in the trial.
The Big Four valued the football program more than the very lives of innocent victims. Has one been killed by Sandusky as a result they would be facing charges of manslaughter.
i READ the report, and Joe Paterno's words were the same words that he told the grand jury back in 2011. McQueary gave graphic details to Joe, however Joe did not give graphic details to Spanier, Curley, and Schultz, but he gave enough details for them to know what "horsing around in the showers" with 11 year old kids meant. Joe PA shouldn't have had to explicitly spell it out to grown men. I mean at that point Moe, Larry, and Curley decided that they weren't going to do anything. As they repeatedly did in the report. Although Penn State the SCHOOL should face all the litigation that the law allows (for the failure of the senior execs of the school to see this through) I see no Joe Paterno cover-up nor how the football program benefitted from this,so why should it receive the death penalty. You guys should re-read the REPORT and think critically about where reputation ends and where real power begins. If you work for a major corporation, use them for example - I'm sure there are folks at your job that you felt held sway one day and the next day there @sses are being carted out the door for exceeding the limits of their reputational authority. Obviously Joe Paterno's reputation greatly exceeded his power and this is why you guys want to bury him (no pun intended), but its the same reason why he couldn't warn others about Sandusky in 1998 because Seasock said it wasn't a crime - JVP would have just gotten the pants sued off of him...Just my thoughts
come on, really?
You are being unbelievably obtuse trying to manipulate the evidence to save Paterno's rep.... it's akin to Hitler's guys saying 'I was simply following orders"
Paterno had a moral duty and an obligation under federal, state, and local law to immediately report the incident and all facts he knew about it and Sandusky and to respond to investigators fully and truthfully in every way. There is no excuse that he didn't actively cover it up. His refusal to ensure that law enforcement was notified of the complete facts so they could investigate is a cover up.
He was the final authority in the football program, and while under his management, a capital felony was committed in the football facility and reported to him. Also, you can be sure for every report we know about there were 5 other suspicions, rumors, innuendo etc....
In spite of that report, his story is that he simply passed it up the line.
Reality is, Paterno:
- when faced with the reality that no law enforcement action was taking place, simply said nothing, and allowed Sandusky to continue in the program, bring kids to the facility, on trips with the team, etc. and act as he always had for over a decade
- through that inaction was guilty of conspiracy and accessory after the fact at a minimum
- simply didn't want to expose the football program to scandal, and by letting the report die, he actually profited from the sexual abuse of children
I wish Paterno was alive today to take the scathing legal and public heat he should be taking.
arrowmg, looking at your statement, even you agree JoePa is guilty. You said "McQueary gave graphic details to Joe, however Joe did not give graphic details to Spanier, Curley, and Schultz". That right there is a violation of the Clery Act. By not going to CPS or other federal/state level investigators with this information, he violated the Clery Act.
Joe Paterno was obviously not a good person. He may have been a football icon, but there are much more important priorities in life and stances that need to be taken in life. He had many opportunities to do the right thing and be a standup guy, but didn't. Instead he was an enabler to one of the worst kind of criminals.
I LOVE football, but anyone sticking up for Paterno has really got their priorities screwed up. What was Joe's stance or opinion of child abuse? I think he belongs in the Hall of Shame, not the hall of Fame!
I was never a fan of PSU, but I was always under the impression that he ran a class program and so did many others. I feel bad for the kids that choose PSU over many other programs for that very reason. Wow were we wrong. I think the NCAA should allow any PSU player to transfer to another program this year, without having to sit out for a year.
And most of all, I feel sorry for the people that were abused and their families. Thank goodness, they had the Courage to come forward!
And lastly, how about the district attorney, who somehow decided not to indict Sandusky and then went missing? How far reaching and evil is this mess?
You know what scares me that no one is talking about? This is all information that was found without subpoena power. This was commissioned by PSU and people were free to refuse to talk to the investigators. If they were willing to release this kind of information to investigators, imagine what kind of information will come forth when court orders start being sent to these people...
If anyone wants to follow a developing scandal and see how it plays out ---- right now Nick Saban, head coach at Alabama, is being accused of trying to hush up felony assault charges against his daughter, Kristen. (Googler Kristen Saban for details.) There are already accusations of Clery Act violations because the school, specifically the Dean of Students knew of the incident and did not properly report it. This one could cost the University of Alabama a huge amount of money.
It hasn't been but a couple of months ago that some players were "horsing around" (remember that phrase from Spanier?) and throwing the crystal BCS trophy to each other. Rule 86 -- Never throw a BCS trohpy to a lineman. Short story, lineman fumbles $30,000 trophy and it is smashed into a kazillion pieces. Quickly the football staff contacts a father of one of the players who lives nearby who comes in and says that he tripped over a piece of loose carpet and accidentally broke it. No one on campus believes that it was anything except a coverup of an embarrassment.
Half the job of a football coach is coverups of the activities of its testosterone-poisoned academically unprepared professional football players.
No surprise here. A lot of s**t gets swept under the rug to protect players, teams, and organizations at all levels from little league to the pros. Having a "winning" team supercedes everything....laws, morals, scruples, ethics......
I am certainly not defending JoPa, and I never will. However, I do find it awfully convenient that the dead guy is getting a crazy amount of heat right now, when there are PLENTY more GUILTY folks from upper-level positions that are still alive. No one seems to be looking much higher than the PSU Football program for the guilty parties, when it is evident the coverup reaches well beyond PSU and into state politics. If these people can find a way to keep a dead guy in the hot seat, they will be able to avoid it altogether. I'm aware that JoPa was guilty, but there's nothing we can do about him now, he's gone. Let's all move on and work on the punishments for the people still with us, many of them still holding down their fancy jobs at PSU.
In the interests of accuracy --- the Virginia Tech Clery Act fines were reversed in March in the courts. The court stated that it was "reasonable" for VT administration to wait over two hours to notify students that a crazed killer was loose on campus.
there's nobody in the University more culpable than 'JoPa'... he was the top guy in the program and it happened on his watch in his facility and he was the guy who needed to ensure an investigation took place.... it didn't ... and he profited from covering it up for over a decade...
actually what 'JoPa' (juvenile pet name) deserves is a beating.... but he got the easy way out with cancer.... I hope he's rotting in hell as he should be
As a lifelong rabid Penn State fan and "former" Joe Paterno worshipper, I must now disclose my outright hatred for a man I once considered a hero and idol. As they say..."the cat is out of the bag" and all doubt of JoePa's involvement (or lack thereof) should be very clear to ALL. Joe Paterno's name...statue, and all other relics should be removed from the University asap. The talk of naming Beaver Stadium after this despicable disgrace of a human being should cease and never be considered again. Paterno's family should save themselves the hypocrisy and embarrassment of making any more statements in his defense. I personally have never been more disappointed in any human being in my 54 years on this earth! As for those advocating the NCAA Death Penalty for the PSU Football program...I say to you...why should these fine young men have to pay this steep price for the heinous lies and deception brought forth by these so called leaders. Most of these young athletes were in the early stages of elementary school when these acts took place...they have no stake in this debate. Let the NCAA levy fines against the University and donate the money toward the education and eradication of pedophilia...and to the recovery of all the innocent victims. My beef is with Joe Paterno, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, and all the others who knew and covered up this terrible crime in the name of preserving what appeared to be a pristine image.
Joe Paterno was obviously not a good person. He may have been a football icon, but there are much more important priorities in life and stances that need to be taken in. He had many opportunities to do the right thing and be a standup guy, but didn't. Instead he was an enabler to one of the worst kind of criminals.
I LOVE football, but anyone sticking up for Paterno has really got their priorities screwed up. And what the heck was Joe's stance on or real opinion of child abuse? I think he belongs in the Hall of Shame - Not the Hall of Fame!
I was never a fan of PSU, but I was always under the impression that he ran a class program and so did many others. I feel bad for the kids that choose PSU over many other programs for that very reason. Wow were we wrong. I think the NCAA should allow any PSU player to transfer to another program this year, without having to sit out for a year.
And most of all, I feel sorry for the people that were abused and their families. Thank goodness, some of them had the Courage to come forward!
And lastly, how about that district attorney, who somehow decided not to indict Sandusky and then went missing? How far reaching and evil is this mess?
Iwastheassistant @ 1.41
"l and was told upon hire that there was a chain of command to follow for any problem that might arise and that I was ALWAYS and WITHOUT FAIL to follow it. It sounds to me that in this case Mr. Paterno was doing just that. HE FOLLOWED THE CHAIN OF COMMAND "
If you think that the athletic director or even the university president was more powerful than Paterno, then you are delusional. I guarantee that if either of those 2 individuals had gone against Paterno's wishes, either explicit or implicit, they would have been looking for a new job in very short order. That does not forgive their inaction but it is abundantly clear that this entire coverup is rooted in Paterno's desire that nothing be done that might hurt the football program and that that program was more important than the lives of the children that were being molested.
I say death penalty for the PSU football program for a minimum of 10 years.
"Some roaches, administrators and football program staff members ignored the red flags of Sandusky's behaviors and no one warned the public about him."
Fixed it!
Jim Lahman, you must have missed that thread, Honey.
.....and the statement from Joe's family was brought to you by the letters "B" and "S".
Mucker87 @ 1.78
"As for those advocating the NCAA Death Penalty for the PSU Football program...I say to you...why should these fine young men have to pay this steep price for the heinous lies and deception brought forth by these so called leaders"
As long as they were not involved in the matter in any way (and it's highly unlikely that any current players were) then they would be free to transfer to any school where they meet the academic criteria with IMMEDIATE eligibility if they follow the precedent set in the SMU case.
The state, the school, the alumni and the students are all responsible for allowing the pride and arrogance of one man to create a culture where the football program was more important than kids who were the same age as those current players were. Any penalty short of the death penalty will simply tell other programs where that same kind of culture exists (and it does) that they do not need to change their ways.
Money has corrupted big time college athletics as much as it has corrupted politics.
It's time to do something to change that and this is a place to start.
I've noticed some people said they thought Paterno died of guilt; if he felt guilty he probably would have done something about it. He may have died of shame though. The difference between guilt and shame is that you can feel guilt when nobody knows what you did, but shame comes when everybody knows about it.
I think he died of cancer.
A total loss of institutional control results in the Death Penalty in NCAA athletics.
Let's hope the NCAA imposes a ban for at least 2 years on the football program. No scholarships, no T.V., no participation in post season.
I think a two (2) year ban would force the University to become transparent and a better University than many others. Hopefully Penn State can grow from this and start a whole new era of transparency in College Football. The victims should be honored by Penn State, the victims didn't do anything wrong. Penn State owes it to the victims to donate money every year to victims of child abuse and groups involved in rehabilitating victims of child abuse.
K. Snider - just 3 words to you: Bravo, well said!
i said this at the outset. your beloved Joe Paterno was as guilty as Sandusky for covering this up and all the alumni screamed that he could have NEVER done such a thing. he was such a kind, caring man. BULL@!$%#!
every one of those men should be sitting in jail right next to Sandusky. how horrible to put a SPORT before the lives and mental well being of young boys. just goes to show how corrupt this country is.
If there is one thing to learn from this it is Paterno was wrong. People that are defending him should know that society is telling you he was wrong. So fortunately for you, you can correct your thinking. If you know someone that has committed a crime and nothing has been done then go to the press, go to the FBI. Go to the highest mountain and shout to protect your neighbors. If nothing has been done then you can bet there is some kind of conspiracy. JoPa had so much information he knew what was going on. He saw this guy not be arrested so he knew there was a conspiracy as simple as that. I say he was part of the conspiracy but for you JoPa lovers let's just say he did nothing which is wrong in itself.
oldhamletman & madd dawg17
In no way do I care about Joe Paterno's reputation. I can attach to something just as fast as letting it go so in no way am I some crazed fan. Could Joe have done more?? Absolutely -Clery act or no Clery act as a man you instinctively want to do more. I just dont know from reading the report whether Joe was doing the covering-up. Maybe it's too sinister of a word for me as I envision a cover-up as active involvement in sweeping something under the rug, which surely describes Spanier, Curley, and Schultz as they repeatedly come up in the report. Joe was certainly indifferent after he did what he believed to be the minimum reporting requirement or in other words he seems to have thrown his hands up in the air as to say "he didnt want to deal with it" and gave it to the executives of the school thats my point. Its a heinous crime so I understand the outrage I really do, but I really think that outside of football related issues Joe Paterno may have had influence but had no real real power when it came to prosecuting criminals.
I am torn about the "death penalty" for the football team. At first, I was all for it-however-if everyone who knew is removed-meaning fired and hopefully in jail-the only ones being punished by killing the program are those who were not involved. That does not seem like justice.
Students who worked hard to get a scholarship to play there do not deserve to be hurt. Neither do the vast majority of staff-professors, janitors, administrators not involved...
Yes, it would be a great statement to see the football program that all fought to protect "killed," and any reference in honor of Paterno needs to be removed as soon as possible, but making a statement to tick off a dead guy and administrators who are going to jail seems expensive if it is on the backs of the innocent.
The kid who worked his whole life to get good grades and play football at Penn State does not deserve to lose it all. Let's put an end to the innocent victims of Paterno and other's evil.
I was born in Pennsylvania and grew up thinking that Penn State and Paterno were the best of the best. It is unfortunate that the folks in power at Penn State cared more about the football program and some pedophile coach than the poor kids being abused. Didn't they think about the repercussions should this come out? The football program at Penn State will never recover. I don't know what the punishment should be but there should be a severe one.
This sad tale reflects the ongoing erosion of our values over the past few decades. Those in power were solicitous and concerned about the rights of the perpetrator but unconcerned about the helpless victims, about the effects of this psychological and physical brutality on the victims and even about the very identity of the victims. They simply didn't care about the children.
This is an 180 degree reversal of the values that animated America society for most of its existence. In the past the rights and condition of the victims would have been preeminent , the concern would have been for them not the monster that attacked them ---- but not anymore. This kind of debasement of our culture and our timeworn values is leading us down the path to dissolution and disaster.
kimH-1330542
The sad truth of it is this Kim. Penn State is having one of their best recruiting seasons in years- top 10 in some scouting services. The new coaching staff is telling kids that they have moved on. The staff is selling the line that all the old regime is gone... well almost all of them (two of Paterno's old staff still remain).
Sad as it may be, nothing has changed. Football still rules and everyone involved with Penn State is trying to sell the line "we had nothing to do with this"
kingcabo - You're probably right. I hope some good comes out of this. Unfortunately, star athletes and winning teams get away with murder, literally and figuratively.
Oh get real! You honestly think they'll shut down the football program at Penn St? We're talking about sports here! Money, attention, glory of the win... etc. No, it'll beback in force this fall, mark my words.
Iwastheassistant
I realize Joe was just the coach.
Anyone that really believes that doesn't know anything about Penn State.
Joe was the top of the chain. Joe had more power and authority than the AD and School Prez combined.
Jed7,
"For those of you defending Paterno, did you actually read this report? They're saying that the Curley and Schultz had discussed this after hearing from McQuery and had decided to report it to social services, etc. THEN, one of them talked to Paterno and the next day told the other that based on that conversation, he didn't feel comfortable going along with their original plan."
I haven't had time to read this report. Does is include more detail on that conversation, and/or why he was not comfortable?
Thanks.
Ok--- Paterno is dead. Forget about him. Sandusky will be imprisoned for the remainder of his lifetime. Forget about him. Now--- the remainder of people involved. In my opinion, anyone else who was connected in this case--- in a negative way--- should first be removed from this institution, then be barred from ever being employed at ANY learning institution for the remainder of their lifetimes. As for the Second Mile Program--- it would not be fair to the remainder of under-privileged children to have their program terminated just because of the actions of one person. A thorough background investigation for the present staff at Second Mile is warranted. Once everything has been ok'd, then continue with this worthy cause.
Not sure where you have been Ruggiero but it is almost certain those guys ( the top three) are going to jail. I think once Sandusky realizes he is finished, years from now, he might come clean on the whole ordeal.
gary @ 1.93
"This is an 180 degree reversal of the values that animated America society for most of its existence. In the past the rights and condition of the victims would have been preeminent , the concern would have been for them not the monster that attacked them ---- but not anymore."
Nice sentiment but unfortunately just not true. The United States was decades or more behind Europe in abolishing slavery or reforming child labor laws or enfranchising women and the rich and powerful are seldom held to the same level of accountability as the rest of us nor have they ever been. How else to you explain not years but many decades of systematic coverups of child abuse among priests? Where was the concern for the victims when priest after priest was simply moved to another diocese and the law enforcement simply turned a blind eye to the complaints?
I agree with the slavery points and others, but this is a bad example. Priests were/are? abusing children all over the world.
German priest admits 280 counts of sexual abuse
The Catholic Church's problem is actually a problem with a City-Nation known as the Vatican City.
JOregon-
"but this is a bad example."
I would dispute that. In this case the rest of the world may be just as bad as we are but it's still a clear cut case of where "the rights and condition of the victims would have- NOT -been preeminent" and while the Vatican is the root of the problem there are still many, many cases where American law enforcement and politicians were aware of the problems and chose to do nothing.
I wasn't trying to make the point that we're necessarily worse than everyone else when it comes to dealing with injustice- almost every nation has plenty of baggage of their own to deal with on those lines- but rather that we're not always better and trying to make us out historically to be some sort of paragon of moral virtue just doesn't withstand scrutiny.
It is the institution that is the problem.
PSU is an institution that failed these kids.
The RCC (Roman Catholic Church) is an institution that failed kids.
There are always corrupt police and authorities, but it was certainly not Police department Policy to look the other way.
The Law Enforcement Institutions of the US aggressively go after these perverts.
arrowmg
I think you might be in the dark about university politics.... Paterno was effectively the most powerful person at Penn State... his program generated the majority of Penn State revenue, alumni involvement, PR, etc. If Joe wanted something to happen... it happened... The President and Board would have accommodated his wishes no matter what to preserve that cash and prestige.
Joe was definitely king of Penn State, and a capital felony happened in his facility perpetrated by the guy he groomed for decades so Joe was highly exposed. Sandusky got a highly suspicious retirement package and the entire issue went away.
Behind the scenes, it"s highly likely that Joe drove the whole thing. At the very least he actively covered it up.
I don't know about you, but if I'm running a large organization inside a corporation and an employee comes to me saying there was a child rape... the first call I'm making is to the cops.... I'm not waiting 36 hours and then figuring out the impact to the company with the President unless I'm planning on covering it up.
Joe deserves a brutal term in prison, but unfortunately he died before he could pay for what he did.
I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for any form of truth from Perv State!
No child left BEHIND? RIGHT.
PERV STATE....... nice one.
Well put! Perv State!
Instead of defending the school and it's program, I'd like to see outrage and a huge change in policy rather than finger pointing and defensiveness on the part of the staff.
Shut this program down until they prove they have instituted changes that would actually protect the children/students and not the almighty football program!
imnotrightyou-You have that a little incorrect... At PSU, It is No childs BEHIND left BEHIND!
This is all a lie.
Athletes and coaches are heroes and role models!
/s, so much /s that I can barely contain it with typed words.
Fire them all and strip their benefit packages.
FlaNative55 A+
I know that I am shocked at such behavior. They seemed like such upstanding citizens what with all the MOLESTATION ISSUES! *end sarcasm* WTF Perv State you sickos?!
"No sense of urgency to protect the victims at all, just narcissism."
Malignant narcissism if you ask me...
I keep hearing about the football program, but this goes right up to the AD and Prez of the school. Perv State should have a five year "death sentence" for ALL athletics and revoke Perv State football INDEFINATELY. If you want to really send a message to AD's around the NCAA. The students are not to blame here, so they can leave the school to gain a spot at another college team. Any on scholarships should still be on sholarship paid by Perv State, and those who are going to school on their own or their families money should get back all the money they paid in the last quarter, semester, whatever they call it, to help them at their new college. Perv State should be held completely accountable for a preventable atrocity that lasted for DECADES. No sympathy for the school is deserved at all!!!
My wife is a university professor and I get to hear a lot of "inside" information. Coverups are everywhere in college sports. Period. It is a major job of a big time college coach to cover up accusations of wrongdoing against his players. Every campus has its stories of rapes and beatings and such that have been hushed up.
Virtually every major college sports program allows and encourages illegal "sweet handshakes" by alums to its players. I have seen players lining up after their several-hundred dinner was bought for them to receive thise handshakes with the bills folded up in them. Personally --- with my own eyes.
Vuirtually every college sports program now allows players to have private "mentors" who "teach" themn classes, administer the tests, then post the grades to professors classes as though the players had actually attended classes and taken the tests.
Right now at Alabama, Saban is trying to hush up felony asault charges against his only daughter for a sorority catfight that resulted in severe injuries to another girl. The charges are extremely serious and will most likely result in jail time.
At Auburn, their star, Cam Newton was functionally illiterate (had to have the Wunderlick Test administered to him orally because he couldn't read it. He scored among the lowest ever. And he had a 3.2 GPS as a rising senior when he left for the NFL. Before Auburn he left his previous school because of pending felony theft charges that were subsequently hushed up.
There is so much money involved that it attracts corruption like a magnet.
@Chris-749391 Virtually every major college sports program allows and encourages illegal "sweet handshakes" by alums to its players. I have seen players lining up after their several-hundred dinner was bought for them to receive thise handshakes with the bills folded up in them. Personally --- with my own eyes.
So Chris you saw this with your own eyes.What did you do about it? Or did you pull a Penn State yeah I thought so so go on spouting off!!!!!!
@Mick is Back
Would you report it? Could you prove anything other than an allegation? Who would you report it to? School administrators who are complicit? A community that gives a wink and a nod? Would you report theft to a band of thieves?
The people who report such things end up gone. We had a situation here in the Dallas area where a teacher reported the school principle changing the grades of their football star. The evidence was very clear. So what happened? The principle got a reprimand. The teacher's job was eliminated by the principle.
Let's look at Penn State's example. Michael McQueary who reported the rape is gone. Spanier remains employed by the school. Joe's statue still stands. The message is a common one for those who would speak up.
We don't need more people to report what officials and leaders already know. We need officials and leaders who make sure illegal activities are thoroughly investigated, severely reprimanded, and completely discouraged. Otherwise "reporting" ends up being discouraged, ignored, or even abused.
I don't see anyone denying responsibility or accountability, only those seeking the truth.
LOL Have you read about or followed this story at all???? They have all denied responsibilty and one is up on charges of purgery. Get a clue lady.
So... when the story broke you didn't see tens of thousands of PSU students, administrators, and alumni holding candlelight vigils to honor the coaches who looked the other way while children were being raped right under their noses by their co-worker?
You didn't see any of that?
It was all over the news.
Is it just me or does it seems that we are being lied to about everything by everybody...that in any way constitute the "elite?"
Hey Dummy, the family still thinks Joe did nothing wrong. Just because they say they want the truth doesn't mean they want it, they want JP's name cleared, that's it. They still can't bring themselves to acknowledge he did anything wrong, not after Sandusky was convicted of 40+ counts, not after the FBI says JP did nothing to stop a predator.
Not one of these clowns are interested in the truth, if they were this would have stopped long ago.
JS- oh Yes, out of all of this, lets focus on the unfairness of it all to Joe Paterno, and what a victim HE is. That is exactly the kind of thinking that perpetuates these child molestation rings- the ones like this one, and the catholic priests, and all the other ones that will come to light in the future as we begin to get a grip on this scourge that is flourishing around us; and the molestation rings that we will never even hear about because most of them go undiscovered- largely because people dont understand that the child is the victim- not the molester, and not the enabler.
If PSU and/or Joe Paterno did sweep it under the rug, I hope the NCAA kills the football program for 5+ years. That won't do anything to help the victims, but it will keep another school from hiding something like this.
destroy the potential futures of more people by taking away their sport that they came to school for? that's the dumbest idea i've ever heard... how about hold the people who are acountable to blame and not the students who had nothing to do with it? now that sounds intelligent.
Let the students transfer to any school without loosing any eligibility. Nothing short of the "death penalty" to the football program will ever make sure no school ever does it again.
do you remember how jimmy carter boycotted the moscow olympics. all those people that had trained and dedicated their lives for that had their dreams torn away because of something unrelated... that's what your inciting here and it makes no sense. and from the high rating your comment has i can see there is no hope for conquering stupidity in this world. oh well... and holding those actually responsible with massive penalties will definitely make sure every other school goes "oh maybe we should do more!" and they can't just transfer. that's like telling a homeless person without a computer or resume or experience to just get a job. not all of them will be accepted do to size limitations and there's no guarantee they will play either when a lot of them had guarantees here... so no i state again that's a dumb idea.
Panda: It should be both. There are other, less perverted, colleges for these athletes to attend. Kick PSU to the sidelines with the death penalty. Anything less will show the bias the NCAA has to protect the major football schools, yet crush an institution like SMU for a crime that doesn't hold a candle to what happened at PSU.
The University should be stripped of it's accreditation. The university, like a fish, has been allowed to rot from the head.
For those who have a problem with shuttering the football program, well one can assume you either go to school there or are an alumni. And in that case, I am sorry but there is no way you can be objective. PSU should also be stripped of ALL federal and state money.
Jimmy Carter boycotted the Olympics in Moscow for a reason. The reason was that it was the cold war. The USA had no business taking part in the Moscow games. (And in my humble opinion we had no business being in Beijing either but that's a matter for another day)
I am sorry for the football players and the students who are caught up in this mess. It is very clear what they should do TRANSFER.
Do you really want your tuition dollars paying for sex crimes coverups?
Penn State is paying FBI guy Freeh to do this investigation - you can guess the results will be in favor of Penn State since they are paying the bill to Freeh - more corruption in my estimation. How stupid does Freeh and Penn State think the people are?" The more i read of this coverup by Joe Paterno and his staff make me sick - to think they put this scumbag, Sandusky, and the reputation of their University ahead of these innocent little boys is disgusting - they should all go to jail - too late for Paterno but he was as involved as the rest of them.
yes there are "other, less perverted, colleges for these athletes to attend." and penn state is one of them, do you think anything even remotely close to this could happen again there? no... the ncaa has no authority to destroy the lives and futures of students just because they go to a certain school... halo3v, what if something happened where you worked because your boss was involved in a scandal with a mistress and because of it the gov't said the company as a whole must be destroyed even though you and 99.9% of your company had nothing to do with it? now you have no job, you have to work your ass off to get another job and it might not be as good or it mighty be crappy, and for what? because your boss did something? and jimmy carter had no right to destroy the futures of those athletes due to politics! and it's sad there are still people out there that can't see that.
@ Pandas,
You're putting a game ahead of several children's mental and physical health not to mention JUSTICE.
Sports is not the end all to someone's life. Your immature thought process and your type of thinking is what caused this horrific string of abuses to continue. "protect the football program, protect the football program" It's a game. Nothing more and nothing less. No amount of money generated from the game is worth the damage done to the victims.
I agree with quickdraw. End the program, let the student atheletes transfer without penalty, show the real victims that there's justice in the end for ALL that had a hand in this. The real victims are the children that Sandusky abused and their families. Not the current student/athelets.
The real criminals are not only Sandusky but the men, including and especially Paterno, who allowed these criminal acts to continue. You do realize that these are criminal acts don't you? Looking the other way is also a criminal act. Joe Paterno had the ability to stop this many years ago and CHOSE not to. Covering up the abuses is equaly a criminal act to the abuse itself.
Life isn't fair. These students chose to go to Penn State, now they can choose to go somewhere else.
burley1, and to some people it's there only chance at real success that they have worked hard for their entire lives! you can't just transfer, it doesn't work that way! i want justice too, and i am not putting a game ahead of humans, i am simply stating that you wish to cause more harm to the people that had nothing to do with it! and because of that i can see that you are just barely better than sandusky himself. you wish to see the futures of hundreds of more kids destroyed to make a point. it's pathetic! you do realize these are innocent human beings' futures you wish to see destroyed don't you? you're right life isn't fair, i hope you lose your job and have to fight your ass off to find a new one for no reason other than you were near where something bad happened just like how you want these kids to do so. grow up!
Football isn't that important.
The NCAA needs to impose the death penalty, and not just for one year. Anything less than 3 years is too weak.
School is about learning, this needs to be a lesson.
Meanwhile my heart's a little bit broke. I always viewed PSU as one of the good guys. A program run on ethics, and honesty. Guess not.
halo3v, How can you support the destruction of tens of thousands of individuals, a whole local economy, and essentially a large supplier of Pennsylvania's higher educated workforce because of what a handful of people did? You have a black heart and a dysfunctional brain. I hope you have no power to institute your views.
Pandas, equating rape of children, with an affair with a mistress shows just how disconnected you are from reality.
While one is adultry, it is at least presumably sex with a consenting adult, and is not a felony, or horrific crime.
The fact the the highest levels of PSU covered this up, shows the type of university this is.
Students and football players can transfer. I think the football program should be shut down, and the Univeristy fined enough money that it is truely painful, like some significant portion of its endowment.
Otherwise there is nothing to deter this from happening again elsewhere.
I don't think the whole program needs to be scrapped, but those students who protested the firing of Paterno, who stood on campus lighting candles for Joe and not the victims need to change their attitude and apologize to the victims if the program is to ever be respected again.
The entire athletic culture needs to be changed, from passing undeserving students, to filling colleges with scholarship students who are there to play games instead of getting an education, to demonizing females who bring rape charges against players and protecting child molesting coaches. Football should not be a blood sport.
These so called handful of people were the the most powerful men at this instution. You and people like Panda should ONLY be concerned with the victems and justice for them. This institution, not just a handful of men, allowed the corruption and rape of children, there is no more hanious crime than that. All of you sticking up for the school make me sick, your priorities are truely backward.
bill, sorry that my analogy was not up to par with your understanding skills. and you miswrote something, it should be: "The fact the the highest levels of PSU covered this up, shows the type of people they are, and because of it the university has removed them from their positions, instituted a full out investigation, and is headed to a bigger, brighter future." justice is already in the process of being done, yet people still want more innocent people to suffer because they just want to see a university that is severing all ties to all these people rot, because they can easily do that from their armchair at home... that's sad.
If this level of systemic child rape had been discovered in any other organization on campus, that program would have been shut down the day the accusations hit the news.
But some "americans" consider football to be sacred, and think it's more important than the safety and welfare of children who were systematically raped and abused within the "hallowed halls" of the football program.
Cut the program. You're in college to learn, not to play a game and not to rape children in the showers.
Pandas,burley1 is right. You are immature and have a typical football fan's "gotta support the team" mentality. You talk about the futures of innocent human beings,namely the aspiring football players at PSU,being destroyed if PSU's football pogram is ended. yet you show no remorse for the real innocent victims,the boys Sandusky molested. It is their futures that were destroyed,their lives that were forever altered when Sandusky molested them and the big shots at PSU,including good old Joe Pa covered up for him. Having to transfer to another school in order to play football isn't going to destroy anybody's future. But being repeatedly molested by a pedophile most definitely affects the victims future. You need to grow up and get your priorities straight because you are the one who is pathetic.
All university scholarships should be academic, end of story. An athletic scholarship to a student who cannot make the grade academically is one less scholarship to a student who does make the grade. You figure that's fair?
It's time for professional sports teams to stop using the university system to train their players for them. They need to set up their own training system: lower-level professional leagues. Ice hockey has been doing that for decades. The system works just fine. And yes, I know some students get hockey scholarships and play at the University level. The vast majority do not, and instead filter through the lower leagues.
Halo3v, President Carter was a foolish dolt for banning the US athletes from competing in the Moscow Olympics. The games are a symbol of hope, intended to be free of politics. Did you know that the US government does not send athletes to the Games? The athletes are individuals who train for years to earn a spot on the team. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for some, and they were denied their chance to compete because of a small minded political decision. Killing Penn State football NOW is likewise a foolish, knee-jerk reaction that does nothing to punish those responsible for the horrid conduct of pervert Sandusky. All of those in charge then should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but the current students, athletes and fans have no connection to that sordid mess...
i'm done trying to show everyone how dumb it is to kill the program and innocent people in it. everyone got mad at carter when he destroyed those peoples' lives because it affected the nation as a whole, now everyone wants to destroy this program and destroy those kids futures because it doesn't affect them in the least bit. it's easy to shout kill the program from your house. that's a bad attitude towards taking the correct actions to make this institution better like they are currently working towards. i'm glad to be against most of the people on here, glad to show that i'm a human of reasoning. everyone is making me out like i don't want justice. i do! i want the correct justice to be served! i want the people actually responsible to take the fall, i do not want them to drag anyone else down with them as everyone on here seems to want.
panda,
would you be in favor of a gradual phasing out of the football program so those current students won't have their lives "ruined?" Or are you just upset at the thought of no more Penn State Football games for you to attend?
If anyone is punished I'll be genuinely shocked. SHOCKED.
Too much money, too much cronyism.
A scapegoat? Perhaps. But the program will go on and the school will be unpunished.
These are athletes, role models, and heroes!
i thought someone would say that... there is no "gradual phasing out." the moment you say that when all these current students are gone the program is done, people stop going there instantly because they don't want to be juniors when it all just stops. by next year the team will be down a lot of people and unable to play, so those seniors are screwed out of their final year and the juniors and below now have nothing to look forward to... it's not about the football, it's about holding those accountable responsible for what happened, yet everyone wants everyone to go down and everyone wants it to be about the football and that's where i say that is stupid, because it is!
Pandas and Halo3V, I unfortunately, can't really decide which of you is right, as you both seem to have valid arguments and I can completely see your perspectives. While I do think something major needs to happen at PSU, Panda has a point with not creating more victims in this, and none of the existing students can be thought to have had something to do with this. It was the faculty and administration. Even then, it wasn't all faculty, and trying to investigate which faculty actually had a hand in this coverup, would most likely be equally fruitless. You can't cover up something this big for this long without being good at it. It might be more feasible to remove all top level administration and tenured faculty, and start fresh. I can't imagine ANYONE in a top level administrative position at PSU was completely blind to this. Time to take the trash out!
Penn State hired Freesh hoping for a report that exonerated them. No is going to question the integrity of the former head of the FBI. Little did the board of regents know how bad the report would be.
Their worst scenario has come true. The football program was corrupt to the core. They wanted the truth hoping for something to hold their dreams on to. Little did they know but now they do.
Maybe the Rico Act will be charged on them. It's one hell of a huge conspiracy of the top officials at Penn State. I hope they are sentenced to as much time as Jerry is going to get.
Reading the story made me want to vomit. The only thing missing for this one is a Catholic priest.
If you didn't think the only time the Olympics were political with Jimmy Carter, you'd better really look at Olympic history.
As for the subject, I believe that Penn State should lose their accreditation because they let this go on and they were too worried about the reputation of the school. Had they reported the first incident with child protective services, the reputation would have taken a hit, but over time, the reputation would be nearly restored.
The athletes on scholarship should be able to transfer to a different university with everything intact.
They should lose ALL OF THE WINS that Paterno had for Penn State.
This is not a "knee-jerk" reaction when you consider that the school LET THIS GO ON. Knee-jerk would be if this was reaction to one incident, but this was a clear abuse of power and privilege. And when it did get reported, the coach and the higher-ups covered it up. And it kept going FOR YEARS.
ikaika - you just made Bobby Bowden smile. Dadgummit!
ikaika, why in hell should the accreditation take a hit?! what does the school's accreditation have to do with this? nothing! if it wasn't about anything, then it wasn't about the education there... and if they had released this instantly instead of going on so long i guarantee that the outcry would have been the same: topple the football program because sandusky was a part of it... everyone keeps talking about transferring as if it's the easiest thing in the world. how about you all just transfer jobs and have the same exact role in the new job? ok? after all, it's easy!
As in other NCAA violation cases, they generally allow students to transfer to another institution without penalty. Every case is different, but that's generally what is allowed to happen. Why punish the student for an administration/management problem.
panda,
If they can't handle transferring and having to start over someplace else, they should drop out of the sports world now.
Can you say traded?
in the professional leagues you are traded with a guaranteed spot on that other team while they are paying you money no matter what. there are still the same number of openings overall in the entire league. when transferring you are not guaranteed a spot on that new team and you are paying to go to school and you are still trying to make a name for yourself so you can go to the big leagues. and when the program is cut there are less openings in the league so somebody gets forced out, because of what? because of something unrelated? not even close to the same thing... and i'm done here. got a life to live and don't have time to show you more on how stupid it is to punish more people for something they never did.
pandas - really? "sorry that my analogy was not up to par with your understanding skills"? You apparently don't understand that your analogy equated an extramarital affair with the RAPE OF CHILDREN!
Did it ever occur to you that the reasons you're citing are the same excuses that everyone involved in covering this up told themselves as they rationalized their actions. Actions that protected a monster and destroyed unknown numbers of children? No, I didn't think so. It's that attitude - your attitude - that perpetuated a culture and environment that allowed this to happen.
You go live your life. Don't want to take up your valuable time thinking about the destroyed lives of innocent children.
the analogy wasn't about "equating an extramarital affair with the rape of children." it was about showing that something unrelated to the actual students on the football team and at the university should not go on to punish those students just like the extramarital affair effects the employee of the company... my attitude did not do anything to perpetuate that culture. my attitude is don't punish those that were not involved. that makes 100% sense! your attitude is destroy many more peoples' lives and future to prove a point... i really hope something does in fact happen to all of you hypocrites so that you can realize "wow that was dumb of me to think that way! i hoped for the destruction of more lives because it had nothing to do with me, and now that the same thing is happening to me i wish someone would help me." here, let's change it to your boss raped a kid and you got told to find another job for it. there now, it is exactly the same thing and don't try to say it is not.
you finally got it right, Panda. If the owner of a company raped a kid and had to go to jail, you'd better believe ALL the employees would be out looking for other jobs even though they did nothing wrong. Get it now? Sometimes innocent people have to move on with their lives because the people they trusted broke the law and their jobs or spots on the team are no longer there.
What a gem you are wishing harm on those who disagree with you and don't put a football game above all else. Not playing football at Penn State is hardly a destruction of lives. Get a grip.
@pandaareapparentlysanduskyapologists,
The reason that PSU's accreditation could take a hit, and I quote,"The Board of Trustees completely failed in their oversight responsibility." There will likely be some sort of accreditation hit --- how much is the question. My guess is that acadermic degrees in sports will take most of the hit. I feel sorry for the kids.
It is highly likely that there will be huge future tuition increases to pay for this mess. PSU will have to spend the endowment money that it can (some cannot be spent on situations involving moral turpitude) on any sanctions that damage football income and on Clery Act fines and on settlements with victims and with settlements with at least one PSU official who was forced out of her job for complaining about Paterno's coverups. They will not be liquid enough to pay it all out of endowments and the PA taxpayer will have to pick up the bill along with massive student tuition hikes.
There are reports on twitter of attempts to get flash mobs together to pull down Paterno's statue ala Sadaam Hussein.
A friend in the Athletic Dept here says that they are getting a lot of athlete transfer and job inquiries from PSU. There is no hiring going on here and the student "book" is full. There is still time for incoming freshman and pretend-freshman athletes to jump their commits and go to other schools from PSU.
sadly you still don't get it and i know you probably never will... if the owner of a small company did then yes you are right. but we are talking about a huge company and it was someone under the owner (way under the owner) who did the rape. they get fired and fined and jail time and the company hires someone new, takes actions to make sure it never happens again, and goes on (just as penn state is doing)... i'm not putting a football game above everything else, but you seem to believe that your wishing harm on those students in the football program is any different than me wishing you get a taste of your own medicine. sounds very hypocritical... a lot of the kids in these college football programs only have one thing to look forward to in life: playing football... you need to wake up to reality and get off your high horse... now do you finally get it or is this hopeless?
and chris, pandaareapparentlysanduskyapologists? what? let the @!$%# rot in jail. when did i ever say i agreed with him? nowhere.
Let those young football players transfer...help them do it. This WAS a commumity-culture crime.
You don't get it, Panda. The rape is one thing. The cover up is what is ruining the brand. So a low level employee commits a crime, but the upper management and owner cover it up and lie to police, the company is done. No one wants to be associated with it. The employees did nothing wrong, but their still out of a jo.
Penn State, or State Penn or Pedophile State, will be ridiculed for years. Who would want to play football in an atmosphere like that? Do you think any high school graduate faced with a choice of two colleges will put Penn State on the top of their list?
If the football players are any good, they will find a place somewhere else. If not, and that's all they have to look forward to in life. they can thank the powers that be at Penn State for taking away their dream. They and you have to wake up to reality that not all dreams come true, and their dreams were squashed by greedy administrators who didn't want the football program to be "embarrassed" so they allowed children to be raped and the rapist to escape justice.
Grow up.
so gm should be forced to fail and all the employees of chevrolet forced out? there are reports of the ceo and other top executives hiding the fire problems in the chevy volt. after all that is what you are saying... to answer the question, no, they will get a new ceo if this is found true and those responsible will be fired and chevy will move on in life. people will still want to be associated with penn state because it is an amazing university, that you cannot deny. say the president rapes a kid and it is covered up by the secret service. does the country fail and congress is all kicked out of office? no, we get a new president and secret service and everyone responsible is forced out, no more, no less... i am in reality, the reality that blames those responsible and punishes them, and leaves the others out of it. what the hell reality do you live in? a couple broken eggs, so throw the whole carton out?
And these are NOT "students" in the football program. They are professional athletes. Poorly paid, but professional athletes, nonetheless. They do not go to classes if they can't handle them. They are taught by students who also test them and then grade them and then these "grades" magically appear in professors' online gradebooks. They are, for the most part, academically unprepared and hope to go to the NFL long before graduation time.
This is a culture that can be stopped. It will be painful financially for colleges, but the alternative, as PSU is beginning to realize, is a lot worse.
Personally, I think a lot of people knew about this for a long time. So many kids, people we know walked in on him so Lord knows how many we don't know about that caught him red-handed. People talk! I am afraid there was a cover up. I have lived in Penn State country most of my life and revered Joe Paterno and the entire system, but my faith was shaken with this. I hate to say I think all the main characters mentioned knew what was going on. Paterno let him go in 1999, "retired", in the prime of his career? Too convenient. Too much damning evidence, IMHO.
@Ozzette, I agree with you fully. Since this story broke, there has been one thing nagging me that no one seemed to be addressing. Through the 80s and 90s, Jerry Sandusky was being touted as Paterno's heir apparent. Hand-picked by Paterno, personally groomed by Paterno for the the job. Then POOF! He's gone. Why? Off the radar so fast you wouldn't know if you weren't looking for it. Again, why?
Because Paterno knew.
What's also sad is that it took so MANY abusive acts...so MANY victims to report/testify against the low-life in order for him to be finally stopped and convicted.
And those kids ALREADY had enough trouble in their lives.
Shame on Sandusky's wife, Paterno's family and all the others in denial.
LV, my thoughts, exactly!
Think about this:
8 kids testified against Sandusky. This man is 68 years old. Does ANYONE believe that he only abused those 8 (plus the half dozen or so they held back so that, if he beat the first rap, they could take him to court for that back-up bunch?)
Pedophiles begin abusing kids pretty much as soon as their libido wakes up, and keep it up until they either get caught, can't physically do it any more, or die. How many victims did Sandusky abuse in the 50 plus years since he reached sexual maturity?
@Eevie,
There were 10 known victims. Only 8 testified because the other two had already filed lawsuits against PSU. (Their lawsuits is what blew the thing wide open.) There was one more victim, Sandusky's adopted son, who came forward during the trial. It is only rumored that the prosecution has information about additional "hip pocket" victims. It is known, however, that Sandusky had a very long list of potential victims from Second Mile with stars beside kids who were around 12 and were blond and skinny.
Experts in this sort of serial child abuse who have seen the list say that there may be as many as 100 victims. This was stated in court by the forensic psychologist as a rebuttal witness to the defense psychologist who said Sandusky just did it to get attention. Professionals involved in the Catholic Child abuse cases say that the number could even be higher than that. This is why PSU is offering to settle with victims while keeping their names and other information secret.
The Paterno Statue really has to go. Now when people see it the first thing they think of is Sandusky in the shower rapng a child.
Perhaps if they changed the quote on it to...
Naw... just melt it down and put up a statue dedicated to child abuse.
Just hang a pair of young boys' tighty whiteys from the Pederno statue's hand. Rename the statue "Integrity." Use it as the symbol of PSU instead of the Lion.
so a man who helped thousands upon thousands of kids at penn state have a future deserves condemnation for not being able to help 8, even after he did what he was supposed to do by reporting it to his superiors? hindsight is always 20/20 if you didn't notice... was he supposed to just drop the needs of hundreds of kids or so in his football programs and disregard their futures and not do his job and instead tend to the needs of these 8 people? no, he was supposed to pass off the information and let the other people in charge handle it, they were the ones that messed it up as shown by the info given at this point in time. maybe this investigation will reveal otherwise, but stop being naive to the facts present like the media and most of the world has been so far.
@pandas are awesome what in the world are you thinking or saying?? You honestly think that those 8 people which were children that were being molested and lives being destroyed were'nt worth taking a day to report it to the police or make sure something was done. I wish people who think that football or Joe Paterno's legacy is so important to answer me this what if that was your child or what if it was you or how about this ask the football players if they knew that there coach could've stopped it personally if they would've minded him taking precious time away from the football program.
In my opinion, enabling abuse of children is just as bad as doing it yourself. Paterno is a DISGRACE!!!!!!!!!!!
To quote 2 Samuel 1:27: Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen! Stripped of their weapons, they lie dead. (New Living Translation, 2007)
@pandas are awesome....are you kidding me? Are you a parent of a child? Yes, he should have dropped the needs of kids who were NOT being abused to help "only 8". Those 8, which is probably a lot more, where abused and raped. I would hope that if someone saw my child in that situation, they would not worry about a hundred other kids who are doing just fine to save him. Secondly, it should not be enough to report it to a supervisor. If you witness an illegal action, you need to report it to authorities. If that is not the law then the law needs to be changed across the nation. All of the kids that you speak of that Paterno has "helped" in his years there would have graduated and played football whether he was there or someone else. Do you really think he should have been the one molding all of those kids knowing now that he values a friendship and football program over the welfare of an innocent child?
Pandasareawesone, So why did Curley change his mind about how to handle the Sandusky situation after talking to Paterno?????
Pandas, the issue is that his morally bankrupt behavior was to preserve the football program. They all knew, and if they weren't positive, it still should have been reported and investigated. How do you know it is "only" 8 victims?
The NCAA should kick Penn State out of football, but permit them to play this season, so the players can find other schools. For this season, every penny of profit from football should go to the victims, in addition to the pensions of Sandusky, Paterno, Spanier, and Curley.
I'm sorry Penn State was your school. Academically it still is a great school, but you just can't ignore the sacrifices made in favor of their football program.
HE DID REPORT IT TO TIM CURLEY AND GARY SCHULTZ (the head of the university police!)!!! my god, are people really that naive these days that they can't read or comprehend what happened?! if it were my kid, i would be pissed at sandusky and why after it was reported there was nothing done by the superiors. if somebody did what they were supposed to then why would i be pissed at them for "not doing enough" when others did nothing and that is the true reason why nothing happened. so that is what i am thinking, like an intelligent human who can comprehend ALL of the facts in this investigation and scandal... i can see everyone has been listening to the media instead of reading the official reports and seeing a non-biased view on it all.
@ Panda's
This is the same Joe Paterno that when his football players burst into a house party in 2007 and assaulted over half the attendee's, Joe Pa made sure they didn't get arrested and charged with assault. He made them clean the stadium after a home game instead.
You cannot keep using the "he reported it" trope because he did BUT HE IS ALSO INSTRUMENTAL IN COVER UP. He also knew Sandusky was bringing "guests" to the campus well after 2001. He was complicit in this.
All of these guys, Spanier, Paterno, Sandusky, Curley FAILED at keeping the campus and the students safe. Sandusky obviously is the worst offender out of the group. But these guys knew and swept it under the rug. It gives new meaning to "The coverup is worse than the crime" here the coverup is only slightly less bad than the crime.
Again I feel sorry for the current students and alumni. They have been let down by PSU and the inactions of the university leadership, and that included Paterno.
@panda, I really hope that the majority of the population doesn't have the mindset you do because we will be in trouble as a society. We have the police for a reason. Your supervisor does not qualify as a person who is equipped to handle an crime. Are you really going to tell me if that was your child and someone only reported abuse to their supervisor and not the police that you would not hold them accountable if nothing happened after that? You are delusional!
Panda is unbelievable!
Reporting it to your boss wasn't enough now was it??? That is the lamest reply yet.
Joe Paterno as a man of "so called" integrity should have demanded that the police arrest and investigate Sandusky. No excuses. Not the campus "rent a cops" but the actual city investigators. Paterno failed!!! He failed as a father, he failed as an administrator and as a human. He should have made sure Sandusky was arrested and justice served. If he had done all of that, he wouldn't be considered the failure that he now is. If it were me, I would consider myself a failure as a father. Being a father means protecting ALL children. Your a homer panda and your repeated attempt to justify paterno is sickening.
the supervisor who is head of the university police who has all the necessary ties to the state police whose job it is to report it to them?... the report just came out saying that he did in fact hide things from the police. now that a real authority has stated it and a real investigation has occurred instead of the media's brainwashing, now people have a right to judge and be angry. now real justice can happen, but still the man did more good than harm and helped many to bigger and brighter futures even though i know most of you won't agree. now i have a right to be mad if i was a father, but i still would be more pissed at sandusky and curley and shultz, and mcqueary who should have done something right then and there.
pandas are awesome... JoePa was the heart and soul of PSU. With that comes a level of authority he should have been willing to accept along with that title! The 8+ young victims deserved nothing less than his walking up to the university's Board of Regents and spelling out what was going to happen (full disclosure to law enforcement authorities, and immediate internal investigations to gather as much pertinent information as possible). As a parent himself, JoePa claiming to not understand or know how to handle the situation is shameful. The best thing JoePa could have done for the PSU community was show that football takes a back door to protecting children. So yes, 8+ lives should have temporarily taken precedence. Just think of the impact on his players lives had he taken the opportunity to teach them this very valuable life lesson... now contrast that with the shame no doubt many of them are experiencing today.
Panda-brain--
Sad, really that you don't realize it, but you and your ridiculously rationalizing attitude are exactly what everyone is so disgusted by and pissed off at. You, and many of the PSU apologists, are just too f'in stupid to just shut the hell up right now. Horrible stuff happened at that school, all kinds of people, clearly including JoePa, knew and passed the buck...you should just shut up--right now--about "the poor students in the football program" and the "hundreds of kids that Paterno helped".
But I'm sure you won't cause you are clearly an a-hole!
pandas are enablers. :(
Panda dude just shut up. Stop trying to protect an enabler of child rape you look like an idiot for doing so. No one on this board agrees with you because we are all sane people who care about the welfare of children. Your arguments are rediculous. Did you not read how all involved, even your precious Joe Pa, wanted human treatment for the rapist and never said one word of concern for the raped. Get a clue, get compassion and wise up buddy
savoir laire, did you even read all of my posts? or are you just too stupid to comprehend the fact that the people in charge do not constitute anywhere near the university as a whole! psu is gonna be a better place now that they are severing all ties to the past and moving on to the future... and dan, the article was just updated to say all of that... read my last post! i said now that it is official that the investigation shows he was involved, something should be done.
@pandas, it doesn't matter if he did more good than bad. If it had only been one child who was abused, physically or sexually, it was one too many. We are talking about innocent children who have no voice, no fight back, and rely on adults to do the right thing. I can't imagine what that boy was thinking when he saw an adult walk into that locker room and then walk out and leave him there with that monster. And it didn't stop there, there were many other adults who still did nothing.
Pandas, You should really just back off right now. I am listening the live press conference as I write this. Your absolutely sickening defense of the indefensible is appalling. Louis Freeh is describing the narrow minded thoughts that sought to protect Penn State at all costs that must be abolished. Your hero is guilty as sin and no stupid windbag posting can change that. Shame on you for rationalizing the rape and exploitation of vulnerable boys. Only 8, you write? Since there were at least 10 who have come forward, plus Sandusky's own adopted son, I suspect the true number of victims is far larger. Tell me how many victims will it take for you to decide it wasn't worth it? Give us the number of destoyed lives it takes before you will admit that your hero failed miserably to protect the most vulnerable among us...
damn dude, read my last 2 posts. people really can't read these days can they... congrats you have a tv! i said that now it has been truly found out that he had withheld info, he must be held accountable.
Joe now looks far worse than he did. Previously he had just looked like someone who did not want to have to deal with this and passed the buck. Based on his own moral and ethical standards he had failed, as he admitted.
But now we find that Joe apparently orchestrated a cover up of a possible crime. That goes beyond willful blindness and denial and crosses the line into criminal behavior, and also negates Joe's defense that he passed the information to his superiors. You can hardly use that defense when you told your superiors not to report the information that you passed along to them. In fact, your superiors are not really your superiors when you tell them what to do.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absoutely, and Joe's power at Penn State was pretty close to absolute. I do have to wonder, however, what all of the holier than thou posters on this comment board would do if someone they had worked with for decades, and been friends with for decades, turned out to be molesting children. It is not easy to turn in someone like that, but the lesson is that it must be done. To cover it up instead is criminal.
I was already disappointed in Joe and now it turns out that Joe did far more than give in to the temptation to pass the buck. Many felt that Joe had stayed too long because the football team started to go downhill, but in fact he stayed too long because he became so corrupted by the power and image.
As for calling panda a "homer," most gay people do not molest kids, and many straight men do. In fact, Jerry was married with children, which so often seems to be the kind of man who does this kind of thing.
We can only hope that all of the holier than thou people who want to nuke Penn State and p*** on the ashes will actually practice what they preach if they are ever presented with the difficult situation where a long time friend or family member turns out to be a child molester. If so child molesting will be stopped.
Like shutting down the PSU football program for good!
Panda-ass-face
You--the biggest tool in the world and the most reviled person on this forum right now--have no right to call anyone names. You just don't get it do you? You are wrong and we all hate you! Go climb back under your turd...
savoir-dumb-stupid-head
i can write idiotic names too that don't prove a point and show that i am a 12 year old and incapable of reading what i said earlier that i would really like to rewrite since you failed to go back and reread it again, but i think you are big enough to go back and read it yourself. and if showing reason means i need to be reviled then i'm ok with that. hold the proven wrongdoers accountable... now that he has been proven to be a part of it, his actions must be held accountable. what did you not understand that i wrote, besides everything?
PANDA: so a man who helped thousands upon thousands of kids at penn state have a future deserves condemnation for not being able to help 8, even after he did what he was supposed to do by reporting it to his superiors?
But Paterno did NOT do what he was "supposed to do." Read Chris' informative post at 1.55:
"there is a Clery Act that REQUIRES every employee or faculty member in any college or university to report any suspicion of child abuse or other crimes on campus to the police and in public logs and records. Here is a link to the Clery Act on Wikipedia: "
In most states an educator must report any suspected abuse--not just to the police--but also to Child Protective Services. Paterno did none of these things. As you yourself point out, he only reported it to his "superiors." Paterno FAILED TO DO WHAT HE WAS REQUIRED BY LAW TO DO.
savoir laire, pandas are awesome, you're each suspended for a day for violating #1 of the Code of Honor.
It does appear that others knew Jerry was a "boy lover." Why Jerry thought he would never be outed is astounding. Did he actually think he would maintain a stronghold on these boys when they became men??? But it also appears that pride in the almighty football god was stronger than ridding the community of child abuse. All who had a part in this should be dealt with through the legal system.
An McQueery had a problem getting his story straight. His account changed depending on who he was talking to.
Ask any criminal. They're always smarter than the law.
Time for Penn State to remove all things honoring JoPa.
Doug, I agree; I'm old enough to remember how JoePa has been looked upon as a symbol of success in college football but when all of this stuff about Sanduskey started breaking, and it became apparent that JoePa knew what was going on and did nothing he is just as tarnished as Sanduskey. I really believe had Joe lived he would have gone on trial as well.
I feel sorry for the current football teammembers, and am not sure if punishing the current teammembers is the right thing but perhaps a year or two of being banned from any bowl games (if they can even qualify) would be adequate punishment. I really doubt that Penn State will be able to recruit any good players for a year or so.
Hopefully anyone and everyone who was involved with the obvious cover-up of Sandusky is brought to justice. None of this is about football or legacies, it is about finding those who allowed children to come into contact with a child molester, and prosecuting them as well. I understand that the reputation of Penn State University and the football program itself were likely reasons to cover up, but too many talk about saving the reputation of JoePa with so little regard for the children who were abused. Sad really...
Football and legacies foster the type of immunity, attitude, and cover up that we're seeing here.
When you're deluded into thinking you're a hero and role model, and above the law, you act accordingly.
My other concern and sadness is for the children under his own roof - the 'system' allowed them in - Paterno trusted 'the system' to work and that obvious evidence that he 'qualified' in an adoption/foster care system that is supposed to have the highest regard for the safety of children - the limits of the law prevents any legal action - but the word 'currency' in this report is so telling. If there is any good to come from this - it will hopefully give more victims voices and courage to tell.
Kids need to be taught to tell a person in more than one environment: a relative/friend, school, public/civic group, church - if they stay within the one 'unit' - 'it/they' will protect their own just like this case. This is how and why it goes on for years and there are so many victims.
Re: justice, GOD and His Christ will now weigh-in...
With the power(77) vested in me by GOD as His Christ(77), I hereby rule that Joe Paterno was culpable in the child molestation crimes of Jerry Sandusky. Therefore, this court sentences Paterno to 40 years reincarnated as non-human for every disgusting act Sandusky commited (app. 57) or 2,280 years as beef cows, pigs, turkeys.
- Brad Watson, Miami
judge of all humanity
Joe Paterno could have gotten rid of Sandusky with a flick of a finger, but he chose not to. Might upset his football program. Joe Paterno was a bankrupt human being.
Appears to me he did, in 1999.
Not the way an honest man of integrity would have gotten rid of him. An arrest was the ONLY way.
Well said JCC@FL and burley1!
Major college sports programs, especially football and basketball, have become the minor leagues for professional teams and, in my opinion, we place far too much emphasis on college win - lose records. For a lot of schools, the sports programs are the tails that wag the dogs.
Agree and do not forget high schools. Our district finds coaches and hope they have a minor in such things as History, Math or English.
This will prove that the higher ups and Paterno have been covering this up for years. What a great day for the media... and the lawyers. They can spin this for weeks and make lots of money. Great for the ratings too. Penn State has deep pockets. The lawyers have skillfully set up access to those deep pockets. The victims and their lawyers will now be millionaires. They should also fire the top people at Penn State for "closure". What a great country America!
The attorneys will be millionaires.
The victims and families will get $65.42.
Just watch.
Attorneys are always the only ones that truly profit.
Pete MT,
Keep in mind that everyone must choose between profits and prophets. Abraham Lincoln said, "If in your own judgment you can not be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer."
They call their school Penn State, but, in reality, it should be referred to as State Penn.
My, aren't you clever???? NOT. Do you really think you're the first to say that?
mr. harley
Its true he is NOT THE FIRST. BUT I LAUGH OFF MY ASS EVERYTIME I HEAR IT......IT IS FUNNY HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
I cannot decide which is lower, a pedophile or a Congressmen.
I'm going with Congressmen, based on the number of innocent people they screw.
Innocent people?
Your representatives were elected by the people. If you made a mistake...correct it.
To compare pedophiles with Congressmen is LOW.
Yes, to compare pedophiles with Congressmen is unfair to pedophiles.
Thanks for the posts DB2 and Mr. T. -cms5 cute doggy.
Injecting politics? Come on dudes. These children were raped. Raped!
Thanks for the hot tip, Columbo.
The only people lower than the individual pedophile is the person in leadership who, instead of defending the child defends his or her institution.
Penn State's leadership fits that description, as does now Pope Benedict and the entire Catholic Church's leadership ...
Where's the outrage? Buried under the hundreds of millions of dollars both of these institutions stood to lose had the real truth been told and the real criminals been brought to justice.
Child abuse is not a "scandal" ... it is a CRIME, a very vulgar crime. And, in the case of both Penn State and the Catholic Church it is a vast and self-serving CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY.
Interesting that on the same web page where this perhaps decades long sexual abuse of children is discussed we see a fluffy, 85 part slide show on "the life and times of Joe Paterno". Who cares about the life and times of Joe Paterno? More glorification of football and Penn State. We still can't give up our false – and in this case perverted – heroes. Unbelievable.
Lets see the report. If Joe Parteno led a cover up then let the chips fall where they may. But the football program and those student players had nothing to do with any of this should not be involved. The school is responsible for any inappropriate actions that were taken, as well as the then attorney general and now governor who did not take any action and the schools trustees who had to know what was going on.
The football program had nothing to do with this? Are you for real Give? The football team had everything to do with this. Sandusky was the assistant head coach. Paterno knew he was a pedophile as did the other big shots at PSU. But they wanted to protect the school and the football program's reputation at all costs so they covered up for Sandusky. The football program should be suspended at the very least to send a message to PSU that "supporting the team" is not more important than protecting little boys from being raped.
too bad Paterno isn't alive to face the music. There's no way he didn't know.
Show me proof - not just your opinion.
@wryview - this is a discussion board, not a courtroom, so opinions are absolutely valid and expected. In this case, however, there appears to be a mountain of evidence that many many people, including Paterno, that knew enough about the abuse to do something (as opposed to protecting the accused, which they did).
Unless you are God. Then you already know everything and don't need proof.
wry - just read the report. There's your 'proof'.
The entire report should be released to the public.
If I hear one more time that McQueary never saw 'penetration' so it wasn't sexual abuse I will scream. A naked male adult positioned behind a naked child is wrong on so many levels.
Apparently, you have not been paying attention or have a comprehension problem. They are going to release the FULL report - and probably have by now.
Yes, it is wrong - but not necessarily illegal if he didn't actually "penetrate". And he may have done so, but McQueary didn't see it. Is he supposed to lie and say he did, when he didn't?
Actually a naked adult male up against a naked male child is ILLEGAL, it is called molestation, even if there is no penetration. In NJ there would be a separate charge for "sexual criminal restraint" meaning that the person was restrained in a manor where they could not get away.
I hope you read the report. I already have. I wonder if you have read the full report and if you would still be here defending the non actions of the university.
Gee thanks wry...MSNBC isn't known to change titles or article content abruptly.
I read the report and frankly feel that each of these men should be locked up right beside Sandusky....and for just as long. Put them ALL in the same cell.
wryview... McQueary supposedly heard slapping noises! If he did, perhaps the only way he could've seen actual "penetration" would be if he'd done the human thing and jumped in to beat the living crap out of Sandusky (I personally hold McQueary responsible for not doing so). Just think, had he chose to teach Sandusky a lesson in humanity he would have totally justified, and there's no way anyone could have covered it up. No matter how you look at it, a naked man in a college locker-room shower with a young boy is "WRONG", penetration or not! I honestly think the folks trying to throw a measure of doubt into all this have a moral compass that's pointing south.
Capt T.
It's quite possible that they are missing the compass altogether.
Men, please learn from this. It is not enough to just give your bro a stern lecture and hope that's the end of it. You have got to call the cops. Until this taboo is finally lifted, kids will keep getting hurt.
What you really need to do is realize that a child's life is at stake, and make sure the molester gets called out for what he is and legal action is taken so that no child gets hurt like that again. Sing it from the rooftops. Do not whisper a suspicion to your boss and then take no further responsibility, sit back and watch for years as it continues. What a crock.
I was molested as a child and I am a student at Penn State. I am Penn State.
The students who are football players right now did not join Sandusky in that shower or that basement. In fact, they are the same age as his victims. Why do you want to punish them?
Sandusky was not Penn State. His back porch faced the playground of my elementary school. I am creeped out and at least as angry about this situation as you all are.
But a football program is not Penn State. Direct your anger, please, at the people who deserve it. Joe Paterno is not Penn State and he has passed away so he cannot defend himself.
Just because all of the wonderful things about Penn State aren't covered by the media doesn't mean good things don't happen here. We have the largest student run philanthropy in the country and it helps children with cancer.
Bad things happen to children in every town, city, state, and country on this planet. So please only direct your anger at the people who were involved. Not the businesses who depend on income from football games and not students or alumni who had no idea this was going on. Try to make a difference for kids who are being abused if you really care.
I am sorry for what happened to you as a child, but Penn State needs to be called out on this. This needs to never happen again. And the way to do that is to penalize Penn State. The individuals who covered up this crime will be punished also, but it's clear that the institution itself failed to safeguard those kids -- failed to even follow its own instructions for reporting crime. If we only punish the individuals, Penn State as a whole can delude itself into thinking this was just the action of a few bad apples. The University needs to understand that this cannot happen again, and that getting rid of a few people was not enough. The way to do that is hit 'em where it hurts and where it happened -- in the football program.
There will be collateral victims when the football program is suspended, in much the same sort of way that there are collateral victims when any wrongdoer is punished. Think of Sandusky's family, for instance. They are suffering because of his awful crimes, whether or not they believe he's guilty. Sandusky's victims had to endure molestation and then go on the witness stand and have Sandusky's attorney attack their integrity. I'm sorry for the kids in the football program who will miss out on scholarships and career opportunities because of Sandusky, and Penn State coverup.
But not nearly as sorry as I am for that child who Sandusky was raping in the shower until McQueary came up. And then McQueary walked away. He walked away from that kid. That's what he'd been told he should do, rather than called the cops. That's what can never happen again.
I think that at this juncture all football programs should be scrutinized. especially at the so-called elite schools. I am sure this is happening as we speak. it is a lowdown dirty shame that no one will look into it until it is too late. more innocent children maybe suffering as we write all these comments.
what was happening is the same as within the Catholic Church. There is no difference with the abuser or the one covering it up. Both are sick in their own way.
Locker rooms are unsafe. Close them. Its not about punishment. Its about safety.
Okay... the sheeple are at it. A "news" article filled with innuendoes and conclusions but markedly absent with facts is given an NBC Stamp and now it's gospel.
First of all, why is there no foundation to the "LEGAL REQUIREMENTS" established in this article? Because Pennsylvania is very specific about the legal process. Let's try being objective here. It was never about the football program. It's about the safety of minor children. So you think you can just print their names in the paper? Do you think you can call a county mounty and he automatically is trained in handling the intricacies of child abuse? Do you think it's the "right thing" to do to launch a private inquiry into a matter where the child wants nothing but anonimity?
Do you think you have all the answers?
You don't. Child abuse laws, written under the guidance of "EXPERTS", are quite specific when it comes to who, and how, investigations are conducted. Children are extremely vulnerable AFTER AN ATTACK, and if the investigation is NOT HANDLED CORRECTLY, the prosecution fails because the evidence is either inadmissable or the accused party has had rights infringed upon.
Let's stop with the "looking back we now know that Paterno should have done more...". Until you open up the statutes and define what the process was, you are merely blogging hints to sell storylines.
Who truly dropped the ball? Who was SUPPOSED to notify the authorities and failed to do so. The law states - ANY SUSPECTED ABUSE MUST BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY .
Why are we lumping the crony president in with paterno? The law does not give him or her any wiggle room. If any suspicion, the matter is reported to the state so experts can conduct the investigation.
It seems that the cover up is still going on, and NBC is playing just as much of a role in it as the administration did. Blaming it all on a defenseless dead man while the living CEO gets to slip out the back door.
And the sheeple are buying it all.... lock stock and barrel. Wake up people!
The problem is the original sin back in 1998. A good read is the testimony by two of the officers involved. One was talking and the other one wasn't but when the second officer was finally quoted, he said he believed an illegal act was committed and he said as much back when it happened. We also know that the administration, and by default that Paterno, were told about it as that was the campus procedure at the time. In employee management training this issue is raised quite often. The first time a new manager faces a moral dilemma it is critical they make the right decision as what they do on that 1st incident has consequences for their entire career. Statistically it has also shown that people who consider themselves the most holy are the ones that will have the biggest lapse in morality. It has something to do with they feel they are holier than though so they can make these types of decisions and it is justified in their minds. Instead of doing the right thing back in 1998 Paterno and company wanted it, the boy and the mother to go away and they were looking for an excuse to get rid of the story. Sandusky probably cried alligator tears and they took him at his word and so they then used their influence to bury the story. Cut to a few years later when Sandusky is caught in the shower with a boy on campus. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for the meeting with Paterno and the administrators after Paterno was told of the shower incident. They knew they were doomed as these men were not idiots and all they had to do was put two and two together from back in 1998 and their careers and reputations were over. From that day forward it was a slippery slope and it was all about denial, denial, denial. This is not a new story as we can look at recent history for many similar examples. Sandusky knew the weaknesses of these men as that is what he does and he used what he knew about them to set them up and he owned their butts after that.
Give me a break. Since when did you become a psychologist to interpret peoples motives you don't know? Just because an officer offered hisopinion that an illegal act occurred, doesn't mean you can charge someone with a crime without any evidence, Sounds to me like you are ready for Russia and Commiunist society to take over. Number 1 buddy, it was a sting operation and a detective was listening in to Sandusky being questioned by police with the mother there and the boy. You make up these lies about Sandusky crying alligator tears without any evidence that happened just to prove your point which is false. The young boy stated there was no sexual encounter. The boys mom knew after the sting operation there was no sexual assault. The police investigators also had nothing to charge Sandusky with because there was no evidence, Even child welfare cleared Sandusky for God's sakes. yet you accuse Penn State and Paterno of covering this up, not alerting authorities, and wanting to get rid of the mom and boy to protect the football program, yet you have no evidence. It is all your conjecture, idea of what happened, and opinion. No facts whatsoever, You cannot charge someone with a crime just because YOU think he or she is guilty. Thats why we have Courts and laws that say you are guilty until proven innocent. As far as McCreary is concerned. he lied. he stated to Paterno that he didn't see anything and only heard sexual sounding noises. McCreary told his own Father he never saw anything and his Father testified to that in Court. McCreary also told a friend he never saw anything. Only heard noises. yet Freeh says he actually saw the rape take place! Where did he get that from? Maybe McCreary lied at the Grand Jury and said he saw it. He didn't tell anyone else that. If he saw it, why are you all not jumping down his throat for leaving the scene of a crime and not calling police? You give him a pass when he should be held responsible if he actually saw something. To me the Louis Freeh report is a joke. He said right in his report, " It is safe to "assume from the evidence" that Paterno and Penn State covered up. I saw the e-mails he "believes" incriminate Penn State and they have no mention of anything sexual. Nothing. Louis Freeh "assumed" his way to national stardom as a good little prosecutor would do in a court of law trying to prove his case. We stand for Joe Paterno because he is not the man Louis Freeh "assumes" he is. I want a truthful report, not a report that is a witch hunt looking to blame others because thats the kind of vigilante justice we want. I have had enough of American's looking on the surface and judging others and not looking any deeper for answers other than what they want to hear. The Court of public opinion prevails, not the truth. And I am not talking about Sandusky here. I am talking about Paterno. Stop condemning and look at your own selfish attitudes for a change.
"With some blame falling on the culture of college football"? Elaborate MSNBC please duh!
I hate to say it, but I have to think Joe tried to keep this quiet...I hope it is not so, but how could he not have known?
He knew .. they all did. Burn this school down .. salt the earth after ... put all people involved into prison. For all you people defending the rape of children ... hang your heads in shame.
The entire football leadership is criminally involved. Close the program, and do NOT look for replacements. They will be equally guilty.
"Mamas don't let your babies grow up to play football,
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such."
I have to agree - People have let the celebrity status of sports completely over-ride anything near good moral behaviour. Anyone aware of child abuse in ANY situation and turns a blind eye or aids in covering it up and then cries that they are not responsible because of "blah-blah-blah" is a whoremonger and lascivious demon straight out of hell where they have a reserved seat.