Nine years ago, on a Friday night in March, a Penn State graduate assistant was putting some new sneakers in his locker in the Penn State football building. He heard some odd sounds from the shower, and curious, he walked over to look.
In the shower, according to a Pennsylvania grand jury, was former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky, who still had an office at the athletic complex, engaging in sexual acts with a 10-year-old boy. The grad assistant fled from the scene and called his father, who told him to report what he saw to Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
Paterno called Penn State athletic director Tim Curley to let him know that the grad assistant had seen Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to the boy." The result? Sandusky was told not to bring any more children to campus. That's it. Keep your problem away from us. No report to police in town. No criminal investigation. Instead, Sandusky kept his office and continued to work out in the Penn State weight room.
Now, thanks to a later incident, Sandusky has been arrested for 40 counts of sexual abusing boys, many of which occurred after the 2002 incident. Curley, the AD, along with Gary Schultz, a university vice president, have been arrested for perjury.
And Paterno? He had a press conference scheduled today at which he should have retired. Instead, it was canceled moments ago. The New York Times is reporting, however, that Penn State may be maneuvering to dismiss the coach.
Paterno has thus far deflected blame, saying that Sandusky fooled him and others. But Paterno had talked to someone who said he saw Sandusky in a shower with a 10-year-old boy. The coach never went to law enforcement. He made the one call he was required to make, but not the one he was morally obligated to.
Said Pennsylvania state police commissioner Frank Noonan:
"I think you have the moral responsibility, anyone. Not whether you're a football coach or a university president or the guy sweeping the building. I think you have a moral responsibility to call us."That includes, by the way, everyone involved in the incident, including the grad assistant who saw the incident but also never apparently went to police. Each of them, including Paterno, did the easy and the wrong thing - they pushed the problem onto someone else. And so, more boys were likely molested.
For that, Paterno has to live with himself. He should do so in retirement, quickly.
Peter St. Onge
Posts
24 comments:
You are wrong, and I think you know it. Going to the police the day after the crime was committed with second hand information would have been considered hearsay. What was he supposed to say? "I was told that yesterday, a grad assistant thought the assistant coach (Sandusky) was doing inappropriate things to a child? First question back from the police would be: "do you have a discription of the child", Paterno - "well, no, I was told by somebody else".
This is the main reason the AD is in hot water. The graduate assistant had a moral obligation to take it to the police, and Sandusky's superior - the AD had a responsibilty to investigate the matter, and contact the police.
Pushed up the chain of command?
Maybe.
I'm not defending anyone, only defending due process and that's what is missing here.
Based on the "allegations", I would agree there stands a very good chance all of this is in fact true, but to go witch hunting at this point is wreckless.
Why was it soley Paterno's responsibility at the time? Why wasn't it the grad student? Why wasn't it the people Paterno, following the guidelines, reported the allegations to and then finally, why didn't the university itself report the alleged incident?
There will be plenty of blame to go around later.
Armadillo, the witness, a grad student was also a former player, someone Paterno knew for years. This was a credible witness. What did Joe Pa do to Sandusky, ban him from the campus or at least the football locker room? No, he told him not to bring any children in with him, so Joe Pa was OK with what Sandusky did with those kids as long as he did it at home.
The sad fact is Paterno will retire in the next few day and live off his taxpayer funded pension. He should be fired with cause and have his pension revoked. He really should be in jail for allowing what happened to those kids, but he chose to protect himself only.
Dear armadillo, you're a jackass. Just about as stupid as the whole lot "chain of command", which includes Paterno. I'm sure this kids life has been destroyed (they still don't know who he is) and you're worrying about legalities! It's everyone's responsibility to report a crime, especially one of this nature. Get your priorities straight!
Ghoul - obviously you don't understand. JoePa is not the police, he was not even consitered to be Sandusky's boss, as he did not work for the University at the time. No matter if the grad assistant was a credible witness, he was required to take it to the AD, JoePa's boss. It is easy to point fingers after the fact, but JoePa did not witness the crime, and was not even told the same day. Sandusky did not work for or even with PennState at the time. Had he not told the AD and VP of the University the same day it was relayed to him, sure burn him at the stake.
So, because he followed protocol and alerted the University and AD to what was going on, and the grad assistant did not alert teh police, he should be fired? He should loose his pension? So is JoePa responsible for the kids he molested before this happened?
I agree, plenty of blame to go around, but the AD and VP of the University tried to cover it up, and the grad assistant who witnessed the illicit act should have been the ones to take it to the police.
BTW - you may want to get your facts straight, it was the AD who told him to not brings kids to the University, and he did not work or the University or JoePa, he merely kept an office at the football facility.
mama2sky - so his life would have been fine had he alerted police, like it would not have happened? It still would have been hearsay, by a non witnessed event? Not saying he is a saint, yes it could have been handled differently, but obviously the court did not find that he was guilty.
Apparently, journalists have been told that the head coach of a football team is responsible for everything that goes on at the University. Thus, the AD at Penn State gets a pass on this, and thus, Holden Thorp gets a pass on the tutoring problem at UNC that was under his supervision at the time.
Let's fire the football coach whenever someone does something wrong.
armadillo is totally wrong. If you hear about sexual abuse of a child - you go to the police and report what you know. It's the job of the police to investigate and find out the truth.
For anybody defending Joe Paterno and all the other Penn State officials associated with this case, ask yourself one question, what would you do if it was your child being sexually abused? How would you react? If you answer this question with the same "chain of command" crap then you are foolish. Bottom line, if I were walking down a street, on campus, on the moon, anywhere and I witnessed a child being sexually abused, then I would first try to intervene, then I would call the police and report what I saw....period, end of story. Anything else is a cover-up or a matter of selfish CYA or protect the program. How anyone is having a hard time seeing this is unbelievable. It doesn't matter that Joe Pa didn't witness the incident, the fact that he was informed by a grad assistant means that he should have not only contacted the AD, but also campus police and local authorities. Bottom line, everyone who has had knowledge of this incident and failed to act should be terminated at minimum, especially considering that they are employed at a tax-payer state supported institution. Heads should roll.
@ Jason, the coach was informed! by a grad assistant! sexual abuse occuring on his campus in his athletic facilities, by one of his colleagues!!!! at that point he has an obligation to take action, beyond reporting to the AD, who is actually powerless by comparison to the coach in this case...Joe Pa takes action on everything else in his program but this? Come on! You have to be kidding me! I'm not saying that Joe Pa is guilty of a crime or condones this behavior, but he is guilty of failing to take appropriate action to ensure it doesn't happen again and to protect innocent children.
When we are talking about abuse of children, then you have to take all allegations seriously! Not sweep things under the rug,.."oh well, I told my boss, so now I'll move on"...no follow-up?, nothing? Seriously? Joe Pa, like most head coaches at major college football programs, is the face of Penn State, he's more powerful than the AD, and most faculty except for the school president. He has to know better than to just stop with the AD? It is incredible that people can't see what this is. Again I ask, what if that was your child being abused?
Joe Paterno is a dirtbag. He should resign from ChildMolester State U.
Legally, Joe Paterno would not have been justified in making accusations against Sandusky. He was not a witness to the alleged event. He made a report to his AD as is appropriate.
Had he gone to the police, he would have been making several mistakes, actually. 1) As an employee of the institution, he is not authorized to speak on the University's behalf for any and all matters. He is authorized to give press conferences as the head football coach. 2) He is not the Human Resources contact, he is not the public relations contact, and therefore PSU policy may in fact bar him from acting as a University representative in this matter. When employed at an institution like a major university, you are usually contractually obligated to a clause that says you will not represent the university in any media matters and/or criminal investigations unless specifically authorized to do so. Usually, only the AD, provost, and board of trustees are given the go-ahead to speak on the university's behalf. 3) He was not a witness to the alleged abuse. Had he chosen to bypass protocol, he would probably have been told by police that they could not investigate without the eyewitness giving a sworn statement. Second-hand knowledge of an alleged crime does not constitute proof to warrant an investigation.
@Reality check, when it comes to reporting a crime, none of that matters, no one was asking Joe Pa to hold a press conference or make a public statemeent to police, implicating Sandusky of a crime, I'm wondering why Joe Pa wouldn't go to local police as a private citizen who happens to be the most powerful man at Penn State and ask them to investigate a crime that may have taken place on campus, in public, in his athletic facilities, especially a crime such as this that if it is not handled, will more than likely happen repeatedly as it obviously did. This was no random, spontaneous crime...it was behavior that was allowed to continue due to the fact that employees of this University, including Joe Pa, failed to act. Joe Pa going to the police did not have to be a "public" act or "media event"...he would go as a citizen to report something that the police should know about. Your points do not speak to the real issue.
It's easy. The law states that if you suspect child abuse or neglect, you are to report it to the authorities and let them sort it out. No more complicated than that. He was told. He didn't want to believe it and wanted someone else to take responsibility. He violated the law. He should suffer the dame sanctions you or I would. Period.
Also, we are not talking about allegations about someone that Joe Pa didn't know, a stranger. This person was Joe Pa's friend, colleague, former assistant.... this is even more reason that more should have been done. It's not like we are talking about stealing or embezzlement, we are talking about child abuse....and this behavior continued for years....noting said, nothing done. Remember, there are multiple victims and multiple allegations, not just one.
Armadillo, again Paterno heard of the allegation, it looks like on more than one occasion. Why did he continue to allow Sandusky into the football facilities? Paterno could have banned him, but he chose not to. That makes him just as guilty as Sandusky in my eyes, he condoned the crime by allowing it to go on.
If I saw Paterno on the street today, I'd spit in his face. He is a disgrace to the human race.
Paterno is guilty, period and so is the entire adminstration all the way up to the top. Paterno knew about this back in freaken 2002 and what was done about it? Not one friggen thing.
Paterno has more power on campus than anyone period. thanks for the ignorance dillo.
In the end we all know Paterno will go along with most of the school administration. They are only prolonging the agony for the school and fans.
What's not said here is this...Did Paterno confront his friend and longtime Assistant Coach? There must have been some conversation in order for someone to tell Sandusky he could no longer bring young kids on the campus. On top of all of that, what was he doing with a young kid on campus in the first place? Working out? 10 year olds don't workout. It's beyond sad, it does look like a cover-up and it looks like from the outside that Paterno protected his long time friend and Assistant rather than this child. No one wins! I realize Paterno has this clean and good reputation, but as we know one bad decision can ruin a reputation in a New York minute. It cannot be un-done and Paterno's love for Penn State should not get in the way of doing the right thing, admitting his judgement got blurred.
To armadillo....I absolutely agree with you 100%! To all the others....do your research! Armadillo is correct, if joe p. was to have called the police they would have asked specific questions like the time and date, the description of the boy, if he recognized the boy or if the boy was struggling to be released etc. with these questions joe p. would not be able to give an appropriate report without the police considering it hearsay. POLICE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO WANT TO TALK WITH THE PERSON THAT WITNESSED THE CRIME! What could joe p. have told the police without them wanting to speak to the graduate assistant afterwards? For all the police know joe p's allegations could have been false....
I think he should not be held responsible for this, personally I think it was the assistants obligation to report the incident to the police as he was the bare witness. The only mistake Joe P. made was not instructing the the assistant to report what he had seen to the correct party.
Joe Paterno is a legend! Anyone who watches college sports knows this very well! He doesn't deserve this, he's given 46 years to penn state he is a part of history!
Penn. state law requires any state employee (Penn. State)having knowledge of a sexual or physical relations with a minor, must report it to the Police Dept. All individuals involved at Penn. State should be fired and face the judicial system.
Does anyone understand what an honor code is? Penn State doesn't have one. If they did, Joe has left the building.
Post a Comment