Joe Paterno 1926 - 2012

[NeedMoreLike84]

He had first hand eyewitness testimony. He did the bare minimum and went on with his life.

Because of this, more children were raped. His accountability is huge.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Sure he is. But I wasn't discussing accountability here. I was just pointing out that I think the word choice of "allowing multiple rape on children," is ridiculous. It is as ridiculous as thinking a two year old would have malicious intent against a laptop.

I don't know if the phrasing is ridiculous. I mean, it appears to me he should have strongly suspected something was amiss, and it appears his actions weren't as strong as the could have, and I'd say, should have, been. He basically turned a blind eye to / willfully ignored / forgot the possibility Sandusky was continuing to do these things once he passed it on to his superiors.

I think it can be fairly claimed or termed he helped allow it, though there certainly are others more responsible.

[ScrubBeaterUpper]

He allowed it.

The authorities did too. I blame them first. Sandusky admitted to showering w/children before 2002. He even apologized to the mother in the presence of detectives. How do you not keep a closer eye on this guy? This is what I am not getting. The authorities knew too.

Everyone keeps asking why JoePa did not contact the authorties... the authorities knew, it is in the GJ papers....

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

The authorities did too. I blame them first. Sandusky admitted to showering w/children before 2002. He even apologized to the mother in the presence of detectives. How do you not keep a closer eye on this guy? This is what I am not getting. The authorities knew too.

Everyone keeps asking why JoePa did not contact the authorties... the authorities knew, it is in the GJ papers....

Yup, the authorities dropped the ball, as did Joe's superiors, and they are more culpable.

Doesn't mean Joe isn't culpable for his relative inaction.

[ScrubBeaterUpper]

Yup, the authorities dropped the ball, as did Joe's superiors, and they are more culpable.

Doesn't mean Joe isn't culpable for his relative inaction.

People are damning Joe "for not going to the Police"..... The Police already knew.... and they made Sandusky say he was sorry. Big can of worms are being opened if we blame any school teacher, football coach. dept store manager for not doing the Authorites job for them. JoePa not being a hero does not mean he is a goat either. Not knowing how to handle the situation perfectly should not kill his legacy like it has.

Did he admit to showering with children? Yes. Was he still allowed to be around children and run a youth charity? Yes. Did the authorities know? Yes?..... So sick. So fundamentally sick.

[tiger337]

It seems as if Paterno didn't do as much as he could have given his status as a leader, but he's way down low on the list of people that I would blame. People whose job it is to investigate these crimes were totally negligent.

[John_Brian_K]

Well, now it seems as if it's official. Sad day.

I am trying really hard not to dog a dude right after he dies...I guess the only thing I will say is that he lived a long life and I typically do not mourn someone (Someone I do not know anyway) that lived a long life.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

People are damning Joe "for not going to the Police"..... The Police already knew.... and they made Sandusky say he was sorry.

Lots of people say lots of things. It isn't that uncommon for people to be mis-informed.

Big can of worms are being opened if we blame any school teacher, football coach. dept store manager for not doing the Authorites job for them. JoePa not being a hero does not mean he is a goat either. Not knowing how to handle the situation perfectly should not kill his legacy like it has.

I think Joe absolutely should have stepped in and not allowed Sandusky on campus after the incident. I think most people would have done that. Or at least I would expect that out of most people, especially someone who had publically embraced the idea of winning the right way / doing things the right way.

Beyond that, it is pretty speculative. I am amazed so little was done to Sandusky. It frankly lends itself to the speculation that PSU stepped in and used their influence to bury it, but I won't claim that because I have no clue, and that is an irresponsible thing (IMO) to contend with no evidence or support. But I don't doubt a significant number of people believe that, and view Paterno at the head of that engine.

Did he admit to showering with children? Yes. Was he still allowed to be around children and run a youth charity? Yes. Did the authorities know? Yes?..... So sick. So fundamentally sick.

Yes. It boggles the mind.

[ROMAD1]

Had my PSU friend throw the grief card in my face about Joe Paterno today...I ignored him. Its just crazy talk from crazy people at this point. The person you worshiped was a bad guy. If Matt Millen likes Paterno...the transitive explains itself.

[Oblong]

Joe could have went to PSU and said "If you guys don't do something about this, I'm resigning and holding a press conference as to why."

In some sense he had the most power than the police because he had the biggest status. Some cop making $30,000 a year working for campus police has a lot to lose by going public with this.

Joe had nothing to lose other than football games.

[bluefan75]

I kind of agree with you here. Joe Pa deserves a little better than what his fiercest critics are giving him. The parents first and foremost are responsible for contacting police. Heck, one victims parents did contact the authorites. The police knew about this Sandusky guy pre-2002. Noone did anything, Joe Pa gets all the blame here? I mean the police were contacted and even interviewed Sandusky (w the parents of one victim) how long before this story broke?

Noone did anything. Joe Pa is far down the line in the list of bad guys here......

So, let's get this straight. Paterno's power was such that if he wanted to declare Feb 6th as a state holiday because he had taken the biggest crap of his life, the state legislature would drop what it was doing and get it done within the hour. Anyone care to dispute that?

Secondly, Sandusky gets investigated in 1998, but he is not brought to trial because the assistant DA did not think he had a more than solid shot at conviction. But Sandusky is no longer on the staff after 1999. Given that he had been on the staff for 30 years, it takes something pretty big to get him off the staff. There is no way Paterno does not know something is up. Sorry, that is too big a leap to say he had no idea, and Sandusky's termination was coincidental. Then in 2002 he gets information that something else quite similar happened. So he tells his boss, and leaves it at that.

Now, the guy who, as we said, could get a state holiday passed if he wanted, doesn't see to it that Sandusky doesn't at least have his facilities access revoked, if not more, and yet, he is way down on the list?

Sorry, not buying.

[Oblong]

RIght. Paterno was lower in terms of rank but in terms of status he was at the top of PSU. If he wanted this resolved he could have.

[DaYooperASBDT]

Joe Paterno made one big mistake in 62 years. A better track record than any of us will ever be able to claim.

When the 2002 incident went down, Paterno had been there 52 years already. Should he have done more? Yes. But when your superiors, the police, and the prosecutor have all given Sandusky a pass, and when your workplace is such a huge part of your very identity, I can see how he "wished it away" at that point. Also, do we know what discussions took place between Paterno and Sandusky? Another thing to keep in mind - Paterno did serve a year in the Army, and could have held very old-fashioned ideas about "chain of command", when dealing with personnel matters. The testimony on Page 178 (link below) by Paterno clearly states that Curley "would handle it appropriately. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in (him)".

I think time will be very kind to Joe Paterno - he did more for that school than anyone in history.

BTW, here's a link to the court testimony. McCreery states that he did not mention anal intercourse or sodomy to Paterno - only that Sandusky had the boy in the shower and there was inappropriate behavior, in Paterno's words "fondling": http://www.dauphincounty.org/_files/3193.pdf

[potthole]

Joe Paterno made one big mistake in 62 years. A better track record than any of us will ever be able to claim.

Eh, I dunno about that. I may make more mistakes, but I don't think they will ever amount to the "one" that Paterno has under his belt. And I would contend he probably has quite a few more mistakes, of varying sizes and offenses, that haven't seen the light of day.

[zimm]

Joe Paterno made one big mistake in 62 years. A better track record than any of us will ever be able to claim.

no, Paterno made 1 horrible, unthinkably bad mistake, and then proceeded to make it again every day for 9 years.

[Lousluggage]

And keep in mind that by being hard on Paterno for this, people could very well convince others to not 'leave it up to other officials' should they find themselves in a similar situation.

[DTroppens]

Joe could have went to PSU and said "If you guys don't do something about this, I'm resigning and holding a press conference as to why."

In some sense he had the most power than the police because he had the biggest status. Some cop making $30,000 a year working for campus police has a lot to lose by going public with this.

Joe had nothing to lose other than football games.

What people keep trying to ignore. This is exactly right. This about kids being molested. You do what you have to do to stop it. Governor, state rep, senator, police or president - no one had more power on that campus than Paterno. He chose not to use it.

[DTroppens]

BTW, here's a link to the court testimony. McCreery states that he did not mention anal intercourse or sodomy to Paterno - only that Sandusky had the boy in the shower and there was inappropriate behavior, in Paterno's words "fondling": http://www.dauphincounty.org/_files/3193.pdf

If I could use the word fondling concerning a child in the shower, red lights, bells and whistles would be going off all over the place.

[ROMAD1]

Eh, I dunno about that. I may make more mistakes, but I don't think they will ever amount to the "one" that Paterno has under his belt. And I would contend he probably has quite a few more mistakes, of varying sizes and offenses, that haven't seen the light of day.

OJ only made one mistake in all those year...but he was such a good running back. He made the Bills what they are today.

[Motor City Sonics]

If I could use the word fondling concerning a child in the shower, red lights, bells and whistles would be going off all over the place.

A grown man and a child should not even be taking LEGITIMATE showers together.

[DTroppens]

A grown man and a child should not even be taking LEGITIMATE showers together.

True

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

A grown man and a child should not even be taking LEGITIMATE showers together.

Well, the family locker room at the Y or health club comes to mind.

But, yeah, there is no good reason for Sandusky to have taken a shower with a strange child, and whether it was called nothing, fondling, or full on rape, it should have elicited more of a response out of Joe.

[John_Brian_K]

If I could use the word fondling concerning a child in the shower, red lights, bells and whistles would be going off all over the place.

According to the original report he heard 'slapping sounds' consistent with the sounds of wet flesh smacking wet flesh in a meaty way.

And saw the kid up against the wall with his hands on the wall of the shower and Sandusky standing behind him.

[John_Brian_K]

I suspect he died of a broken heart...

More like a guilty consience

FTR:

For those who are like me and think Paterno should have done more and cannot understand why he didn't do more and that any kids molested after he knew and turned a blind eye..you are correct.

I think there is a group of people playing devils advocate because we do not know ALL the details about what he knew, didn't know, when he knew it etc. I would put money on the fact that those of you in this group still think Paterno should have done more or that he is not squeaky clean in the whole thing.

For those who think he did nothing wrong? I just; personally, want to say I think you are garbage.

[John_Brian_K]

Let's be honest here. JoePa has been under pressure to resign from various quarters on and off for a number of years. If he had gotten out in front of the question of Sandusky he gives his critics ammunition for a coaching change whether Sandusky turns out to be guilty or not - they can play it bad for Joe either way. So what it amounts to is that a human being, when presented an opportunity to exhibit a higher order of moral courage at probable personal cost, declined to do.

It's depressing, but that standard is basically a standard of heroism, not everyday life.

Pressure to resign from whom exactly?

You are saying that when Paterno first hears about this and comes out about it that it somehow gives his 'critics' (whoever the hell they are) ammunition to boot him out? How do you come to that conclussion? You have a one guy doing bad things...if Paterno does the RIGHT thing from the start we are talking about the Saint Paterno in State College and not a fraction of people saying his legacy is marred.

I 100% disagree that if he does the right thing and comes out about it when he hears it that he somehow would be 'ran out of town' by 'various quarters'. Even if it proves to be untrue.

[John_Brian_K]

Did everyone here that is 'defending' him read the report?

Take a peak below:



INTRODUCTION
We, the members of the Thirty-Third Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, having received and reviewed evidence regarding violations of the Crimes Code occurring in Centre County, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere pursuant to Notice of Submission of Investigation No.1, do hereby make the following findings of fact and recommendation of charges.



FINDINGS OF FACT
The Grand Jury conducted an investigation into reported sexual assaults of minor male children by Gerald A. Sandusky ("Sandusky") over a period of years, both while Sandusky was a football coach for the Pennsylvania State University ("Penn State") football team and after he retired from coaching. Widely known as Jerry Sandusky, the subject of this investigation founded The Second Mile, a charity initially devoted to helping troubled young boys. It was within The Second Mile program that Sandusky found his victims.
Sandusky was employed by Penn State for 23 years as the defensive coordinator of its Division I collegiate football program. Sandusky played football for four years at Penn State and coached a total of 32 years. While coaching, Sandusky started "The Second Mile" in State College, Pennsylvania, in 1977. It began as a group foster home dedicated to helping troubled boys. It grew into a charity dedicated to helping children with absent or dysfunctional families. It is now a statewide, three region charity and Sandusky has been its primary fundraiser. 1 The Second Mile raises millions of dollars through fundraising appeals and special events. The mission of the program is to "help children who need additional support and would benefit from positive human interaction." Through The Second Mile, Sandusky had access to hundreds of boys, many of whom were vulnerable due to their social situations.
1 Sandusky retired from The Second Mile in September 2010.
VICTIM 1
The Grand Jury conducted an investigation into the reported sexual assault of a minor child, Victim 1, by Sandusky, when Victim 1, a Second Mile participant, was a houseguest at Sandusky's residence in College Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. During the course of the multi-year investigation, the Grand Jury heard evidence that Sandusky indecently fondled Victim 1 on a number of occasions, performed oral sex on Victim 1 on a number of occasions and had Victim 1 perform oral sex on him on at least one occasion.
Victim 1 testified that he was 11 or 12 years old when he met Sandusky through The Second Mile program in 2005 or 2006. As with the remaining victims, Victim 1 only came to Sandusky's attention during his second year in the program, when the boy attended The Second Mile's camp on the Penn State University Park campus. During the 2007 track season, Sandusky began spending time with Victim 1 weekly, having the boy stay overnight at his residence in State College, Pennsylvania. Sandusky took Victim 1 to professional and college sporting events, such as Philadelphia Eagles games, or pre-season practices at Penn State. When Victim 1 slept at the Sandusky residence, he would sleep in a finished bedroom in the basement. Occasionally, other boys would also stay overnight at Sandusky's home but usually it was only Victim 1. Sandusky also encouraged Victim 1 to participate in The Second Mile as a volunteer. Sandusky gave Victim 1 a number of gifts, including golf clubs, a computer, gym clothes, dress clothes and cash. Sandusky took the boy to restaurants, swimming at a hotel near Sandusky's home, and to church.
Victim I testified that Sandusky had a practice of coming into the basement room after he told Victim 1 that it was time to go to bed. Victim 1 testified that Sandusky would "crack his back." He described this as Sandusky getting onto the bed on which Victim 1 was already lying
and rolling under the boy. With Victim 1 lying on top of him, face to face, Sandusky would run
his arms up and down the boy's back and "crack" it. The back-cracking became a ritual at bedtime. Victim 1 said that after Sandusky had cracked his back a number of times, he progressed to rubbing Victim 1's backside while they lay face-to-face on the bed. Victim 1 testified that this began to occur during the summer of 2005 or 2006, before he entered sixth or seventh grade. Sandusky then began to blow on Victim 1's bare stomach. Eventually, Sandusky began to kiss Victim 1 on the mouth. Victim 1 was uncomfortable with the contact and would sometimes try to hide in the basement to avoid Sandusky. Victim 1 testified that ultimately Sandusky performed oral sex on him more than 20 times through 2007 and early 2008. Sandusky also had Victim I perform oral sex on him one time and also touched Victim 1's penis with his hands during the 2007-2008 time period. Victim I did not want to engage in sexual conduct with Sandusky and knew it was wrong. Victim 1 stopped taking Sandusky's phone calls and had his mother tell Sandusky he was not home when Sandusky called. This termination of contact with Sandusky occurred in the spring of 2008, when Victim 1 was a freshman in high school.
Before Victim 1 ceased contact with Sandusky, Sandusky routinely had contact with him at a Clinton County high school where the administration would call Victim lout of activity period/study hall in the late afternoon to meet with Sandusky in a conference room. No one monitored these visits. Sandusky assisted the school with coaching varsity football and had unfettered access to the school.
Victim 1 testified about an incident that occurred one evening at the high school when he and Sandusky were alone in the weight room where there was a rock climbing wall. After Victim 1 fell off the wall a few times, Sandusky lay down on top of him, face to face, and was
rolling around the floor with the boy. No one was able to see Victim 1 and Sandusky because of
the configuration of the room. Sandusky was lying under Victim 1 with his eyes closed. Suddenly a wrestling coach, Joe Miller, unexpectedly entered the room and Sandusky jumped up very quickly and explained that they had just been wrestling.
Joseph Miller testified that he was head wrestling coach for the elementary wrestling program for that school district. He knew Victim 1, who had wrestled for him. Miller corroborated that one evening in 2006 or 2007, he returned to the high school to retrieve something he had forgotten. He saw a light on in the weight room which should have been turned off and when he went in, he discovered Victim 1 and Sandusky, lying on their sides, in physical contact, face to face on a mat. He said both Victim 1 and Sandusky were surprised to see him enter the room. He recalls that Sandusky jumped up and said, "Hey Coach, we're just working on wrestling moves." Sandusky was not a wrestling coach. Miller found the use of that secluded room odd for wrestling because the bigger wrestling room right outside the weight room had more room to wrestle and more mats. He had seen Victim 1 with Sandusky frequently before the weight room incident. He saw them together after school and before athletic practice time.
Steven Turchetta testified that he was an assistant principal and the head football coach at the high school attended by Victim 1. He testified that Sandusky was a volunteer assistant football coach. Sandusky also worked with children in the Second Mile program in that school district. Turchetta described the Second Mile as a very large charitable organization that helped children who are from economically underprivileged backgrounds and who may be living in single parent households. Turchetta first met Sandusky in 2002 when Sandusky attempted to assist some Second Mile members who were on Turchetta's football team. Sandusky's
involvement grew from there. In the 2008 season, Sandusky was a full-time volunteer coach.
Turchetta said it was not unusual for him, as assistant principal, to call a Second Mile student out of activity period at the end of the day, at Sandusky's request, to see Sandusky. He knew of several students who were left alone with Sandusky, including Victim 1. Turchetta characterized Sandusky as very controlling within the mentoring relationships he established with Second Mile students. Sandusky would often want a greater time commitment than the teenagers were willing to give and Sandusky would have "shouting matches" with various youths, in which Turchetta would sometimes be the mediator. Turchetta would also end up being Sandusky's point of contact for a youth whom he had been unable to reach by phone the previous evening. Turchetta testified that Sandusky would be "clingy" and even "needy" when a young man broke off the relationship he had established with him and called the behavior "suspicious." Turchetta became aware of Victim 1's allegations regarding sexual assault by Sandusky when the boy's mother called the school to report it. Sandusky was barred from the school district attended by Victim 1 from that day forward and the matter was reported to authorities as mandated by law.
Office of Attorney General Narcotics Agent Anthony Sassano testified concerning phone records that establish 61 phone calls from Sandusky's home phone to Victim l's home phone between January 2008 and July 2009. In that same time, there were 57 calls from Sandusky's cell phone to Victim 1's home phone. There were four calls made from Victim l's home phone to Sandusky's cell phone and one call from Victim l's mother's cell phone to Sandusky's cell phone. There were no calls made to Sandusky's home phone by Victim 1 during that time period.
Another youth, F.A., age fifteen, testified that Sandusky had taken him and Victim 1 to a Philadelphia Eagles football game and that Sandusky had driven. He witnessed Sandusky place
his right hand on Victim l's knee; Sandusky had also done this to F.A. on more than one occasion when they were in Sandusky's car. F.A. was uncomfortable when Sandusky did this and moved his leg to try to avoid the contact. Sandusky would keep his hand on F.A.'s knee even after F.A. tried to move it. F.A. also testified that Sandusky would reach over, while driving, and lift his shirt and tickle his bare stomach. F.A. did not like this contact. F.A. also witnessed Sandusky tickling Victim 1 in similar fashion. Sandusky invited F.A. to stay over at his house but F.A. only stayed one time when he knew Victim 1 was also staying over, after returning from the Philadelphia Eagles game. F.A. confirmed that Victim 1 slept in Sandusky's basement room when F.A. stayed there. F.A. testified that he stayed away from Sandusky because he felt he didn't want to be alone with him for a long period of time, based on the tickling, knee touching and other physical contact. Victim 1 confirmed that Sandusky would drive with his hand on Victim 1's leg.
VICTIM 2
On March 1, 2002, a Penn State graduate assistant ("graduate assistant") who was then 28 years old, entered the locker room at the Lasch Football Building on the University Park Campus on a Friday night before the beginning of Spring Break. The graduate assistant, who was familiar with Sandusky, was going to put some newly purchased sneakers in his locker and get some recruiting tapes to watch. It was about 9:30 p.m. As the graduate assistant entered the locker room doors, he was surprised to find the lights and showers on. He then heard rhythmic, slapping sounds. He believed the sounds to be those of sexual activity. As the graduate assistant put the sneakers in his locker, he looked into the shower. He saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal
intercourse by a naked Sandusky. The graduate assistant was shocked but noticed that both
Victim 2 and Sandusky saw him. The graduate assistant left immediately, distraught.
The graduate assistant went to his office and called his father, reporting to him what he had seen. His father told the graduate assistant to leave the building and come to his home. The graduate assistant and his father decided that the graduate assistant had to promptly report what he had seen to Coach Joe Paterno ("Paterno"), head football coach of Penn State. The next morning, a Saturday, the graduate assistant telephoned Paterno and went to Paterno's home, where he reported what he had seen.
Joseph V. Paterno testified to receiving the graduate assistant's report at his home on a Saturday morning. Paterno testified that the graduate assistant was very upset. Paterno called Tim Curley ("Curley"), Penn State Athletic Director and Paterno's immediate superior, to his home the very next day, a Sunday, and reported to him that the graduate assistant had seen Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.
Approximately one and a half weeks later, the graduate assistant was called to a meeting with Penn State Athletic Director Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz ("Schultz"). The graduate assistant reported to Curley and Schultz that he had witnessed what he believed to be Sandusky having anal sex with a boy in the Lasch Building showers. Curley and Schultz assured the graduate assistant that they would look into it and determine what further action they would take. Paterno was not present for this meeting.
The graduate assistant heard back from Curley a couple of weeks later. He was told that Sandusky's keys to the locker room were taken away and that the incident had been reported to The Second Mile. The graduate assistant was never questioned by University Police and no other
entity conducted an investigation until he testified in Grand Jury in December, 2010. The Grand Jury finds the graduate assistant's testimony to be extremely credible.
Curley testified that the graduate assistant reported to them that "inappropriate conduct" or activity that made him "uncomfortable" occurred in the Lasch Building shower in March 2002. Curley specifically denied that the graduate assistant reported anal sex or anything of a sexual nature whatsoever and termed the conduct as merely "horsing around". When asked whether the graduate assistant had reported "sexual conduct" "of any kind" by Sandusky, Curley answered, "No" twice. When asked if the graduate assistant had reported "anal sex between Jerry Sandusky and this child," Curley testified, "Absolutely not."
Curley testified that he informed Dr. Jack Raykovitz, Executive Director of the Second Mile of the conduct reported to him and met with Sandusky to advise Sandusky that he was prohibited from bringing youth onto the Penn State campus from that point forward. Curley testified that he met again with the graduate assistant and advised him that Sandusky had been directed not to use Penn State's athletic facilities with young people and "the information" had been given to director of The Second Mile. Curley testified that he also advised Penn State University President Graham Spanier of the information he had received from the graduate assistant and the steps he had taken as a result. Curley was not specific about the language he used in reporting the 2002 incident to Spanier. Spanier testified to his approval of the approach taken by Curley. Curley did not report the incident to the University Police, the police agency for the University Park campus or any other police agency.
Schultz testified that he was called to a meeting with Joe Paterno and Tim Curley, in which Paterno reported "disturbing" and "inappropriate" conduct in the shower by Sandusky upon a young boy, as reported to him by a student or graduate student. Schultz was present in a
subsequent meeting with Curley when the graduate assistant reported the incident in the shower
involving Sandusky and a boy. Schultz was very unsure about what he remembered the graduate assistant telling him and Curley about the shower incident. He testified that he had the impression that Sandusky might have inappropriately grabbed the young boy's genitals while wrestling and agreed that such was inappropriate sexual conduct between a man and a boy. While equivocating on the definition of "sexual" in the context of Sandusky wrestling with and grabbing the genitals of the boy, Schultz conceded that the report the graduate assistant made was of inappropriate sexual conduct by Sandusky. However, Schultz testified that the allegations were "not that serious" and that he and Curley "had no indication that a crime had occurred." Schultz agreed that sodomy between Sandusky and a child would clearly be inappropriate sexual conduct. He denied having such conduct reported to him either by Paterno or the graduate assistant.
Schultz testified that he and Curley agreed that Sandusky was to be told not to bring any Second Mile children into the football building and he believed that he and Curley asked "the child protection agency" to look into the matter. Schultz testified that he knew about an investigation of Sandusky that occurred in 1998, that the "child protection agency" had done, and he testified that he believed this same agency was investigating the 2002 report by the graduate assistant. Schultz acknowledged that there were similarities between the 1998 and 2002 allegations, both of which involved minor boys in the football showers with Sandusky behaving in a sexually inappropriate manner. Schultz testified that the 1998 incident was reviewed by the University Police and "the child protection agency" with the blessing of then-University counsel Wendell Courtney. Courtney was then and remains counsel for The Second Mile. Schultz confirmed that University President Graham Spanier was apprised in 2002 that a report of an
incident involving Sandusky and a child in the showers on campus had been reported by an
employee. Schultz testified that Spanier approved the decision to ban Sandusky from bringing children into the football locker room and the decision to advise The Second Mile of the 2002 incident.
Although Schultz oversaw the University Police as part of his position, he never reported the 2002 incident to the University Police or other police agency, never sought or reviewed a police report on the 1998 incident and never attempted to learn the identity of the child in the shower in 2002. No one from the University did so. Schultz did not ask the graduate assistant for specifics. No one ever did. Schultz expressed surprise upon learning that the 1998 investigation by University Police produced a lengthy police report. Schultz said there was never any discussion between himself and Curley about turning the 2002 incident over to any police agency. Schultz retired in June 2009 but currently holds the same position as a semor VIce president with Penn State, on an interim basis.
Graham Spanier testified about his extensive responsibilities as President of Penn State and his educational background in sociology and marriage and family counseling. He confirmed Curley and Schultz's respective positions of authority with the University. He testified that Curley and Schultz came to him in 2002 to report an incident with Jerry Sandusky that made a member of Curley's staff "uncomfortable." Spanier described it as "Jerry Sandusky in the football building locker area in the shower [ ] with a younger child and that they were horsing around in the shower." Spanier testified that even in April, 2011, he did not know the identity of the staff member who had reported the behavior. Spanier denied that it was reported to him as an incident that was sexual in nature and acknowledged that Curley and Schultz had not indicated any plan to report the matter to any law enforcement authority, the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare or any appropriate county child protective services agency. Spanier also denied being aware of a 1998 University Police investigation of Sandusky for incidents with children in football building showers.
Department of Public Welfare and Children and Youth Services local and state records were subpoenaed by the Grand Jury; University Police records were also subpoenaed. The records reveal that the 2002 incident was never reported to any officials, in contravention of Pennsylvania law.
Sandusky holds emeritus status with Penn State. In addition to the regular privileges of a professor emeritus, he had an office and a telephone in the Lasch Building. The status allowed him access to all recreational facilities, a parking pass for a vehicle, access to a Penn State account for the internet, listing in the faculty directory, faculty discounts at the bookstore and educational privileges for himself and eligible dependents. These and other privileges were negotiated when Sandusky retired in 1999. Sandusky continued to use University facilities as per his retirement agreement. As a retired coach, Sandusky had unlimited access to the football facilities, including the locker rooms. Schultz testified that Sandusky retired when Paterno felt it was time to make a coaching change and also to take advantage of an enhanced retirement benefit under Sandusky's state pension.
Both the graduate assistant and Curley testified that Sandusky himself was not banned from any Penn State buildings and Curley admitted that the ban on bringing children to the campus was unenforceable.
The Grand Jury finds that portions of the testimony of Tim Curley and Gary Schultz are not credible.
The Grand Jury concludes that the sexual assault of a minor male in 2002 should have been reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and/or a law enforcement agency such as the University Police or the Pennsylvania State Police. The University, by its senior staff, Gary Schultz, Senior Vice President for Finance and Business and Tim Curley, Athletic Director, was notified by two different Penn State employees of the alleged sexual exploitation of that youth. Pennsylvania's mandatory reporting statute for suspected child abuse is located at 23 Pa.C.S. §6311 (Child Protective Services Law) and provides that when a staff member reports abuse, pursuant to statute, the person in charge of the school or institution has the responsibility and legal obligation to report or cause such a report to be made by telephone and in writing within 48 hours to the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. An oral report should have been made to Centre County Children and Youth Services but none was made. Nor was there any 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. The failure to report is a violation of the law which was graded a summary offense in 2002, pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S. §6319?
The Grand Jury finds that Tim Curley made a materially false statement under oath in an official proceeding on January 12,2011, when he testified before the 30th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, relating to the 2002 incident, that he was not told by the graduate assistant that Sandusky was engaged in sexual conduct or anal sex with a boy in the Lasch Building showers.
Furthermore, the Grand jury finds that Gary Schultz made a materially false statement under oath in an official proceeding on January 12, 2011, when he testified before the 30rd Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, relating to the 2002 incident that the allegations made by the
2 The grading of the failure to report offense was upgraded from a summary offense to a misdemeanor of the third degree in 2006, effective May 29, 2007.
graduate assistant were "not that serious" and that he and Curley "had no indication that a crime
had occurred."
VICTIM 3
Victim 3, now age 24, met Sandusky through The Second Mile in the summer of 2000, when he was between seventh and eighth grade. The boy met Sandusky during his second year in the program. Sandusky began to invite Victim 3 to go places with him. Victim 3 was invited to Sandusky's home for dinner, to hang out, walk the family dogs and to go to Penn State football games and to Holuba Hall and the gym. When Victim 3 went to the gym with Sandusky, they would exercise and then shower. He recalls feeling uncomfortable and choosing a shower at a distance from Sandusky. Sandusky then made him feel bad about showering at a distance from him, so Victim 3 moved closer. Sandusky initiated physical contact in the shower with Victim 3 by patting him, rubbing his shoulders, washing his hair and giving him bear hugs. These hugs would be both face to face and with Sandusky's chest to Victim 3's back. Victim 3 said that on at least one occasion, Sandusky had an erection when he bear hugged Victim 3 from behind. He also recalled that when he slept over at Sandusky's residence, he slept in the basement bedroom. He testified that Sandusky would come into the bedroom where he was lying down. He sometimes said he was going to give Victim 3 a shoulder rub; sometimes he would blow on Victim 3's stomach; other times he tickled Victim 3. Sandusky would rub the inside of Victim 3's thigh when he tickled him. On two occasions Victim 3 recalls that Sandusky touched Victim 3's genitals through the athletic shorts Victim 3 wore to bed. Victim 3 would roll over on his stomach to prevent Sandusky from touching his genitals.
Victim 3 knew Victim 4 to spend a great deal of time with Sandusky.
VICTIM 4
The investigation revealed the existence of Victim 4, a boy who was repeatedly subjected to Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse and Indecent Assault at the hands of Sandusky. The assaults took place on the Penn State University Park campus, in the football buildings, at Toftrees Golf Resort and Conference Center ("Toftrees") in Centre County, where the football team and staff stayed prior to home football games and at bowl games to which he traveled with Sandusky. Victim 4, now age 27, was a Second Mile participant who was singled out by Sandusky at the age of 12 or 13, while he was in his second year with The Second Mile program in 1996 or 1997. He was invited to a Sandusky family picnic at which there were several other non-family members and Sandusky's adopted children. Victim 4 described that on that first outing, Sandusky had physical contact with him while swimming, which Victim 4 described as testing "how [Victim 4] would respond to even the smallest physical contact." Sandusky engaged Victim 4 in workouts or sports and then showered with him at the old East locker rooms across from Holuba Hall, the football practice building. Sandusky initiated physical contact with Victim 4 by starting a "soap battle"--throwing a handful of soap at the boy and from there, the fight turned into wrestling in the shower. Victim 4 remembers indecent contact occurring many times, both in the shower and in hotel rooms at Toftrees.
Victim 4 became a fixture in the Sandusky household, sleeping overnight and accompanying Sandusky to charity functions and Penn State football games. Victim 4 was listed, along with Sandusky's wife, as a member of Sandusky's family party for the 1998 Outback Bowl and the 1999 Alamo Bowl. He traveled to and from both bowl games with the football team and other Penn State staff, coaches and their families, sharing the same accommodations. Victim 4 would frequently stay overnight at Toftrees with Sandusky and the football team prior to home
games; Sandusky's wife was never present at Toftrees when Victim 4 stayed with Sandusky.
This was where the first indecent assaults of Victim 4 occurred. Victim 4 would attend the pre¬game banquet and sit with Sandusky at the coaches' table. Victim 4 also accompanied Sandusky to various charity golf outings and would share a hotel room with him on those occasions.
Victim 4 stated that Sandusky would wrestle with him and maneuver him into a position in which Sandusky's head was at Victim 4's genitals and Victim 4's head was at Sandusky's genitals. Sandusky would kiss Victim 4's inner thighs and genitals. Victim 4 described Sandusky rubbing his genitals on Victim 4's face and inserting his erect penis in Victim 4's mouth. There were occasions when this would result in Sandusky ejaculating. He testified that Sandusky also attempted to penetrate Victim 4's anus with both a finger and his penis. There was slight penetration and Victim 4 resisted these attempts. Sandusky never asked to do these things but would simply see what Victim 4 would permit him to do. Sandusky did threaten to send him home from the Alamo Bowl in Texas when Victim 4 resisted his advances. Usually the persuasion Sandusky employed was accompanied by gifts and opportunities to attend sporting and charity events. He gave Victim 4 dozens of gifts, some purchased and some obtained from various sporting goods vendors such as Nike and Airwalk. Victim 4 received clothes, a snowboard, Nike shoes, golf clubs, ice hockey equipment and lessons, passes for various sporting events, football jerseys, and registration for soccer camp. Sandusky even guaranteed Victim 4 he could be a walk-on player at Penn State. Victim 4 was in a video made about linebackers that featured Sandusky, and he appeared with him in a photo accompanying an article about Sandusky in Sports Illustrated.
The Penn State football program relocated to the Lasch Football Building in 1999 and
that facility had a sauna. Victim 4 reported that after the move, most of the sexual conduct that did not occur in a hotel room occurred in the sauna, as the area is more secluded.
Victim 4 remembers Sandusky being emotionally upset after having a meeting with Joe Paterno in which Paterno told Sandusky he would not be the next head coach at Penn State and which preceded Sandusky's retirement. Sandusky told Victim 4 not to tell anyone about the meeting. That meeting occurred in May, 1999.
Eventually, Victim 4 began to intentionally distance himself from Sandusky, not taking his phone calls and at times even hiding in closets when Sandusky showed up at Victim 4's home. Victim 4 had a girlfriend, of whom Sandusky did not approve. Sandusky tried to use guilt and bribery to regain time with Victim 4. Victim 4 had begun to smoke cigarettes and had Sandusky buy them for him. Victim 4 also said that Sandusky once gave him $50 to buy marijuana at a location known to Victim 4. Sandusky drove there at Victim 4's direction and Victim 4 smoked the marijuana in Sandusky's car on the ride home. This was when Victim 4 was trying to distance himself from Sandusky because he wanted no more sexual contact with him.
VICTIM 5
Victim 5, now age 22, met Sandusky through The Second Mile in 1995 or 1996, when he was a 7 or 8 year old boy, in second or third grade. Sometime after their initial meeting at a Second Mile camp at Penn State, Sandusky called to invite the boy to a Penn State football game. Victim 5 was thrilled to attend. Sandusky picked him up at home and then Sandusky drove to pick up Victim 6. There were a couple of other kids in the car. The boys were left at Holuba Hall by Sandusky. They attended the Sandusky family tailgate and the football game. This
became a pattern for Victim 5, who attended perhaps as many as 15 football games as Sandusky's guest. Victim 5 also traveled with Sandusky to watch other college football games. Victim 5 remembers that Sandusky would often put his hand on Victim 5' s left leg when they were driving in Sandusky's car, any time Victim 5 was in the front seat.
Victim 5 was taken to the Penn State football locker rooms one time by Sandusky. Sandusky put his hand on Victim 5's leg during the ride to the locker room. To the best of his recollection, this occurred when he was 8 to 10 years old, sometime during 1996-1998. The locker room was the East Area Locker rooms, next to Holuba Hall. No one was present in the locker rooms. Victim 5 was sweaty from a brief period of exercise and then Sandusky took him in the sauna and "pushed" Victim 5 "around a little bit". Looking back on it as an adult, Victim 5 says it was inappropriate. Sandusky would press his chest and body up against Victim 5's back and then push him away. All the contact was initiated by Sandusky. Then Sandusky said they needed to shower. Victim 5 was uncomfortable because he had never been naked in front of anyone who wasn't a family member. So he turned his back to Sandusky and chose a shower that was a distance away from where Sandusky was showering. Victim 5 looked back over his shoulder and saw that Sandusky was looking at him and that Sandusky had an erection. Victim 5 did not understand the significance of this at the time but still averted his gaze because he was uncomfortable. The next thing he knew, Sandusky's body touched Victim 5 from behind and Sandusky was rubbing Victim 5's arms and shoulders. Victim 5 crept forward and so did Sandusky. Victim 5 then took another step, this time to the right, and Sandusky pinned Victim 5 up against a wall in the corner. Sandusky then took Victim 5's hand and placed it on his erect penis. Victim 5 was extremely uncomfortable and pulled his hand away and slid by Sandusky.
Victim 5 walked out of the shower and dried himself off and got dressed. Sandusky never
touched him again. Victim 5 thinks that he did not get invited to any football games after that.
VICTIM 6
Victim 6, who is now 24 years old, was acquainted with Victim 5 and another young boy in The Second Mile program, B.K.; their interaction with Sandusky overlapped. Victim 6 was referred to the Second Mile program by a school counselor. He met Sandusky at a Second mile picnic at Spring Creek Park when he was seven or eight years old, in 1994 or 1995. After Sandusky interacted with Victim 6 after a skit at the picnic, Sandusky telephoned to invite Victim 6 to tailgate and attend a football game with some other boys. He was picked up by Sandusky. Victim 5, B.K., and other boys were present. They went to Holuba Hall, a football practice building on the Penn State campus, and were left there by Sandusky. They threw footballs around until it was time for them to walk to the tailgate hosted by Sandusky's family and then attended the football game. Victim 6 recalls this pattern repeating many times.
Victim 6 recalls being taken into the locker room next to Holuba Hall at Penn State by Sandusky when he was 11 years old, in 1998. Sandusky picked him up at his home, telling him he was going to be working out. As they were driving to the University, Sandusky put his right hand upon Victim 6's left thigh several times. When they arrived, Sandusky showed Victim 6 the locker rooms and gave him shorts to put on, even though he was already dressed in shorts. They then lifted weights for about 15 or 20 minutes. They played "Polish bowling" or "Polish soccer", a game Sandusky had invented, using a ball made out of tape and rolling it into cups. Then Sandusky began wrestling with Victim 6, who was much smaller than Sandusky. Then Sandusky said they needed to shower, even though Victim 6 was not sweaty. Victim 6 felt awkward and tried to go to a shower some distance away from Sandusky but Sandusky called him over, saying
he had already wanned up a shower for the boy. While in the shower, Sandusky approached the boy, grabbed him around the waist and said, "I'm going to squeeze your guts out." Sandusky lathered up the boy, soaping his back because, he said, the boy would not be able to reach it. Sandusky bear-hugged the boy from behind, holding the boy's back against his chest. Then he picked him up and put him under the showerhead to rinse soap out of his hair. Victim 6 testified that the entire shower episode felt very awkward. No one else was around when this occurred. Looking back on it as an adult, Victim 6 says Sandusky's behavior towards him as an 11 year old boy was very inappropriate.
When Victim 6 was dropped off at home, his hair was wet and his mother immediately questioned him about this and was upset to learn the boy had showered with Sandusky. She reported the incident to University Police who investigated. After a lengthy investigation by University Police Detective Ronald Shreffler, the investigation was closed after then-Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar decided there would be no criminal charges. Shreffler testified that he was told to close the investigation by the director of the campus police, Thomas Hannon. That investigation included a second child, B.K., also 11, who was subjected to nearly identical treatment in the shower as Victim 6, according to Detective Schreffler.
Detective Schreffler testified that he and State College Police Department Detective Ralph Ralston, with the consent of the mother of Victim 6, eavesdropped on two conversations the mother of Victim 6 had with Sandusky on May 13,1998, and May 19,1998. The mother of Victim 6 confronted Sandusky about showering with her son, the effect it had on her son, whether Sandusky had sexual feelings when he hugged her naked son in the shower and where Victim 6's buttocks were when Sandusky hugged him. Sandusky said he had showered with other boys and Victim 6's mother tried to make Sandusky promise never to shower with a boy
again but he would not. She asked him if his "private parts" touched Victim 6 when he bear¬
hugged him. Sandusky replied, "I don't think so...maybe." At the conclusion of the second conversation, after Sandusky was told he could not see Victim 6 anymore, Sandusky said, "I understand. I was wrong. I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won't get it from you. I wish I were dead." Detective Ralston and the mother of Victim 6 confirm these conversations.
Jerry Lauro, an investigator with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, testified that during the 1998 investigation, Sandusky was interviewed on June 1, 1998, by Lauro and Detective Schreffler. Sandusky admitted showering naked with Victim 6, admitted to hugging Victim 6 while in the shower and admitted that it was wrong. Detective Schreffler advised Sandusky not to shower with any child again and Sandusky said that he would not.
The Grand Jury was unable to subpoena B.K. because he is in the military and is stationed outside the United States. VICTIM 7
Victim 7, now 26 years old, met Sandusky through the Second Mile program, to which he was referred by a school counselor at about the age of 10, in 1994. When Victim 7 had been in the program for a couple of years, Sandusky contacted Victim 7's mother and invited Victim 7 to a Penn State football game. He would also attend Sandusky's son's State College High School football games with Sandusky. Victim 7 enjoyed going on the field at Penn State games, interacting with players and eating in the dining hall with the athletes. Victim 7 would stay overnight at Sandusky's home on Friday nights before the home games and then go to the games with him. Sometimes they would go out for breakfast and would attend coaches meetings. Victim 6 was also a part of this group of boys. He knew B.K. and several other boys that were in Sandusky's circle.
Victim 7 testified that Sandusky made him uncomfortable when he was a young boy. He described Sandusky putting his hand on Victim 7's left thigh when they were driving in the car or when they would pull into his garage. Victim 7 eventually reacted to this by sitting as far away from Sandusky as he could in the front seat.
He also described more than one occasion on which Sandusky put his hands down the waistband of Victim 7's pants. Sandusky never touched any private parts of Victim 7. Victim 7 would always slide away because he was very uncomfortable with Sandusky's behavior. Victim 7 described Sandusky cuddling him when he stayed at his home, lying behind him with his arm around the boy. Sandusky also bear-hugged Victim 7 and cracked his back. He also took Victim 7 to Holuba Hall to work out and then to the East Area Locker rooms to shower. Victim 7 was very uncomfortable with this shared showering. Sandusky would tell Victim 7 to shower next to him even though there were multiple other showerheads in the locker room. Victim 7 testified that he has a "blurry memory" of some contact with Sandusky in the shower but is unable to recall it clearly. Victim 7 had not had contact with Sandusky for nearly two years but was contacted by Sandusky and separately by Sandusky's wife and another Sandusky friend in the weeks prior to Victim 7's appearance before the Grand Jury. The callers left messages saying the matter was very important. Victim 7 did not return these phone calls.
VICTIM 8
In the fall of 2000, a janitor named James "Jim" Calhoun ("Jim") observed Sandusky in the showers of the Lasch Building with a young boy pinned up against the wall, performing oral sex on the boy. He immediately made known to other janitorial staff what he had just witnessed.
Fellow Office of Physical Plant employee Ronald Petrosky was also working that evening and recalls that it was football season of 2000 and it was a Thursday or Friday evening,
because the football team was away for its game. Petrosky, whose job it was to clean the showers, first heard water running in the assistant coaches' shower room. He then saw that two people were in the assistant coaches' shower room. He could only see two pairs of feet; the upper bodies were blocked. Petrosky waited for the two persons to exit the shower so he could clean it. He later saw Jerry Sandusky exit the locker room with a boy, who he described as being between the ages of 11 and 13. They were carrying gym bags and their hair was wet. Petrosky said good evening and was acknowledged by Sandusky and the boy. He noted that the hallway in the Lasch building at that point is long and that Sandusky took the boy's hand and the two of them walked out hand in hand. Petrosky began to clean the shower that Sandusky and the boy had vacated. As he worked, Jim approached him. Petrosky described Jim as being upset and crying. Jim reported that he had seen Sandusky, whose name was not known to him, holding the boy up against the wall and licking on him. Jim said he had "fought in the [Korean] war....seen people with their guts blowed out, arms dismembered...! just witnessed something in there I'll never forget." And he described Sandusky performing oral sex on the boy. Petrosky testified that Jim was shaking and he and his fellow employees feared Jim might have a heart attack. Petrosky testified that all the employees working that night except Witherite were relatively new employees. In discussions held later that shift, the employees expressed concern that if they reported what Jim had seen, they might lose their jobs. Jim's fellow employees had him tell Jay Witherite what he had seen.
Jay Witherite was Jim's immediate supervisor. Witherite testified that Jim was "very emotionally upset", "very distraught", to the point that Witherite "was afraid the man was going to have a heart attack or something the way he was acting." Jim reported to Witherite that he had observed Sandusky performing oral sex on the boy in the showers. Witherite tried to calm Jim,
who was cursing and remained upset throughout the shift. Witherite told him to whom he should report the incident, if he chose to report it.
Witherite testified that later that same evening, Jim found him and told him that the man he had seen in the shower with the young boy was sitting in the Lasch building parking lot, in a car. Witherite confirmed visually that it was Sandusky who was sitting in his car in the parking lot. Witherite says that this was between 10:00 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. Petrosky also saw Sandusky drive very slowly through the parking lot about 2 to 3 hours after the incident was reported to him by Jim, at approximately 11 :30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Petrosky recognized Sandusky in his vehicle. Petrosky testified that Sandusky drove by another time, about two hours later, again driving by very slowly but not stopping. The second drive-by was between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Petrosky testified that Sandusky did not enter the building either time. The area is well lit and the coaches' cars were known to Petrosky.
Jim was a temporary employee at the Lasch Building, working there for approximately 8 months. No report was ever made by Jim Calhoun. Jim presently suffers from dementia, resides in a nursing home and is incompetent to testify. Victim 8's identity is unknown.

[Motor City Sonics]

People aren't going to read all that, John. I am not slamming you for trying......It's just that most here won't and most people don't want the gory details.

I am not diminishing all the good he did, but you can't just tell one side of the story. If he was gonna make one big mistake, it could not have been a bigger one.

[Gehringer_2]

Pressure to resign from whom exactly?

You are saying that when Paterno first hears about this and comes out about it that it somehow gives his 'critics' (whoever the hell they are) ammunition to boot him out? How do you come to that conclussion? You have a one guy doing bad things...if Paterno does the RIGHT thing from the start we are talking about the Saint Paterno in State College and not a fraction of people saying his legacy is marred.

I 100% disagree that if he does the right thing and comes out about it when he hears it that he somehow would be 'ran out of town' by 'various quarters'. Even if it proves to be untrue.

Put the history in context. The shower incident occurred in Spring of '02? PSU lost 7 games in 2000, 6 in 2001 and another 4 in 2002 before the program turned back around. In Spring 2002 there was a big contingent in College Station howling that it was already past time for Joe to retire based on the recent record alone. ANY major college coach is in trouble after a losing season, add that he was already past normal retirement and was being criticised for nepotism in the hiring of his son and even a legacy like Paterno's cannot insulate you. PSU did such a good job of re-habbing the program following those down years that people forget that JoPa was on slender thread for a while there.

[T&P_Fan]

Everyone has read the GJ report if they are interested in this case.

I am not saying JoePa didn't do anything wrong. But people here are failing to put it in proper context. Yes, he was powerful, he was the coach, he ran Penn State. But he had no flipping idea about child molestation or how to respond to it. I bet this is one of the few times he went to his superiors because he personally had no idea what he was dealing with.

The whole situation sucks, but I am not going to disregard the great things JoePa did.

[ScrubBeaterUpper]

Everyone has read the GJ report if they are interested in this case.

I am not saying JoePa didn't do anything wrong. But people here are failing to put it in proper context. Yes, he was powerful, he was the coach, he ran Penn State. But he had no flipping idea about child molestation or how to respond to it. I bet this is one of the few times he went to his superiors because he personally had no idea what he was dealing with.

The whole situation sucks, but I am not going to disregard the great things JoePa did.

People like John Brian K are what so called Joe Pa defenders (noone is necessarily defending Joepa's decisions) are debating against. Emotions tend to make us lash out against anybody and everybody we can. He knows he does not like what happended, he is rightfully apalled and needs a name to blame and vent against. Paterno is the name. Attacking the system that failed these kids (DA's, proper authorites) is no fun. I mean, we don't even really know half their names. Paterno? That is a name. The authroties knew and let the guy alone to run a youth charity.

End of story right there. there is your scapegoat. Massive System failure if we expect a coach who was marching toward senility to be our #1 protector of kids. Some will say JoePa is just one guy to blame (and he is) and they dole out more blame to the authorities, but that does not jive with the fact that Paterno alone has taken the brunt. That ain't right, Paterno is not even trained to handle these issues. The authorities are.

[ScrubBeaterUpper]

What people keep trying to ignore. This is exactly right. This about kids being molested. You do what you have to do to stop it. Governor, state rep, senator, police or president - no one had more power on that campus than Paterno. He chose not to use it.

The proper auhtorities have more power than Paterno, even on Penn St campuses. That is ridiculous. This is not some rogue country where citizens are allowed to break laws w/o intervention. If the authorities wanted to stop this, I see nothing that did not allow them to stop it.
They let Sandusky go after ADMITTING inappropriate conduct with a minor.

[John_Brian_K]

People aren't going to read all that, John. I am not slamming you for trying......It's just that most here won't and most people don't want the gory details.

I am not diminishing all the good he did, but you can't just tell one side of the story. If he was gonna make one big mistake, it could not have been a bigger one.

I know and it is a shame. I read it multiple times.

[John_Brian_K]

People like John Brian K are what so called Joe Pa defenders (noone is necessarily defending Joepa's decisions) are debating against. Emotions tend to make us lash out against anybody and everybody we can. He knows he does not like what happended, he is rightfully apalled and needs a name to blame and vent against. Paterno is the name. Attacking the system that failed these kids (DA's, proper authorites) is no fun. I mean, we don't even really know half their names. Paterno? That is a name. The authroties knew and let the guy alone to run a youth charity.

End of story right there. there is your scapegoat. Massive System failure if we expect a coach who was marching toward senility to be our #1 protector of kids. Some will say JoePa is just one guy to blame (and he is) and they dole out more blame to the authorities, but that does not jive with the fact that Paterno alone has taken the brunt. That ain't right, Paterno is not even trained to handle these issues. The authorities are.

Go read the Penn State.....Rape thread I started when this all blew up a few months ago.

I have MULTIPLE times said Paterno is not soley to blame. I have said the exact same thing you are saying. He is the figure head and the face of the organization and he was smack dab in the middle of this mess. That is why he is talked about more than Curley or Schultz. Who the hell knows who Curly and Schultz are?

And if you are not 'Joepa defenders' then what are you? Resigned?

Saying I 'need a name to blame' is insulting. Read the thread I mentioned, educate yourself on my opinion that has been stated MULTIPLE times on the degree of culpability in this specific case. In no way is Paterno at the top, but that doesnt make his actions (turning a blind eye) any less appaling.

And there is no 'scape goat' IMO. There are plenty of guilty parties, but just because there are does not lessen Paternos personal culpabilty...if you cannot see that then we will never see eye to eye on the subject.

You are deflecting Paternos culpability by pointing the finger at someone else. Those people will have their time in court and will most likely serve time for their involvement.

[JayVee]

I refuse to judge the man. I don't know the details, and I won't pontificate either way. I can still be sensitive to the people who are in mourning, whether or not I think they should be.

[John_Brian_K]

People aren't going to read all that, John. I am not slamming you for trying......It's just that most here won't and most people don't want the gory details.

I am not diminishing all the good he did, but you can't just tell one side of the story. If he was gonna make one big mistake, it could not have been a bigger one.

I made a post with the cliffnotes in that Penn State...>Rape thread...it is below:

Cliff notes on the PDF for those who didnt read the whole thing:

8 victims
1998 Public Welfare was contacted about some alledged inapropriate behavior with victim 6
Sandusky admitted to showering with the boy and when asked if his genitials touched the boy he said 'they may have.'
2008 Authorities were called and Grand Jusry investigation basically began

Victim 7 1994 first victim according to time line
Victim 2 2002 in the showers at Penn State that Graduate Assistant witnessed Sandusky having anal sex with a boy
Graduate assistant calls his dad, goes to his dads house
Next day grad assistant and dad tell Paterno
Paterno confirmed the meeting to the grand jury so he knew as of 2002
Paterno tells Tim Curley the next day
1-1/2 weeks later Curley and Schultz tell Grad assistant they will 'look into it'
Grad assistant was never questioned by authority until 2010 grand jury
Grand Jury found grad assistant testimony 'very credible'
Schultz and Curley try to cover it up with a bunch of crap to the Grand Jury
Grand Jury find Curely and Schults testimony 'not credible'
23 Pa.Cs 6311 Statute that requires institutions to report child abuse to authorities...the school has legal obligation
2000 janitor witnessed Sandusky having oral sex with a little boy in the showers
Janitor tells everyone..noone else saw it and janitor never reports it and currently has alzheimers int he hospital (he was 60+ in 2000)

Everything above is fact as stated in the grand jury. The 'M.O.' (modus operandi) in all cases was exactly the same plus minus a few minor details. 'Back cracking', showering, touching, anal sex, oral sex etc etc the truth of this needs to come out because words like 'inapropriate behavior' or 'fondling' doesn't paint the picture for what this guy is acused of doing. 8 victims all telling the same story a couple knowing each other, but according to what I am reading not all of them knew each other.

The Grad Assistant
The Grad Assistants father
Joe Paterno
Tim Curley
Gary Schultz

Should all serve time. The grad assistant, Curley and Schultz more than the rest.

Curley and Schultz tried to cover it up and the assistant actually heard (slapping in the shower) and saw sandusky do this to a little boy.

Who knows how many other victims are out there that were assaulted between 2002 (when they didnt do anything about it) and 2008 when the Grand Jury investigated. Any kids that were harmed between that time are as much on the conscience of the grad assitant and Curley and Schultz as Sandusky.

[John_Brian_K]

The proper auhtorities have more power than Paterno, even on Penn St campuses. That is ridiculous. This is not some rogue country where citizens are allowed to break laws w/o intervention. If the authorities wanted to stop this, I see nothing that did not allow them to stop it.
They let Sandusky go after ADMITTING inappropriate conduct with a minor.

FTR: The below was written before McQueary name was even known.

Cliff notes on the PDF for those who didnt read the whole thing:

8 victims
1998 Public Welfare was contacted about some alledged inapropriate behavior with victim 6
Sandusky admitted to showering with the boy and when asked if his genitials touched the boy he said 'they may have.'
2008 Authorities were called and Grand Jusry investigation basically began

Victim 7 1994 first victim according to time line
Victim 2 2002 in the showers at Penn State that Graduate Assistant witnessed Sandusky having anal sex with a boy
Graduate assistant calls his dad, goes to his dads house
Next day grad assistant and dad tell Paterno
Paterno confirmed the meeting to the grand jury so he knew as of 2002
Paterno tells Tim Curley the next day
1-1/2 weeks later Curley and Schultz tell Grad assistant they will 'look into it'
Grad assistant was never questioned by authority until 2010 grand jury
Grand Jury found grad assistant testimony 'very credible'
Schultz and Curley try to cover it up with a bunch of crap to the Grand Jury
Grand Jury find Curely and Schults testimony 'not credible'
23 Pa.Cs 6311 Statute that requires institutions to report child abuse to authorities...the school has legal obligation
2000 janitor witnessed Sandusky having oral sex with a little boy in the showers
Janitor tells everyone..noone else saw it and janitor never reports it and currently has alzheimers int he hospital (he was 60+ in 2000)

Everything above is fact as stated in the grand jury. The 'M.O.' (modus operandi) in all cases was exactly the same plus minus a few minor details. 'Back cracking', showering, touching, anal sex, oral sex etc etc the truth of this needs to come out because words like 'inapropriate behavior' or 'fondling' doesn't paint the picture for what this guy is acused of doing. 8 victims all telling the same story a couple knowing each other, but according to what I am reading not all of them knew each other.

The Grad Assistant
The Grad Assistants father
Joe Paterno
Tim Curley
Gary Schultz

Should all serve time. The grad assistant, Curley and Schultz more than the rest.

Curley and Schultz tried to cover it up and the assistant actually heard (slapping in the shower) and saw sandusky do this to a little boy.

Who knows how many other victims are out there that were assaulted between 2002 (when they didnt do anything about it) and 2008 when the Grand Jury investigated. Any kids that were harmed between that time are as much on the conscience of the grad assitant and Curley and Schultz as Sandusky.

[sinister porpoise]

Attacking the system that failed these kids (DA's, proper authorites) is no fun. I mean, we don't even really know half their names. Paterno? That is a name. The authroties knew and let the guy alone to run a youth charity.

End of story right there. there is your scapegoat. Massive System failure if we expect a coach who was marching toward senility to be our #1 protector of kids. Some will say JoePa is just one guy to blame (and he is) and they dole out more blame to the authorities, but that does not jive with the fact that Paterno alone has taken the brunt. That ain't right, Paterno is not even trained to handle these issues. The authorities are.

'The authorities knew' what, and who were these people that knew. wrt. police and prosecution are we talking more than a half-dozen people, and might they have had to let it go because lack of evidence?

Joe Paterno shouldn't need special training in order to not allow a child molester around children in his presence yet we are told Sandusky kept himself around PSU and with kids on his arm.

I'm not following the intellectual reason why we should stop criticizing a rape enabler Joe Paterno. I'm sure we all think other people failed to protect kids as well. This thread is titled "Joe Paterno 1926 - 2012" though. The way you protest I'm not sure if its really a matter of everyone should be blamed or if instead you simply don't want to see Paterno blamed.

[Motor City Sonics]

I know and it is a shame. I read it multiple times.

I read it once and never wanted to read it again.......it was disgusting and creepy. scarier than any monster in a horror movie.

[ScrubBeaterUpper]

'The authorities knew' what, and who were these people that knew. wrt. police and prosecution are we talking more than a half-dozen people, and might they have had to let it go because lack of evidence?

Joe Paterno shouldn't need special training in order to not allow a child molester around children in his presence yet we are told Sandusky kept himself around PSU and with kids on his arm.

I'm not following the intellectual reason why we should stop criticizing a rape enabler Joe Paterno. I'm sure we all think other people failed to protect kids as well. This thread is titled "Joe Paterno 1926 - 2012" though. The way you protest I'm not sure if its really a matter of everyone should be blamed or if instead you simply don't want to see Paterno blamed.

The authorities knew he liked to shower with kids and do creepy stuff that outraged a victims parents. Lack of evidence does not mean they have to completely ignore the guy from that point on.

It begins here. They blew it.

[ScrubBeaterUpper]

FTR: The below was written before McQueary name was even known.

Cliff notes on the PDF for those who didnt read the whole thing:

8 victims
1998 Public Welfare was contacted about some alledged inapropriate behavior with victim 6
Sandusky admitted to showering with the boy and when asked if his genitials touched the boy he said 'they may have.'
2008 Authorities were called and Grand Jusry investigation basically began

Victim 7 1994 first victim according to time line
Victim 2 2002 in the showers at Penn State that Graduate Assistant witnessed Sandusky having anal sex with a boy
Graduate assistant calls his dad, goes to his dads house
Next day grad assistant and dad tell Paterno
Paterno confirmed the meeting to the grand jury so he knew as of 2002
Paterno tells Tim Curley the next day
1-1/2 weeks later Curley and Schultz tell Grad assistant they will 'look into it'
Grad assistant was never questioned by authority until 2010 grand jury
Grand Jury found grad assistant testimony 'very credible'
Schultz and Curley try to cover it up with a bunch of crap to the Grand Jury
Grand Jury find Curely and Schults testimony 'not credible'
23 Pa.Cs 6311 Statute that requires institutions to report child abuse to authorities...the school has legal obligation
2000 janitor witnessed Sandusky having oral sex with a little boy in the showers
Janitor tells everyone..noone else saw it and janitor never reports it and currently has alzheimers int he hospital (he was 60+ in 2000)

Everything above is fact as stated in the grand jury. The 'M.O.' (modus operandi) in all cases was exactly the same plus minus a few minor details. 'Back cracking', showering, touching, anal sex, oral sex etc etc the truth of this needs to come out because words like 'inapropriate behavior' or 'fondling' doesn't paint the picture for what this guy is acused of doing. 8 victims all telling the same story a couple knowing each other, but according to what I am reading not all of them knew each other.

The Grad Assistant
The Grad Assistants father
Joe Paterno
Tim Curley
Gary Schultz

Should all serve time. The grad assistant, Curley and Schultz more than the rest.

Curley and Schultz tried to cover it up and the assistant actually heard (slapping in the shower) and saw sandusky do this to a little boy.

Who knows how many other victims are out there that were assaulted between 2002 (when they didnt do anything about it) and 2008 when the Grand Jury investigated. Any kids that were harmed between that time are as much on the conscience of the grad assitant and Curley and Schultz as Sandusky.

2002 itself was allowed to happen why? Did you want Paterno to strip him of his 2nd mile duties? Is that his job? Does it still happen if Paterno kicks him off campus? Yes, it does.