<p>Thanks, younghoss–in this particular discussion, it’s refreshing to see anybody accept responsibility for anything.</p>
<p>"Sexual abuse of a child needs to be reported to police immediately, not just to an employee’s supervisor. Unfortunately some employees are apparently still being fired for doing so according to attached news story. Unbelievable!</p>
<p>Florida Teachers Fired For Reporting Abuse at Catholic School - ABC News "</p>
<p>The Catholic Church need to be very careful about how they handle claims of abuse. The policy of NOT reporting (for decades) is what got them into trouble. Unbelievable, is right!</p>
<p>Penn State did the right thing.</p>
<p>Joe Paterno made a great contribution over the course of many years as coach at Penn State. That is, however, not a reason to keep him on, or even let him retire on his own terms. As a football coach, he understands better than anyone that when a player is no longer making the contribution the team needs him to, that player is sidelined. Coaches all over the country have done it to countless players over the years, and now it’s been done to him. That’s the game.</p>
<p>Penn State will lose sponsors, recruits and contributors because of this scandal, and they can’t afford to continue to employ any of the people involved. Paterno has been, more than anyone since Bear Bryant, the face of Penn State, and that is now not a good thing. He had to go, and go immediately.</p>
<p>There’s a prayer that’s part of every Catholic Mass called the Confiteor. Paterno must have recited the words many times. The pertinent portion of this confession of and repentence for sins is: “…for what I have done and what I have failed to do…” </p>
<p>When I was a child, it was emphasized to me that sins of omission were quite serious. I absorbed that teaching, along with the oft repeated line about evil flourishing (or triumphing) when good men do nothing. Ironically, it’s one of the reasons why I no longer practice the faith of my childhood. Too many “good men” stood by and did nothing, or worse yet, they actually concealed evil. It was deemed far more important to avoid “giving scandal” to the faithful, lest they leave the church, than to turn a spotlight on evil in order to put a stop to it. Protecting the institution mattered more than protecting the innocent. It seems that the same attitude was held by some at Penn State. </p>
<p>Rumors now indicate that the situation may be far worse than first reported; I hope they are wrong, not because of the perpetrator but because of the children.</p>
<p>Chaoses,
the sex abuse and rape victims were minors, not college students.</p>
<p>The University must have known about the issue when Sandusky was prosecuted and left his job voluntarily about years ago. But he was still allowed on campus, etc. In 2009 he was caught (on videotape) raping a minor in a locker room shower by a grad student, now asst coach, who reported it to the University. They did nothing except to tell S never to bring a kid onto campus again.</p>
<p>Sorry, nobody reported the crime to the police. Wrong.
All who knew should be fired for protecting and enabling a pedophile.</p>
<p>This situation brings up the uneasy independence of jurisdiction within the University walls…</p>
<p>That anyone supports Joe Pa is an example of how both the populace and those in power can be swayed into evil. Sorry it is a crime, and a crime against a relatively helpless victim.</p>
<p>The sports machine is now again in question at another institution of higher learning in this country. Maybe we need to figure out a better way to build community and raise funding for these institutions. </p>
<p>And maybe the concept of the University having its own de facto separate and independent legal system needs to be reviewed very carefully…</p>
<p>And yet the athletic director and the vp who oversees security/safety are still employed… ultimately they are the two responsible for investigating the reports, and they are being charged with crimes, and yet they are on leave of absence rather than terminated.</p>
<p>I still maintain that firing Paterno is simply grandstanding. </p>
<p>He reported what he knew, and what he was actually told was vague. It wasn’t his job to investigate it and he trusted the people in charge. He did not know the facts of the case, but handed on the information to be investigated. He was not included in the meetings that discussed the matter and where it decided not to report to the police.</p>
<p>“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
Albert Einstein</p>
<p>The board did the right thing(whether it’s CYA or not). I also think more people should be fired as in post #27.</p>
<p>As a mother of a young boy I just want to say I wept and was physically ill reading about what this monster did to his victims. To think that for so many years there were people in the know and eye witnesses to some horrific things and that no one called the police just makes me so sad for this world. I cannot fathom how someone can walk away from witnessing a situation like that and NOT report it to the proper authorities. I cannot fathom how someone could know of a situation like that and not report it. It is just sickening.</p>
<p>Gary Schultz (Senior Vice President of Finance and Business, which includes oversight of the university police) had come back to the school on a temporary basis earlier this year, after having retired in 2009. He retired again last Sunday.</p>
<p>Momof3Stars- I totally agree with you. The actual Grand Jury report is very, very disturbing.</p>
<p>[Key</a> dates in the Penn State Nittany Lions sex abuse case - ESPN](<a href=“http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7212054/key-dates-penn-state-nittany-lions-sex-abuse-case]Key”>Key dates in the Penn State Nittany Lions sex abuse case - ESPN)</p>
<p>One of the most disturbing things in the Grand Jury report, to my eye, is that the jury all but identified a victim. The report gives Victim Y’s age and says that he was featured in a picture with Sandusky in Z national publication. We’re not talking about Michael Jordan here; Sandusky didn’t have his picture in that publication very frequently in the late 90s, and presumably not that many photos would include a boy of the right age.</p>
<p>Maybe the photo in question shows Sandusky and a group of 30 boys, in which case I’m overstating the problem. But if there’s just one boy, or two, in the picture, it won’t be long before someone digs up the photo and puts it on the web.</p>
<p>I truly don’t think there is a man in the world that I would not report to the police if I observed him raping a boy. If he was in my immediate family, I might encourage them to hire a lawyer first (unless I was too ill to think straight) but I just don’t think there is anyone I could protect under those circumstances. Don’t you think you would totally be willing to risk your job?</p>
<p>Missy…my husband and I were talking about this last night. The Graduate Student (now the receiver coach for Penn State) was disturbed by what he saw in that shower in 2002 that he called his father immediately. I think my daughter or son would do the same…mainly being so confused by what he/she saw and needing a parent’s clarity to get his mind to wrap around what his/hers just saw. So I am sure this grad student was down right stunned as to what he was witnessing, it in fact was tramatic. The grad students father (this is all from the grand jury report) advised him to go to Joe P’s house and tell him in person, and that is exactly what the student did. Joe was God, better than the police or the government in the eyes of his students. I feel 100% that the student felt the information was in the right hands. Joe did go the Athletic Director and the VP of finance, who interestingly enough also over saw the University Police department. I think this was 100% covered up because they did not want shame brought to the University.</p>
<p>But back to the grad student. I am confident that Joe P told him it would be handled. Internal affairs, being internal, are of course private and I am sure the grad student would not step on the toes of Penn State’s god and overstep him on this matter. I am sure the grad student trusted Joe would make sure this was taken care of. I suspect one of the only people besides the abused children and their parents who lost sleep over this was the grad student.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m pretty sure my kids would tell me, too.</p>
<p>“But back to the grad student. I am confident that Joe P told him it would be handled. Internal affairs, being internal, are of course private and I am sure the grad student would not step on the toes of Penn State’s god and overstep him on this matter. I am sure the grad student trusted Joe would make sure this was taken care of. I suspect one of the only people besides the abused children and their parents who lost sleep over this was the grad student.”</p>
<p>That grad student, Mike McQueary, is now the receiver’s coach and recruitment coordinator for Penn State. HE IS THE ONLY EYE WITNESS TO WHAT HAPPENED AND WHO COULD TELL THE POLICE EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED… and yet, he will be on the sidelines coaching on Saturday. If heads are gonna roll for this, his should be among them. Yes, he was only a student at the time - but he was still an adult. From what Paterno has said, he was vague in what he told Paterno, making Paterno think happened was inappropriate but not criminal.</p>
<p>“From what Paterno has said, he was vague in what he told Paterno …”</p>
<p>Carl: Then I will go to the Meeting …
Rick: Don’t tell me where you’re going.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>younghoss–Apology accepted. And it never hurts to be reminded of the need to write clearly, especially about such an emotional subject.</p>
<p>Sorry for my delay in responding, but I had to leave the house for a couple hours and I just got back.</p>