<p>PSUstudent, OK, so Joe did everything in his power to make sure that children weren’t being abused. :rolleyes: So why didn’t the higher-ups call the police? An adult man in a shower with a young boy is a crime. It is not a matter for internal sanction and punishment. If the higher-ups thought there might be some non-criminal reason why Sandusky was showering with a child, they should STILL have called the police, and let the authorities sort it out. This wasn’t something that was up to their judgment; they absolutely were obligated to report it. So why do you think they never made that call?</p>
<p>Assuming that by higher-ups you mean Curley and Schultz, I do believe they should be removed. The grand jury report, in my opinion, did definitively prove that those two had direct and complete knowledge of the issue. While I will try to withhold personal judgement until I see their defense, perhaps that is why they were indicted and not Joe Paterno.</p>
<p>Right, I was thinking of Spanier. He knew. Why didn’t he call the police?</p>
<p>Why didn’t SOMEONE make sure this monster went to jail years ago?</p>
<p>I have not entirely formed an opinion on Graham Spanier as far as the extent he knew about the situation and his attempts at a cover-up so I’d like to wait for the Board meeting before commenting on that. What I will say is that his unequivocal defense for Curley and Schultz is questionable at best and his leaving out a side entrance during tonight’s uproar was a lack of leadership at a time Penn State was desperate for it. We needed him to step up and respond strongly after the scandal broke and that’s the opposite of what we received.</p>
<p>Hey if they dropped both bad boys Penn State and Ohio State from the Big 10, it would be numerically correct at 10 teams once again! Things happen for a reason.</p>
<p>PSUstudent, Silence and sneaking out a side door are not the actions of a man who believes he did the right thing. I guarantee you that Spanier knew about the allegations 9 years ago. He ignored the situation, wished it away, swept under the rug, however you want to put it. He knew he was taking a risk in not reporting it. If it ever came out… well… we’re seeing that now. But it went on for so many years that they must have thought they’d get away with it. </p>
<p>So why didn’t Spanier do what he was supposed to do and call the police? I think you know the answer: It would have harmed the football program. And nothing – NOTHING – could be allowed to interfere with the football program. In other words, as I said before, it’s quite obvious that at Penn State, football was more important than the welfare of children.</p>
<p>As strong as the circumstantial evidence may be, there has to be a reason why the grand jury did not indict Spanier along with the others. Remember, the court of law outweighs the court of public opinion and after their extensive review, the grand jury chose to exclude Spanier from the list of indictments. To me that suggests some aspect of evidence wasn’t there- whether it was proving Spanier had direct knowledge or not remains to be seen. But that issue will be settled shortly.</p>
<p>[Is</a> Joe Paterno Guilty of Trusting Others?](<a href=“http://www.pennstateclips.com/2011/11/is-joe-paterno-guilty-of-trusting.html]Is”>http://www.pennstateclips.com/2011/11/is-joe-paterno-guilty-of-trusting.html) sums up my feelings on Paterno nicely</p>
<p>On the positive side, this could free up a little bit of scholarship money for men’s lacrosse.</p>
<p>PSUstudent - I admire the loyalty. But he knew what Sandusky had done. And Paterno had the power to vanquish him from ALL things Penn State and he did not. That is the moral failing.</p>
<p>I am in PA/NJ this week and this, of course, is the main topic of conversation. I have family members here who are Penn State alum. I haven’t run across anyone yet who doesn’t think it is time for Paterno to step down - immediately. There was a huge failure to act here, and the leadership of the football program and the university caused great harm. The degree of culpability may vary between individuals, but no one is clean here.</p>
<p>According to morning news reports:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>A few hundred students and press gathered on Paterno’s front lawn–the were literally right outside his windows. The mood was very pro Penn State and pro Paterno. He made a statement through a window and later came outside to make an additional brief statement saying that everyone should pray for the victims. He wanted to hold the official press conference earlier in the day but Spanier, the president, canceled it. </p></li>
<li><p>Another group formed outside the building where the Spanier, the president, has his office. The mood there was quite different with most calling for him to be sacked. A dinner that was to honor Spanier tomorrow has been “posponed.”. After he left some moved over towards his unversity owned home on campus. University police had cordoned off areas near the home and were told anyone trying to come close would be arrested.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The wagons are circling. Much of the national attention is focused on Paterno as he’s the one everyone knows, but internally it appears the wagons may be circling most around Spanier. </p>
<p>I predict that Paterno will retire after this year’s bowl game–something that was widely expected before this mess broke out. </p>
<p>I imagine that by the end of the week Spanier will either be fired or suddenly decide to ‘spend some more time with his family.’. The buck stops with him then and now. He failed to show leadership in 2002 and he’s failed to show leadership today… instead hiding in his unversity owned mansion and issuing a downright stupid statement praising those charged with felonies in the case.</p>
<p>I know it’s a horrible thought, but I also fear for what is possibly being concealed about his 6 adopted children. The youngest, Matt, was adopted from Second Mile. </p>
<p>Penn State’s Sandusky barred from being with grandchildren</p>
<p>STATE COLLEGE, Pa | Tue Nov 8, 2011 10:07pm EST</p>
<p>(Reuters) - Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, accused of sexually-abusing eight boys over more than a decade, is barred from being alone with three grandchildren, a county official told Reuters on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Center County recorder Debra Immel said the order issued by County Court Judge Thomas Kistler on behalf of three children, states that they cannot be in Sandusky’s presence or in his home without supervision.</p>
<p>“And no overnight visits” at his home, she said in a telephone interview.</p>
<p>The children live with both parents in a shared custody arrangement. Sandusky is the children’s paternal grandfather and the temporary order was sought by the mother, Immel said.</p>
<p>Report this AM has Tom Ridge possibly replacing Spanier as President if PSU</p>
<p>I heard that last night at some point, qdogpa. Don’t you think that is just one of those wacky speculations that takes root and runs through the rumor mills?</p>
<p>From the NYT “In explaining his actions, Mr. Paterno has publicly said he was not told of the graphic nature of a suspected 2002 assault by Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant, of a young boy in the football building’s showers. Mr. Paterno said the graduate assistant who reported the assault, Mike McQueary, said only that something disturbing had happened that was perhaps sexual in nature.”</p>
<p>he claims that he only knew that something disturbing happened?? that was PERHAPS sexual in nature. </p>
<p>So if Paterno is explaining his actions (or lack thereof) by saying he was not told of the graphic nature of what was reported, does that mean he would have done something differently, done MORE if he knew exactly what happened. If he didn’t do more because he wasn’t really sure what happened, maybe sexual maybe not, WHY DID HE NOT ASK. How can a man who is a leader and a hugely powerful presence on that campus hide behind, I didn’t really know what happened.</p>
<p>dadx - Thanks for the link to that SI article from 1999… way back in post #100 I recommend it highly. Not that this article proves anything about Sandusky, but I think it provides insight. In other cases, molesters with a preference and access to young boys have had hundreds of victims.</p>
<p>Paterno should have prayed for the victims and considered their welfare years ago.</p>
<p>I don’t really care about the legalities as much as I care about the morality of what happened. Whether he had a legal responsibility or not he had a moral responsibility to protect these kids as we all do whether we’re “famous” or not.</p>
<p>But what really sickened me today is that students were outside his home supporting him because he’s a great coach?! Really?! Football is more important than covering up sexual abuse?</p>
<p>I’ll give these students a break for now due to their age. Because I bet in a few years they will come to see that they were severely misguided.</p>
<p>NYT had a short piece yesterday by a reporter which was almost identical in its observations to the old SI article.</p>
<p>To me, the most revealing part of the article was the “tactics” used to move towards the molestation. If an adult is doing something with your kids that involves alcohol and or heterosexual pornography, there’s a good chance that something more is afoot than just someone who is immature in development. There was a local coach who was dismissed some years back for this type of thing. I’ll note that the grand jury report indicates that Sandusky was discriminating in his advances…he stopped and broke off his relationships with boys where he saw limited opportunities. Analogous to Madoff in the con game.</p>