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<p>Actually, every time I’ve been called for jury duty the pool of prospective jurors are asked if they have formed an opinion on the guilt or innocence of the person in question from what they’ve heard in the media. If the posters on this thread were to answer honestly, they would indeed be disqualified.
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<p>Of course they have; who isn’t demonstrating compassion for the victims?</p>
<p>^Paterno certainly didn’t</p>
<p>Actually,bclintonk,I am in Virginia and it was reported that Sandusky interviewed for the head coaching job at UVa that Al Groh got in 2000. UVa certainly dodged a bullet with that one. I believe he almost had the Maryland job (but in 1991 before the allegations started surfacing).</p>
<p>does everyone here feel like we are watching a train wreck? cars just keep flying off the track right and left it seems. one reporter theorized that now that the national media has converged upon happy valley there will be more digging and more things will come out.<br>
glido - i think you are right. there may be lawsuits to come. from victims? maybe others? will the coaches and the administrators press future lawsuits? lots to think about.
and what about the suspicious disappearance of that d.a.? this is just all such a crazy mess. espn news coverage is nearly continuous on the events unfolding.</p>
<p>“He was first accused of improper sexual contact with a child in 1998. He resigned his coaching position in 1999 at age 55. At the time he walked away, everyone thought he was Joe Paterno’s heir apparent, or at the very least that he would end up with a head coaching position at another major football program. But he just quietly walked away without much of an explanation, other than the usual feeble “more time with my family and wanting to devote more time to my charity,” which of course is where he recruited his victims. He never sought another college football coaching position. Is the timing just coincidental? Or did Penn State cut a deal after an internal investigation, that they would just let him slip quietly into the community so as not to besmirch Penn State’s reputation—and in so doing, provided cover for this predator to continue to prey on young boys?”</p>
<p>I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, and that, in time, it will likely be found out that Paterno was the linchpin in the coverup.</p>
<p>Or that’s what my cracked crystal ball says.</p>
<p>“Re McQueary: A 28-year-old man should not have left the scene without rescuing the kid. He should have called the cops right away. Waiting until the next day and then telling the football coach doesn’t cut it.”</p>
<p>He could simply have yelled “Leave that kid alone”, and run out of the building before he was identified. Calling the cops is not sufficient.</p>
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<p>I hope not. I mean, I really don’t like the whole “false God” aspect of Paterno’s empire, but I also hate what that info will do to so many of the “believers”. It is like finding out that the sweet couple next door that were like grandparents to your kids and you have known for years are…well…pedophiles. It is painful on many levels. Just sickening, and not something that people will recover from quickly.</p>
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<p>I do not have a dog in this fight any more than you do. I also wrote that I do not want to see Paterno’s head on a pitchfork. The criminal investigation will pursue its course and the chips will fall where they have to. </p>
<p>I do, however, firmly believe that no amount of cover-up will diminish the impact of the lack of actions of Paterno. I do not believe he should be given a free pass and most definitely not any semblance of running a victory lap before retiring with full glory. </p>
<p>He had the opportunity to do the right thing years ago. He decided to look the other way and pass the buck to people he obviously knew would not challenge the “sanctity” of the PSU football empire. His improper decision should come at a price. That price cannot be anything less than an immediate firing and a decision to place a permanent asterisk on his winning record, as his cover up allowed him to accumulate more glory and adulation than … deserved. </p>
<p>Allowing him to resign on his terms is the ultimate slap in the face of common decency.</p>
<p>Board’s emergency meeting has concluded. Press conference scheduled for 10 pm.</p>
<p>^^ I couldn’t agree more with your last point, xiggi. Let’s hope that the Trustees can bring themselves to man up and fire him, before Saturday. The idea of a stadium full of JoePa lovers screaming their support just sickens me.</p>
<p>I will be shocked if there is not an announcement tonight that Paterno is gone. I don’t believe the university has any choice. It’s damage control, if nothing else. Nothing can even begin to right the wrongs that were done to these poor boys.</p>
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<p>Here’s the source of the venom, at least for me. Paterno has preached integrity and honor for decades. But when the moment came for him to practice what he preached – to help someone in danger – he turned away. He turned away from children. </p>
<p>A man of integrity – or even a man of simple common decency – would have marched Sandusky’s sorry butt up to Spanier’s office and said, “Graham, if you don’t call the cops this minute, I will.” Instead, having done the absolute minimum required of him, he piously washed his hands of the situation. </p>
<p>Any day in the last 9 years, he could have gone to the police. He didn’t. Every single day for the last 9 years, he decided to let their suffering continue. If that’s not moral failure, I’m hard-pressed to know what is.</p>
<p>One thing is for sure, whether it’s Pertano or Perterno, both will be gone very soon, or at least before next season.</p>
<p>" I couldn’t agree more with your last point, xiggi. Let’s hope that the Trustees can bring themselves to man up and fire him, before Saturday. The idea of a stadium full of JoePa lovers screaming their support just sickens me. "</p>
<p>I feel the same way</p>
<p>I know some adult victims of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of trusted adults…I would refer to them as survivors but the truth is, two of them took their own lives</p>
<p>There has been speculation that other adults knew and did nothing and I am wondering if this is because people in the same age group as Paterno were raised in the " don’t ask don’t tell " culture</p>
<p>Just trying to grasp any reason why a responsible adult would dismiss the information they have , if not for financial or personal gain</p>
<p>I realize I haven’t read all 40 pages of this discussion here, but has anyone acknowledged that what Joe Paterno did is exactly what Catholic Bishops had been doing? They knew about the sexual assaults and ignored them. Then the predater goes away and continues to victimize other youths in other communities. We’ll be hearing about PSU in the courts for a long time.</p>
<p>goru, they can serve on my jury–as long as my version of the story is the one that makes it into the press first.</p>
<p>Paterno and Spanier are out, effective immediately.</p>
<p>[Joe</a> Paterno, president Graham Spanier out at Penn State - ESPN](<a href=“http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7214380/joe-paterno-president-graham-spanier-penn-state]Joe”>Joe Paterno, president Graham Spanier out at Penn State - ESPN)</p>
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<p>I raised this issue. I will summarize here again. The Boston church scandal was at its height in 2002, exactly same year the GA witnessed child rape in Penn State.</p>
<p>Yet, while the nation was riveted by the Catholic church scandal with major soul searching all over the place, the morons at Penn State was doing exactly what the church officials did for years which got them all into such unbelievable fiasco. I guess they thought Catholic church was found out, but they could forever keep it in the closet. What stupidity!</p>
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<p>I have read that the district attorney way back in 1998 had chosen NOT to press charges. That means somebody reported it. If the DA chose not to press charges, how exactly is that the fault of Paterno or the President, etc?</p>
<p>Yes, the comparison to the Catholic church has been made. Also, there was a case in Spokane, WA that was eerily similar. The predator was the mayor Jim West, the organization that covered up the scandal was the Spokane police department. The organization that uncovered the truth was Spokane’s newspaper the Spokesman Review.</p>
<p>I followed the story from the Spokesman Review in great detail and it has helped me understand how something like this can happen. Jim West was smart and charming. He was a boy scout leader and at many of the outings parents were present of course. Behavior was observed that seemed odd but it was dismissed as just that, odd behavior. Years later, when the truth came out, the adults realized the odd behavior was really red flags. This kind of thing is so much clearer in hindsight than it is in the moment.</p>
<p>He and two other men involved with the scandal targeted at risk kids. The stories of those kids lives as young adults was heart breaking. They were in jail on other charges. They had stories of police intimidation while they were incarcerated not to talk about what had happened to them. None of them trusted the police. They were at risk to begin with so maybe they would have ended up as troubled young adults anyway, it’s hard to know. But I tend to agree with lje62 that this kind of abuse is something that some victims never recover from.</p>
<p>I hope I got the details of the incident from Spokane right, if not it is a matter of public record.</p>