<p>Jeez, this thread is moving as fast as lightning and I must have missed something like Paterno being indicted soooo thats why he needs an attorney??? Who hires an attorney before they are actually charged with a crime?? Does he think charges are forth coming?</p>
<p>I think he would be foolish not to get an attorney.</p>
<p>I don’t think he is being legally accused of wrong doing. I think people are simply questioning his ethics. He did what he “had to do within the letter of the law.”</p>
<p>I never think getting an attorney is an admission of guilt. But, he shouldn’t be talking to anyone right now without an attorney. </p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t think there will be criminal proceedings brought against Paterno. He broke a lot of moral codes, and it is too bad, for the sake of his legacy and reputation, but he’s not going to be brought up on charges.</p>
<p>Others will be, however, and he is right to find out what he needs to do to protect himself as the trials begin and his name comes up as a part of the whole sordid story. I mean, this one is going to be a media circus when it finally gets to the judges.</p>
<p>ETA: Those questioning the motives of the AG for involving those in the cover up in the investigation have to understand that nobody like Sandusky can operate without the protection of those around him. So, those who harbor pedophiles need to be punished so that others will not in the future.</p>
<p>Counting Down, here is the link for that quotation:</p>
<p>[Court</a> Information: Grand Jury](<a href=“http://www.glenncourt.ca.gov/court_info/grand_jury.html]Court”>http://www.glenncourt.ca.gov/court_info/grand_jury.html)</p>
<p>I think people should read the finding of fact from the Sandusky Grand Jury. It is interesting that no one is disputing the findings in this finding. It makes for sickening reading, and Penn State will be a long time recovering from this scandal.</p>
<p>The feds are involved. He needs counsel. Retaining counsel is just smart and is in no way an admission of guilt.</p>
<p>The program should be shut down for at least five years.</p>
<p>This whole thing is unbelievable. It makes me wonder how many times, in other universities, have there been coverups to preserve a football dept. Our society needs to get its priorities straight. Watching those kids riot, flip over a car and yell about how Paterno was wronged really infuriated me. According to the grand jury, he was told about a child getting molested by the man who witnessed it yet didn’t think he needed to call the authorities!?!?!?! How can that not be a very valid reason for dismissal??</p>
<p>At $50 million a year, not bloody likely it will be shut down.</p>
<p>I am not necessarily defending Paterno; I just want to hear his side before pronouncing him worse than Atilla the Hun. Here is a guy who has had an impeccable reputation, never had any problems with the NCAA (which is rare) and has never been accused of moral misconduct until now. All we know is what we have been told by the prosecutors. I don’t think it is unreasonable to want to hear his side before judging him or trashing him based on circumstantial evidence or speculation regarding what he knew and when he knew it.</p>
<p>Also, the team’s graduation rates are consistently ranked among the best in the Big Ten. In 2010, Penn State’s 84% rate trailed only Northwestern’s 95. Unlike many big-time college football coaches, he actually cares about his players receiving an education. If this was someone else I might have been quick to judge him, but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until I hear his side and know more about what really happened.</p>
<p>I think then you can hang on to that doubt for a long time possibly forever because I have a strong suspicion that Paterno will never ever going to come out and say that he knew everything and purposely not follow through with more actions against this heinous crime.</p>
<p>If I hear one more coach/player/former player say any of the following, I’m gonna throw a brick through my TV:</p>
<p>“I’m reserving judgment until all the facts are out.”
“It’s a shame his career had to end this way.”
“I hope that all the good he did isn’t forgotten.”
“I can’t pass judgment, because I don’t know what the procedures at PSU are.”
“This is going to devastate the football program.”
“I’m sad for everyone involved – the victims, the university, and Paterno.”</p>
<p>Note to athletic community: THERE IS NOTHING MORALLY AMBIGUOUS ABOUT THIS! If you’re asked by an interviewer for your thoughts, be aware that there are there are only two correct answers:</p>
<p>“Paterno should have demanded that his superiors contact the authorities, and failing that, he should have done it himself. Immediately.”
“Personally, I would have torn Sandusky limb from limb.”</p>
<p>ESPN has just announced that Mike McQueary will not be at the game on Saturday. He has had multiple threats made against his life.</p>
<p>Here is a quote from one of his players: “He’s a guy who has kept players out of games for missing class, so for people to think that he did anything in terms of covering this up, I don’t necessarily think that’s his M.O.” </p>
<p>I totally understand why everyone here is enraged (so am I), but it doesn’t make sense that Paterno would actually condone having a pedophile around his football program. So again, I would like to hear his side.</p>
<p>There is a whole lot of missing information…</p>
<p>*<em>whatever happened to the first DA who was investigating this crime?
*</em>^he disappeared after he looked into ways to destroy a hard drive. The computer was found at the bottom of river. Is that related?
*<em>why didn’t Joe get rid of Sandusky when he learned of what happened? (Of course, why didn’t he call the police?) Why didn’t the campus police call the police?
*</em>why didn’t McQueary call the police? At least, why didn’t he stop Sandusky in the shower? If he saw a person holding a gun to someone’s head, would he have stopped it? Would he have called the police then?
**the only victims in this crime are the young kids hurt by Sandusky. Let’s remember that.</p>
<p>“I totally understand why everyone here is enraged (so am I), but it doesn’t make sense that Paterno would actually condone having a pedophile around his football program. So again, I would like to hear his side.”</p>
<p>Why? If the cost of outing him (much, much later than when he first heard of the sick man’s recreation) made him look like an enabler? Once he let it slide the first time, it probably became easier to do, especially since Sandusky was his friend.</p>
<p>He is not “good people”.</p>
<p>Sometimes good people do bad things. It happens all the time. And really, how well do you really know him besides the public persona that everyone looks up to? “It does not make sense” tells a lot about where your head is at.</p>
<p>Parent57, I don’t think you are ever going to hear “his side.”</p>
<p>If he is called as a witness in Sandusky’s criminal trial, you will hear his version. If he is ever brought up on criminal charges by the feds, I highly doubt he’ll ever say a word.</p>
<p>You aren’t going to hear anything from him but testimony at somebody else’s trial.</p>
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<p>What?!?! Are you joking? This GROWN MAN witnessed a sexual assault in progress. He turned his back on that child, went to a phone and called his father. He then proceeded to leave the premises knowing that a child was being RAPED as he exited the building. In what world are we living that because he informed his coach THE NEXT DAY he has done the right thing? Pennsylvania law states that ANYONE may report child abuse. It does NOT state that non mandatory reporters are required to inform their superiors rather than the police. They are always, always able to report directly to CPS and the police.</p>
<p>Reporting the event the next day rather than intervening immediately on behalf of the child is the height of cowardice. I don’t care whether or not he was at the beginning of his career, protecting that child should have come first. He was 28 for God’s sake, more than old enough to understand what he was seeing and understand the implications of this incident. He was over 6 feet tall, 200 lbs, a lifelong athlete, more than capable of physically intervening to save that child. He chose to walk out of the room, walk out of the building, only to speak of it the next day, and apparently, never again until under subpoena and under oath. It’s absolutely sickening.</p>
<p>Would you be excusing this man’s behavior if it had been your child who had to watch this man turn his back and walk out of that room without coming to his aid? Really?</p>
<p>I read posts early in this thread which stated that McQueary was “courageous.” Reading that made me literally feel physically ill. </p>
<p>God help those kids.</p>
<p>Poetgrl, you may be right, but wasn’t he going to have a press conference the other day before the school cancelled it.</p>
<p>What would be said about McQueary if after he left, the boy fought back and Sandusky strangled him?</p>