Why Parents Should Want Joe Paterno Criminally Charged
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By Lindsay Goldenberg
As a woman, I can admit that I don’t always follow college football. But as a human being with a moral compass, I can tell you that I’m following it now. I imagine most mothers with young children are doing the same.
The events at Penn State over the past week surrounding former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and the allegations that he sexually abused several children, some boys as young as 8-years-old, are disturbing and mind-boggling, to say the least. Not only is it incomprehensible that Sandusky could commit such terrible crimes, but what is almost just as shocking is that key staffers around Jerry Sandusky, specifically head coach Joe Paterno, failed to make sure that Sandusky could never work around children or Penn State again. EVER.
That never happened. Instead, what occurred was that Joe Paterno and other Penn State officials turned a blind eye to Sandusky and his criminal actions. This is most evident when you see a timeline of events over the past 17 years. What becomes painfully clear is that Sandusky retired in 1999 amidst a criminal investigation that he sexually abused several boys in the Penn State showers. Despite these investigations, Sandusky was still allowed to be an active figure on the Penn State campus, and even allowed to keep bringing young boys into the showers with him. He was caught allegedly sodomizing a young boy in the showers in 2002, and even after it was brought to Paterno and other Penn State authorities’ attention, he was STILL allowed on campus and nothing further was done about it.
If you are in a position of power, like Joe Paterno was, it is absolutely your job to make sure that nothing happens under your watch, especially when you have been made aware of an existing problem. Even if you are not in a position of power, like the grad assistant who came forward after seeing Sandusky in the shower (later identified as current Penn State assistant coach and former PSU quarterback Mike McQueary) and you report a crime you’ve seen, but nothing is done about it, you should still continue to speak up. In fact, you should be yelling from the rooftops.
As a parent, you entrust your children to adults in positions of power. Teachers, tutors, school bus drivers, babysitters… If they are doing something as unthinkable as molesting your children, wouldn’t you hope that if another adult saw this happening, they would do everything in their power to stop it and make sure it never happened again? If a teacher sees even another child abusing YOUR child, isn’t it their responsibility to stop it and prevent it from happening again, instead of turning a blind eye? You would certainly hope so.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said she will not bring criminal charges against Joe Paterno for not speaking up about the alleged child abuse by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. However, it’s not out of the question. It is possible, if the Attorney General changes her mind, to bring a suit against Paterno for failing to prevent a third party with whom he had a supervisory relationship (Sandusky) from committing abuse.
While firing Joe Paterno was definitely the right first step, it needs to go even further than that. If Joe Paterno’s moral compass failed to stop Sandusky from coming to campus every day and continuing to use the school’s showers to commit even more acts of child sexual abuse, perhaps a nationwide law would have.
Parents, what do you think about this? What would you do if your child was at Penn State and nobody was speaking up?
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Comment by Patricia on Nov 10 2011 04:15:01:
I hate all of it. I hate that this apparently happened. I hate that no one would break out of the”good ole boys” network to do the right thing. I think that anyone who is classified as as educator is a mandatory reporter of child abuse!
I hate it that Paterno earned the love and respect he received until now!
Comment by Nikki Salisbury on Nov 10 2011 10:18:50:
I think you're wrong.
How would any of you who say Joe Pa is to blame feel if I called up your boss and said, "Hey, I was told that someone else (a grad student who apparently has no clout) saw her/him with a kid." and then you were fired on the spot for these supposed allegations? Joe did inform his supervisors, which was his job. It's not his job to act as police, judge, and jury.
Also, as a mother, I would like to know why the parents of these children didn't step forward? There are reports coming out now that some of the parents were aware of the situation. There was even one case where the campus police were involved, but when they found the claim to be unfounded they dropped the case. Why didn't that mother run to social services?
The wrong guy is being strung up because he was the big name at the time and the big name now. It's ridiculous.
Comment by Lindsay Goldenberg on Nov 10 2011 10:52:14:
2002, the year that the grad student (McQueary) informed Paterno of this wasn't the first time the situation had been brought up to him. An investigation had already started in 1998, and he was well aware of the allegations. Sandusky was parading these young boys around campus and the athletic department for years. Paterno doesn't have to make a citizen's arrest, but he (along with every other Penn State authority who was aware of the initial and subsequent allegations) should prevent him from coming on to the campus. A moral person would go a step further and contact authorities if there was the slightest suspicion. And yes, considering Sandusky would consistently come to football practice and use their showers as his "abuse center," the hammer does need to fall on "Joe Pa," whether he's a beloved Penn State figure or not.
Comment by Lorraine C on Nov 11 2011 09:22:39:
It was the district attorney who dropped the ball not Joe Pa. It was reported, it was investigated and it was the district attorney who decided NOT TO PROSECUTE. Unless Joe Paterno went back to school and got a law degree I can’t see how he could have done more to see justice served.
A parent of one child did step forward and she was given the run arround by the police and district attorney. You should be asking them why. You just don’t ignore allegations like that if you are law enforcement.
We all agree what happened was horrible and should have been stopped years ago. If I had witnessed something so wrong happening to an innocent child I would have gone to town with a baseball bat.
Lindsey – perhaps you should get your facts straight before writing such an inflamatory, scathing article.
Comment by Lindsay on Nov 11 2011 11:01:52:
Lorraine:
All the facts in the article are in fact correct. The district attorney decided not to prosecute in 1998, and the case was quietly closed. Sandusky cried and said he wouldn’t shower with boys again, and his locker keys were taken away. I wonder how he got a new set of locker keys? That’s less than a slap on the hand.
He continued to parade young boys around campus. His behavior was so obvious to Paterno and other school officials that they are apparently on record telling him “just don’t bring the boys around here.” Which is the same thing as saying “I know what you’re doing, just don’t do it around me.” But, in fact he did continue to do it around them. The fact that yet another incident happened in 2002 on campus is disgusting. I believe that not only Paterno should have been fired, but the DA at the time, McQueary (for not physically intervening when he saw Sandusky sodomizing a young boy right in front of him) and every Penn State official who was aware of Sandusky’s record.
I would imagine as a parent, if your child was being abused and a teacher knew about it, then went to the principal and said something, but never did anything further despite it happening right under his nose for YEARS after that, you would want him fired and then some.
Comment by Lorraine C on Nov 11 2011 11:20:35:
If I were the parent I would move heaven and earth to make sure Sandusky spent the rest of his life in jail or running from my rage. He is evil in the truest sense of the word. I would have gotten the media involved the day the DA and police told me he wouldn’t be prosecuted for what he did to my son. I blame them for allowing this to continue unchecked for years.
I think you are being consumed by the hyped up firestorm and its understandable considering the ages of the victims. But Joe is not a locker room attendant, campus police or involved in the day to day runnings of the facility. He’s the football coach. He was told the investigation was closed. Could he have done more? He’s admitted as much but is that prosecutable? There are many in front of him that bear the blame but its not Joe. Perhaps Penn State’s president brushed it under the rug? Perhaps it was politics from the numerous connected alumni. Until there is a definitive truth brought to the surface the pitch forks and torches will have to be put away for now
Comment by Lindsay on Nov 11 2011 11:30:37:
I have to disagree with you Lorraine about Joe Pa not having to be involved with what goes on in his locker room. If Paterno was a club owner and he knew known drug offenders were there and suspected they might be selling drugs, it would be his responsibility to get them out. If they were selling drugs and he knew about it and failed to act, he would in fact be prosecuted by the law. I think we might see more and more evidence coming out that proves there was a massive coverup, and he knew more than you think he did. But, as you said, we shall see. My point is, if it was illegal for them to allow a known child abuser back on campus, then perhaps other children would have been spared the abuse.
Comment by Jessica Mclaughlin on Nov 11 2011 11:29:19:
but it wasnt the first time he was seen with young boys in the shower. if i saw something like that happen and i didnt report it and then weas questioned by police and admitted to knowing about it and not saying anything, that would be considered accessory to the fact and you or i or anyone else would end up in jail. just because hes a coach doesnt mean hes immune to the law.
Comment by Daniel J Tully on Nov 14 2011 06:02:14:
There is a reason that the GA went to Paterno instead of police on the advice of his father. There is also a reason that Joe claims he reported a watered down version of the incident to his superiors. This was a situation that had been going on for some years. I don't see how anyone could not believe that this smells of a cover up at the highest levels of the University.
Comment by Daniel J Tully on Nov 14 2011 06:02:14:
There is a reason that the GA went to Paterno instead of police on the advice of his father. There is also a reason that Joe claims he reported a watered down version of the incident to his superiors. This was a situation that had been going on for some years. I don't see how anyone could not believe that this smells of a cover up at the highest levels of the University.
Comment by Jessica Mclaughlin on Nov 14 2011 06:42:52:
Daniel J Tully i agree completely. they wanted to keep there coach n pretend like nothng was going on.
Comment by Kevin Murphy on Nov 14 2011 08:13:42:
All of this makes one shake their head. Joe Paterno will carry his actions or lack thereof to his grave and beyond. Like all coaches, when placed in the role of molding young men and women into competitive yet good sportsmanship displaying human beings, how do you shrug off reports of someone working directly for you commiting the most horrific crime on earth. Child molesting is no different than murdering a child because the child’s very soul is being stripped away. There is no shot, no pill, no therapy or religious personna that allow a child molesting victim to ever forget or forgive. Joe Paterno should never be remembered for the great coach he was for nearly half a century. He should be remembered for putting his ego and legacy before the protection of a child. So why did he ever become a coach at all. Shake your head and wonder. I am.