Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal (Indictment Post #144, "Pimping" Allegations Post #442)

[Yakuza Rich]

Does anyone here really know exactly what Paterno knew and when he knew it?

From the sounds of it...Paterno knew about it in *1998*, not 2002.

It appears that there were rumors about some inappropriate behavior between Sandusky and the boys...mainly showering with these kids before 1998. One parent make a sexual abuse allegation and Sandusky admitted to it over the phone (claiming he wanted to be dead).

But, the DA didn't prosecute.

At the time (1998), Sandusky was supposed to be the heir apparent to Joe Pa's head coaching position. But, Sandusky was allegedly told by Joe Pa. after the incident that he will never be the head coach at Penn State.

Sandusky retired in 1999 and it's apparent that it was due to the incident and Joe Pa. telling him he would never be the HC at Penn State.

But...they allowed him full access...with children to the school's facilities.

So, Joe Pa knew about the allegation back in '98.


Then in 2002, 4 years *after*, McQuery reports to Joe Pa. that he saw Sandusky rape a boy that looked to be about 10 years old.

Paterno reports it to the school administrators.


NONE of this flies with me.

After the 1998 incident, I could see Joe Pa. thinking he did what he could do legally because the DA decided to not prosecute Sandusky. But why Joe Pa. let Sandusky stick around the school is beyond me. He should have ran him off completely.

Then, 4 years later, it happens again (and it appears to have escalated) and all Joe Pa does is report it to the school and leaves it at that. And Sandusky's punishment? No kids allowed to the school's facilities, but he still has full access to the school.

Normally, in the real world, what happens with cases like this is the predator bails out of town and goes far, far away and there's nothing the local authorities can do. But, Sandusky was a visible fixture. He was still running football camps at satellite campuses until September 2010...when more boys were being molested.

Quite frankly, I don't think we've even hit the tip of the iceberg yet. I think if the prosecution and some members of the media really wanted to investigate...they'd strike oil.







YR

 

[WoodysGirl]

I didn't know that much about this case and although I obviously knew it was awful already, I really wish I hadn't read those details. uke:

That might be the worst thing I've ever read in my life. So freaking disgusting. How the *** is that guy out on bail? Are you kidding me?

Sadly, he'll probably commit suicide before he can be taken to trial. Not kidding.

Really, Saltwater had the right idea with the shotgun and feral hogs.

I should've taken your lead and not read the details either..

Disgusting is too mild a word.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I don't think they do... At least nothing that's been reported.

Maybe it's my faith in humanity, but I have to believe it was more what Stanley said, that Paterno was told a highly sterilized version and even then he, not being a sicko, never considered anything like that was the real story.

I mean, I just can't imagine that he or any human could know that had happened and not do more about it. There's no way.

I don't think we can let Joe Pa. off that easily.

I agree in the sense that it sounds incredible to me that somebody would just let it slide. But, I can't put it above somebody like Paterno to cover things up in order to protect his legacy.

It's obvious that Paterno knew about Sandusky back in 1998. That's why Sandusky retired because he was told after the incident that he would never be the HC at Penn State. Why would Paterno do that unless he knew what Sandusky did and knew it was true?

Like I said earlier, McQuery doesn't have to be graphic. He can say "I saw Jerry raping a boy in the shower."

That's not graphic, but given the 1998 incident and now...Paterno knew.

I think people may need to start to face the truth that perhaps Paterno was much more selfish than they ever thought and was in reality, a coward.









YR

 

[Rogah]

From the sounds of it...Paterno knew about it in *1998*, not 2002.

It appears that there were rumors about some inappropriate behavior between Sandusky and the boys...mainly showering with these kids before 1998. One parent make a sexual abuse allegation and Sandusky admitted to it over the phone (claiming he wanted to be dead).

But, the DA didn't prosecute.

According to the grand jury's Findings of Fact, there were more than just rumors, there was an actual investigation by the State College Polize Department in response to an allegation from the mother of a victim. Apparently the decision was made that the allegations did not rise to the level of prosecution, though I have to question the wisdom of whomever made that decision.

That particular allegation doesn't mention Paterno specifically, though I find it impossible to believe that any of this went on without his knowledge.

 

[Rogah]

I think people may need to start to face the truth that perhaps Paterno was much more selfish than they ever thought and was in reality, a coward.

That is a very sad and unfortunate realization that I have been coming to over the past 36 hours. A couple days ago, this man was arguably the shining beacon of big time college football. Now I'm thinking he should probably do some time behind bars.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

That is a very sad and unfortunate realization that I have been coming to over the past 36 hours. A couple days ago, this man was arguably the shining beacon of big time college football. Now I'm thinking he should probably do some time behind bars.

Like I said earlier...I was somewhat familiar with the school and there was a lot of stuff going on (completely unrelated incidents) that were very bad things, including crimes, that were very well circulated on campus that the students knew very well and were blatantly covered up.

People forget, Penn State is out in the middle of nowhere. The closest cities with reporters are Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and they are more worried about their own city's sports than trying to keep an eye on Penn State. And any local reporter investigating their crap would be completely out-gunned and would be in fear of losing their job.

They've covered up things for years and I think it's obvious they thought they could cover this up as well. I just thought even Paterno and Penn State wouldn't cover up something this heinous.

I guess I gave them too much credit.








YR

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I don't think we can let Joe Pa. off that easily.

I agree in the sense that it sounds incredible to me that somebody would just let it slide. But, I can't put it above somebody like Paterno to cover things up in order to protect his legacy.

You might be right. Paterno had known this guy for so long, I assume he was not just an employee but a friend. But to ignore something that heinous?

I could also see what Rogah said, where Paterno basically lets this little GA know, even nonverbally, that he doesn't really want to know any details. I think that happens *tons* with coaches even at the high school level, but probably way more at a major program like at Penn State. Just think of all the recruiting and booster payment type violations that have to go on constantly... I think these coaches truly don't want to know any bad news. I know a lot of them don't.

Of course this case is on a whole different level, but I think they're conditioned to think that way, that I'm the king and I have underlings to handle any messy stuff, so don't bring me any trouble. And I could see especially a GA being afraid of his job if he made his boss mad.

You're right, though, that even if Paterno didn't really know, someone did. And they didn't do anything about it. Hopefully the media are able to find the truth and and every single person who ignored this horrendous crime ends up in jail for a very long time.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

What I'm saying is that Paterno *did* know before.

The 1998 incident....there's not much Paterno could have done legally. I'm sure it came as a shock to him as well. That a long trusted friend was a child molestor.

But, this was presented to the DA and they wouldn't prosecute. Although I still don't understand the decision to keep him on campus....unless you wanted to keep this under wraps.

Still though...not the absolute worst and incomprehensible actions by Paterno back in '98.

However, once it happened AGAIN in 2002...I don't think you really need to know the details. And I believe McQuery told him essentially that he raped a kid.

I don't see it hard for Paterno to take McQuery with him and go to the police station and report the crime. Or to tell McQuery that he needs to report this to the police.

What kills me is that Sandusky was still fully allowed access to the facilities and was still teaching the Second Mile football program on Penn State satellite campuses.

That's what screams 'coverup' and 'protect my legacy' more than anything. It's the football program. People want to talk about 'power'...Joe Paterno certainly has power over the football program.









YR

 

[WV Cowboy]

Paterno will make this whole situation even worse for himself if he refuses to step down, .. now.

This is ugly now, and will be uglier moving forward.

He may have earned the right to keep coaching far too long, but he has not earned the right to walk freely away from not reporting child sex abuse.

How many boys would not have experienced this if he had done the right thing when he first found out?

 

[RoyTheHammer]

I think people may need to start to face the truth that perhaps Paterno was much more selfish than they ever thought and was in reality, a coward.

YR

He obviously made a huge error in judgement, but he did report the incident. The man is anything but selfish.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Rich is right about Penn St. and how isolated it is from the rest of the world.

It's not just the distance from major population centers, but the geography as well that isolates it. You leave the campus in any direction and within a few miles you would swear you're out in the middle of no-where with everything a sea of hills and forests.

It's easy to keep things bottle up there.

In addition Penn State football is like a religion to those folks. They don't have anything else. There are NFL teams that don't have the following that Penn State football does. And there are people that would do anything in the world to protect that.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

He obviously made a huge error in judgement, but he did report the incident. The man is anything but selfish.

If it was his kid, would he have done the same thing?

 

[RoyTheHammer]

If it was his kid, would he have done the same thing?

I've already stated that he made a huge error in judgement.. not sure how you missed that as you just quoted the post.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

In addition Penn State football is like a religion to those folks. They don't have anything else. There are NFL teams that don't have the following that Penn State football does.

You could say this about alot of college football teams.. not sure what you're point is though.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

However, once it happened AGAIN in 2002...I don't think you really need to know the details. And I believe McQuery told him essentially that he raped a kid.

Yeah, I was just reading a SI story on it, and apparently it's in the grand jury testimony that Paterno told the administrator that it was something of a sexual nature. I'd read earlier that he might have been told it was just "horsing around". So if that's true, even if he didn't know the exact details, he knew enough.

So, so sick.

Why hasn't Penn State fired him already?

 

[Joe Realist]

Paterno will be gone within days or weeks. This whole story is surreal.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

Yeah, I was just reading a SI story on it, and apparently it's in the grand jury testimony that Paterno told the administrator that it was something of a sexual nature. I'd read earlier that he might have been told it was just "horsing around". So if that's true, even if he didn't know the exact details, he knew enough.

So, so sick.

Why hasn't Penn State fired him already?

Who's going to fire him right now? The president of the university and the athletic director are both under more heat than Joe is right now for their roles in the situation.

The prosecution seems to think Joe did what he should have done, they don't seem to think the same about either of the other two men i just mentioned.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I've already stated that he made a huge error in judgement.. not sure how you missed that as you just quoted the post.

And there probably will be some accountability issues because of that error.

 

[Rogah]

He obviously made a huge error in judgement, but he did report the incident. The man is anything but selfish.

When we're talking about such a heinous violation of the law, telling your boss is not really considered "reporting the incident". It isn't like they caught some 19 year old football player with a beer in his hand. This goes WAY above and beyond the type of incident you want to keep in house.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

You could say this about alot of college football teams.. not sure what you're point is though.

The point is that the incentive to cover the problem is present and isolation of the place makes it easier to pull off as opposed to many other universities.