Penn State AD and Sandusky Charged

eddiew112

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I suspect this comment may be misconstrued here, but I’m going to make it anyway.

(FWIW, I’ve got a 9-year old son to whom I’ve spoken positively of Joe Pa. And I live in a college town. I don’t know how I bring all of this up, but I don’t know how I don’t, if you know what I mean.)

The grand jury report doesn’t include anything about the sounds that, I agree, would have accompanied the rape. (molestation or assault are weak words, IMO). Why not? Did no one ask the question?
Yes it does, it mentions that McQueary thought he heard sounds that he associated with sexual activity.
 

JBill

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The grand jury report doesn’t include anything about the sounds that, I agree, would have accompanied the rape. (molestation or assault are weak words, IMO). Why not? Did no one ask the question?
Yeah it does, it's how he saw it in the first place, he went to investigate the sounds. Don't want to cut and paste...
 

canderson

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It should be noted Corbett was PA's Attorney General before being elected as governor this past year.

An interesting twist - since he presumably was leading (in name) of the investigation for a bit.
 

mauf

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Just throwing this out there, not a justification or an excuse at all, but perhaps McQueary was thinking about going to the police after nothing seemed to happen, but then he begins to think that he could be in worse trouble than before--because they might ask why he didn't contact them to begin with, and then he is confronted with the fact that he might be bringing down Paterno/PSU.

But then the longer he delayed the worse it got...because most people are questioning how he could do nothing. Awfully hard to do months, let alone years, after witnessing it and doing very little up front.
Once McQueary chickened out in the moment, the only hope for justice was that Paterno would do the right thing.

Once that didn't happen, then obviously McQueary should have gone to the cops. It's likely, however, that nothing would have come of it. It's also likely, sad to say, that McQueary would have paid a price for doing the right thing in vain. Compared to living with his abject failure in the crucial moment, I'm sure McQueary found his later silence easy to rationalize.

McQueary deserves the scorn being heaped on him here and elsewhere, but it's worth noting that he told the truth under oath before the grand jury. That appears to be more than can be said for any of the other principals.

I assume Spanier is gone by week's end -- the Trustees' abrupt reversal of his early vote of confidence in Curley and Schultz shows he has lost their confidence.

Paterno's immediate fate is less certain. Who cancelled today's press conference? There is obviously a desire on the university's part to control what Paterno says, and if he's summarily fired, the university's would lose all control over him. If the PC cancellation was simply Spanier's feeble attempt at damage control, the Trustees will sweep out Paterno with Spanier, but I suspect there's more to the story.

 

loshjott

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Once McQueary chickened out in the moment, the only hope for justice was that Paterno would do the right thing.
Or that Curley, who Paterno told, would do the right thing. That didn't happen and now Curley is being charged with "failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations, as required by state law." (NYT) Why Paterno or McQueary don't have that same requirement is something I don't know.
 

dcmissle

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I'm sensing multiple levels of blackmail here over many years and wonder whether JoePa will attempt to hold on this way. After all, an FBI Director who several Presidents dearly wanted to fire clung to his job this way over several decades. Movie comes out this Friday.


It sounds weird, but Joe right now is delusional.
 

JBill

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Or that Curley, who Paterno told, would do the right thing. That didn't happen and now Curley is being charged with "failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations, as required by state law." (NYT) Why Paterno or McQueary don't have that same requirement is something I don't know.
Especially because, as others have pointed out, it's Curley who works for Paterno, effectively, and not the other way around. That's why the "Paterno did what he could and reported it to his superiors!" defense is laughable, as if Paterno is some lowly employee following the chain of
command. He covered himself legally though, that's for sure.
 

Manny ActaFool

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Story on April 1, 2011...

http://nittanywhiteout.com/2011/04/01/nitt-links-wishes-this-was-some-cruel-april-fools-joke/

And they allowed him unfettered access to campus as recently as last week.

Penn State’s legendary defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is being investigated for accusations of indecent assault against a teenage boy. A grand jury has been hearing testimony for the past 18 months connected to a 15-year old’s allegations that Sandusky inappropriately touched a teenage boy multiple times over a four year period. The grand jury hearing is used by courts and prosecutors to determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence for a criminal charge. This is a disturbing accusation that follows a similar accusation made by another boy against Sandusky back in 1998.

Penn State’s head coach Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley, retired university Vice President and Treasurer Gary Schultz were among those who appeared before the grand jury in January over the case.

Last fall, Sandusky announced that he was retiring from day-to-day involvement in the charity [The Second Mile] to spend more time with family and handle personal matters. Since then, rumors of misconduct by Sandusky have lit up Internet comment threads and message boards that are normally havens for Penn State football fan chatter.

Being a key figure in The Second Mile, Sandusky is exposed to and involved with over 10,000 Pennsylvanian youths a year through summer and year round camps programs. Even as we speak following 18 months of a grand jury hearing, the Attorney General’s office has still not determined whether Sandusky has done anything inappropriate. Though I refuse to speculate over the details of the case until a trial is concluded, Mike has a nice breakdown of the possible legal ramifications for Penn State and Jerry Sandusky himself.

Sandusky has also released a statement through his lawyer concerning the matter:

While Jerry has been aware of an ongoing investigation by the Attorney General’s Office for many months dating back to 2009, he has steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout this ordeal. In his many years of service as a football coach and in his almost daily involvement since 1977 with The Second Mile, which helps thousands of kids at risk each year, Jerry has dedicated his life to helping young people develop into solid, community-oriented, and successful young adults.

Should the allegations as set forth in today’s newspaper article eventually lead to the institution of criminal charges against Jerry, Jerry fully intends to establish his innocence and put these false allegations to rest forever.

The man is innocent until proven guilty. And given that The Second Mile was founded by Sandusky way back in 1977, 34 years with close to 10,000 youths in a given year is alot of exposure to children. Though these are tough allegations, I can only hope the man that has successfully run The Second Mile for 33 years will be exonerated from these accusations.
 

mauf

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Especially because, as others have pointed out, it's Curley who works for Paterno, effectively, and not the other way around. That's why the "Paterno did what he could and reported it to his superiors!" defense is laughable, as if Paterno is some lowly employee following the chain of command. He covered himself legally though, that's for sure.
Which is why I advisedly referred to Paterno, not Curley, making the decision.

Reading PA law, it appears that school administrators and school teachers are required to report allegations of child sexual abuse. If a teacher or administrator reports the allegation to the head of the institution or his/her "designated agent" (whatever that means), the obligation to report transfers to the person receiving the report.
 

Manny ActaFool

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Or that Curley, who Paterno told, would do the right thing. That didn't happen and now Curley is being charged with "failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations, as required by state law." (NYT) Why Paterno or McQueary don't have that same requirement is something I don't know.
It would be in Indiana... I'm sure other states as well...

Although that action didn't violate Pennsylvania law, Indiana's law is more straightforward -- if an adult knows about child abuse, he or she has a legal responsibility to report it to authorities and to the state.

James Payne, head of Indiana's Department of Child Services, said he's outraged by the news coming out of Penn State.

"(I'm) angry and disappointed in people who have a responsibility to report and do not," Payne said. "In Indiana, everybody has an affirmative responsibility by statute to report suspicions of allegations of abuse and neglect."
 

Steve Dillard

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Someone tell me why a janitor witnessing another episode would conclude that his job would be in jeopardy for reporting it?

It would not occur to me to think I could get in trouble for calling the police on a crime, because I would expect the institution (Penn State, or more locally, Paterno) would support me.

Why didn't the janitor have that feeling?
 

Sprowl

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Someone tell me why a janitor witnessing another episode would conclude that his job would be in jeopardy for reporting it?

It would not occur to me to think I could get in trouble for calling the police on a crime, because I would expect the institution (Penn State, or more locally, Paterno) would support me.

Why didn't the janitor have that feeling?
He was a temporary employee, and worked for only 8 months at that job. He didn't exactly have job security, much less tenure.

He did, however, tell his immediate supervisor and his co-workers. His immediate supervisor told him to whom he would need to report the incident. Apparently the issue was placed back entirely on his shoulders. He's now senile and in a nursing home.
 

Shelterdog

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That's what I want to know. This isn't a Hollywood movie where the janitor could have feared retribution from some shady people. If he reported the action, and then the university tried to fire him for some BS reason, it would be the easiest court case of all time.
I'll play along. What would he sue for? Termination of his close to minimum wage at will employment and what else? Who would take that case for him? What's going to happen when Sandusky gets his own laywer to go after Calhoun for defamation and filing a false police report?

EDIT: Like the GA, the janitor should have stopped it and he should have called the cops but goddamnit it you guys are naive if you think there's no consequences to doing that.
 

BigMike

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I do wonder what Paterno and others knew and when they knew it?

We see that incidents date back to the mid 90's and Sandusky retired at what was a very young age after the 1999 season. It does make you wonder if Paterno and others didn't know something then and give

It seems somewhat odd he retired the same year his son joined the staff; although maybe that means nothing.
 

Wings

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Just my .02 but (assuming guilt, which I think is a fair assumption) I hope Sandusky does not commit suicide. I think that is way too easy of a way out for him.
 

mauf

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I do wonder what Paterno and others knew and when they knew it?

We see that incidents date back to the mid 90's and Sandusky retired at what was a very young age after the 1999 season. It does make you wonder if Paterno and others didn't know something then and give

It seems somewhat odd he retired the same year his son joined the staff; although maybe that means nothing.
The grand jury report doesn't say anything about Paterno, Curley, Schultz or Granier knowing about the 1998 investigation of Sandusky. I find that implausible. Sure, the investigation was handled discreetly, but given that there were two complainants, wouldn't the police have asked Paterno as a matter of course whether he knew anything?
 

mascho

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Jim Baumbach, a reporter for Newsday, is outside Paterno's home and tweeting the events. Some headlines:

Joe Paterno is waving out his front window; fans stormed house.
Crowd now in 1000 range. Not a spot on his driveway, grass or street to stand on. Car couldn't even get into driveway. Let him out in street
Students chanting Joe-Pa-terno as he gets out and briefly addresses students. This scene has a feel of goodbye to it.
 

JBill

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Students outside Paterno's house chanting his name in support.

I can't even.
According to twitter, ben_jones88, his wife is leading the cheers and Paterno is looking outside the window in tears.

Because, jesus, lets's all remember who the real victims are...
 

soxfan121

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I'm sensing multiple levels of blackmail here over many years and wonder whether JoePa will attempt to hold on this way.
The timeline for this situation seems really, really incriminating.

1998 - Sandusky is the presumed (named?) heir-apparent to Paterno
1998 - Incident?
1999 - Sandusky retires
2002 - Grad assistant McQuery reports Sandusky to Paterno
2003 - McQuery hired as position coach
2011 - Sandusky still hanging around campus

Add in the weird "missing DA & destroyed hard drive" angle, the concerted efforts to keep Paterno in his throne at PSU, the mounting allegations...it all looks really incriminating.

Like it's reasonable to see the timing of McQuery's new job as a payoff. It is not proven, but it LOOKS like that, doesn't it? And it looks like Paterno knew about Sandusky and has been protecting Sandusky for over a decade. It it is not proven, but goddamn it, it LOOKS like it.

I get the anger and helplessness and threats of violence and the "X should have beaten Y down!!" reactions - this is horrifying and it strikes nearly everyone's primal circuitry. Sandusky is despicable and irredeemable.
 

RG33

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Jim Baumbach, a reporter for Newsday, is outside Paterno's home and tweeting the events. Some headlines:

Wow. Talk about inappropriate. Regardless of what happens to JoePa, just not the time nor place.
 

JohntheBaptist

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The more I see, the more I understand why McQueary acted as he did.

Not condone. Not sympathize. But understand.
My earlier protestations aside, yeah, starting to understand it a little better as well. All the stuff from the Grantland article about being "three miles from anything" makes all these kids seem brainwashed.
 

mikeford

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Some of the pictures coming from Baumbach are honestly staggering in their sheer ignorance and obvious lack of attention to the details of this story. Such as this: http://yfrog.com/klaygrzj and this http://yfrog.com/odx7qbuj
 

RedOctober3829

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Pete Thamel:
From: @PeteThamelNYT
Sent: Nov 8, 2011 6:30p

Was just informed that this will be PA Gov. Corbett's first Penn State Board of Trustee meeting

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/PeteThamelNYT/status/134050125365526528
 

Mr. Wednesday

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This was talked about earlier in the thread but someone posted that they should get the sanctions Baylor got for the whole Basketball murder scandal.
In other words, nothing, at least, not for what we know to date. Baylor was not punished for the murder or the cover-up of the murder.

Baylor got slammed because of run-of-the-mill NCAA violations that came to light as a result of the murder cover-up (and that had been the impetus for the murder cover-up).

Or that Curley, who Paterno told, would do the right thing. That didn't happen and now Curley is being charged with "failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations, as required by state law." (NYT) Why Paterno or McQueary don't have that same requirement is something I don't know.
It's because that's the way the law is written in PA, at least as regards suspicion of child abuse. Passing it up the chain of command satisfies one's duty to report. McQueary's would then be satisfied by reporting it to Paterno, while Paterno's duty would be satisfied by reporting to the AD.

My second- or third-hand info says that this is unusual, and most states would require a report to the police in addition to a report to one's superior.
 

JBill

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Sandusky's victims, that we know about, are probably around the students' age now, maybe a little older.

Hopefully the alumni are smarter than this, these kids are dumb.
 

Manny ActaFool

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Sandusky's victims, that we know about, are probably around the students' age now, maybe a little older.

Hopefully the alumni are smarter than this, these kids are dumb.
I wish I could take a survey of them, you know, about a real-world situation:

"What would you do if an employee at your company came to you with a credible story that an executive at your company was having sexual relations with a minor on the company premises?"

A - Contact the police
B - Fire the executive
C - Ban the executive from the company premises
D - All of the Above
E - None of the Above

The students right now are trying to justify option E.
 

canderson

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This Paterno thing has to absolutely CRUSH him. I'd put a lot of money all he wants to do us answer questions, but has been told by attorneys/the school/whatever to stfu. He isn't a man that takes kindly to being shut out of anything.

Deservedly or not, it's a sight that is depressing to see. That photo of him looking out the window is iconic already.

Wow. People here in Harrisburg are floored by this, I've never quite seen a reaction of mass proportions like I've seen here the past few days.
 

Alternate34

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To be fair, 1000 students is not that many. There are about 35000 undergrads here. I would suspect that a greater percentage of the population thinks what Joe Paterno did was fine in that he reported it. Not trying to excuse their behavior, just saying that having 3% of the undergraduate population acting like morons isn't that crazy.

Of course, the administration is pretty fucking stupid for supporting, but it seems the trustees aren't in their boat.
 

Yazdog8

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Some of the pictures coming from Baumbach are honestly staggering in their sheer ignorance and obvious lack of attention to the details of this story. Such as this: http://yfrog.com/klaygrzj and this http://yfrog.com/odx7qbuj
Disgraceful. I hope the Big Ten boots them out. There should be no involvement with a University who at all levels both academic and sports administration protects a child predator.
 

Steve Dillard

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So Penn State is letting him retire with a huge buyout, provided he keeps silent.

Looks like Scott Paterno learned from Gloria Alred, pushing the threat of a tell-all press conference unless the Admin buys him off.
 

JBill

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I know they are just blindly supporting the guy without thinking too hard, but still, might not want to tweet everything you think:

PeteThamelNYT:
"This is a PSU quarterback. RT @MacQB11: Great to see so many supporters at coach paterno's house."
 

mikeford

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I mean, I'm giving the students the benefit of the doubt in so much as probably none of them have actually read the Grand Jury thing and probably don't know all or any of the facts.

But that doesn't mean the scene outside Paterno's house doesn't look disgusting all the same and make the students involved look like buffoons, at best.
 

mikeford

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Welp, I think we all saw this coming but still... just... ugh

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fox 29 has learned the number of child-abuse in the Penn State sex-abuse scandal involving ex-coach Jerry Sandusky has more than doubled in the past day, and is closer to 20 victims.

On Monday, state officials publicized two phone numbers for past victims to call, and within a day, it seems investigators have new leads.

Also on Monday, Pennsylvania state attorney general Linda Kelly said the Sandusky case was consideried an on-going investigation and more charges could be coming.
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/sports/local_sports/exclusive%3A-victims-double-in-penn-state-case-110811