Disgraced Former Penn State DC Jerry Sandusky (convicted child molester)

[Jake]

I'm flummoxed by the free pass so many are giving McQueary, who witnessed the attack. And by those who claim Paterno was involved in a knowing coverup without any real evidence that such was the case.

Looks to me like this reaction is motivated by a desire to find the highest-ranking scapegoat as opposed to assigning correct responsibility.

My only beef with McQueary was he left the building without attempting to intervene in the attack. Once he took it to Joe Pa, for the man who made Penn State to do the bare minimum then go home and make a sandwich is far more irresponsible.

McQueary was a lowly graduate assistant at the time. Joe Pa was Joe Pa. Paterno could've made sure justice was done years ago. He did not.

 

[Frohlich]

Not trying to give JoPa a pass in any way, but there is more merit in this argument than many are allowing. The devil is in the details.

I know personally of one persons whose life was destroyed by a sexual molestation accusation that was later recanted.

If someone comes to me and suggests that a close friend of mine is accused of performing an act that I find him incapable of doing I have an absolute obligation to report it. Jo did so - to the next level up in the organization. Is it also his responsibility to do the investigation? To turn his friends life upside down by directly reporting an unsubstantiated report over to the police and by default likely the press?

The assumption folks are making is that Jo believed the initial report.

I too might be inclined to say "I can't believe this. But I have to tell someone." Then stand back and hope that it turns out not to be true. If nothing happens can't I breath a sigh of relief and assume that the report was in fact false?

I have already started the chain of events that might result in the destruction of my friends life. Why is it now my role to expedite those events?

It wasn't "someone" as in some random person. It was McQueary, an ex-player now on the staff. Why the hell would he make it up. It would be different if Paterno was at a cocktail party and some random person told him the story. Is McQueary not trustworthy enough to take him very serious and go to the cops. This is about Paterno protecting the brand above helping a young child. Walks like a duck, looks like a duck...IT'S A DUCK!!!!

 

[Dryden]

Well the other possibility is that he went ahead & hired McQueary as a coach after believing him to be a liar.

Are you suggesting that people who falsely level child-molestation charges at their bosses' right-hand man of 33 years aren't usually promoted?

That's strange.

 

[MaxBuck]

God, will I be glad when Sandusky is behind bars and the rest of this morass is resolved. But I'm afraid it won't be for years. I suppose it may be good for society to be reminded of what horrible acts human beings are capable of, in order to protect youth, but this is one hell of a difficult reminder.

 

[zincfinger]

I think everyone should put themselves in Paterno's shoes when he hears the allegation. Do you believe the word of a graduate assistant or of a close friend you've known for nearly 30 years without any indication of perversion?

Of course you give credence to the word of a guy you've worked with for 6 years, when he tells you he directly witnessed a sexual assault and/or forcible rape of a minor, perpetrated by a former employee inside your building, to which you gave him access. Credence doesn't mean you consider it case-closed, but it means you take it seriously enough that you feel the police absolutely have to be involved, one way or another. Moreover, there was prior indication of perversion by Sandusky. The radio interview linked a few pages back makes some good points. Sandusky had been investigated by the DA for sexual assault of a minor, at a time when he was Paterno's DC, when Paterno was not nearly the enfeebled old man he is today, and when Paterno had been running that program for four decades so tightly that he knew absolutely everything that went on within his fiefdom. There is no way Paterno didn't know about those earlier allegations, and I think it has been plausibly suggested that those allegations were the reason Sandusky had "retired". But again, even if you make the enormous leap of faith that Paterno was completely oblivious to the earlier allegations against Sandusky, I don't see how it's understandable to effectively let it slide when you are told directly by a person you consider trustworthy who has no earthly reason to fabricate the story that he directly witnessed an assault/rape in your building.

Like I said, the obligation to go to the police rested primarily on McQueary, who actually saw a rape attack yet didn't go to the appropriate authorities.

Frankly, I think it's more understandable that McQueary wanted to bring the chief on board before publicly leveling serious allegations against his own former superior, than it is that Paterno wanted to pass the buck when hearing direct testimony of those allegations about his inferior. McQueary plausibly wanted some support from someone in a position of power, before going after someone in a position of power. Paterno didn't need any support, because he had as much power as anyone. Of course, the biggest lapse (to put it mildly) in all of this is probably that McQueary apparently turned around and walked away, rather than physically intervening, when he saw a boy being sodomized.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I'm flummoxed by the free pass so many are giving McQueary, who witnessed the attack. And by those who claim Paterno was involved in a knowing coverup without any real evidence that such was the case.

Looks to me like this reaction is motivated by a desire to find the highest-ranking scapegoat as opposed to assigning correct responsibility.

It's not an either/or situation. JoePa is getting more attention because he's JoePa. I don't, however, think that is leading others to absolve McQueary in any way.

As for JoePa knowingly being involved in a cover-up (I would call it more inaction and "sweeping under the rug"), I think that's becoming more and more self-evident as information--including JoePa's own grand jury testimony and the the timeline of when PSU officials first became aware of Sandusky's proclivities becomes available.

 

[Saw31]

Let's be very clear here. The 2002 incident did not occur in some vacuum. The 2002 incident followed a similar report (and investigation where Sandusky is quoted as asking for forgiveness and wanting to be dead) in 1998. There is NO more 'I didn't believe it' defense for inaction from JoPa at that time. The 2002 incident was reported to him by someone who he obviously trusted enough to recruit as a player, keep on as a grad assistant, and then bring on the staff as a coach. To not believe the McQeary report is to believe that JoPa would hire someone he believes would make false accusations of child rape (a despicable offense as well). Run that through the fucking equivocation machine a couple times. Either way you fall, JoPa is a fucking piece of shit...

 

[alexhortdog95]

Don't worry, he made sure to top it off with "Beat Nebraska". Because we all know that's the most important thing right now.

If you've never...in your adult life....been a Husker fan...
This is the weekend to be one. Not sure how much good that will do, but....I know there will be more people pulling for every team PSU faces now for the rest of the season, regardless if JoePa is the coach or not.

 

[alexhortdog95]

McQueary was a lowly graduate assistant at the time. Joe Pa was Joe Pa. Paterno could've made sure justice was done years ago. He did not.

Joe Pa made sure justice was served. Penn State Style Justice.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Poor Joe. Why would anybody expect him to ask for clarification about the acts of a sexual nature between his former right hand man and a 10 year old boy in the football showers. At a minimum to find the identity of the 10 year old boy. But that wasn't Joe's job - he was merely the head football coach who happened to run the place. Yeah, we're just looking for a scapegoat.

The fact that he didn't tells me that he was not shocked by the information. I think that I would have grilled McQueary for at least half an hour about exactly he saw, where exactly they were, how they were positioned, clothing status and other various and unpleasant details so that I could begin to understand and (unfortunately) picture exactly what McQueary saw.

The next step would be to immediately place calls to the police (not campus police) and the state children's service agency.

.................then call the AD and President and notify them of what was coming down. After that I would have gone Red Foreman on McQueary and put my foot dead up his ass for not preventing the ass rape of a 10 year old boy.

I'm not an expert in crisis management. This to me is basic fucking common sense.

 

[Dryden]

I think it's naive to disregard the 1998 investigation into Sandusky (which lasted for more than six weeks) and accept the story being fed to us that Paterno first learned of this in 2002. That just doesn't jive with Sandusky's surprise retirement, or the way Joe Pa personally distanced himself from Sandusky (Joe Pa spoke for less than a minute at Sandusky's retirement banquet, and made no mention of Sandusky's character or charity -- seems odd after more than three decades of service, doesn't it?)

And this wasn't doddling old oops-i-crapped-my-pants 2008 Joe Pa, this was 1998 Joe Pa that was still walking five miles a day, walking from his house to the stadium, and sharp as a tack in his press conferences. If there was an investigation in 1998 into a member of Joe Pa's staff, especially an icon such as Sandusky, Paterno would have been made aware of it.

This is not a game of he-said, she-said. After you already have an eyewitness and police investigation, you start giving the additional eyewitnesses that come forward more credibility.

 

[Muck]

I think that I would have grilled McQueary for at least half an hour about exactly he saw, where exactly they were, how they were positioned, clothing status and other various and unpleasant details so that I could begin to understand and (unfortunately) picture exactly what McQueary saw.

Don't take this the wrong way but could you stand a little farther away from me please.

Thanks.

 

[Saw31]

If you've never...in your adult life....been a Husker fan...
This is the weekend to be one. Not sure how much good that will do, but....I know there will be more people pulling for every team PSU faces now for the rest of the season, regardless if JoePa is the coach or not.

I would be pulling for UNL anyway. But it has nothing to do with this. I don't give a shit if this was PSU or any other University. This is a child rape case involving a complete and utter failure of an institution for the purposes of protecting their own asses. I don't give a flying fuck if that institution is a University or the local Walmart. The actions and in-actions of the so-called leadership in this case is so contrary to what should be expected, everyone involved needs to be removed and where possible, sent to prison...

 

[kinch]

If you've never...in your adult life....been a Husker fan...
This is the weekend to be one. Not sure how much good that will do, but....I know there will be more people pulling for every team PSU faces now for the rest of the season, regardless if JoePa is the coach or not.

I see where you are coming from, but I don't really wish anything bad for the team. This simply isn't about football. It took me a while to grasp that, and I think it is the same for others.

I would however love to see Penn State axe everyone and start over before the game.

 

[Jake]

Holy shitballs! If you haven't actually read the grand jury report (23 pages) you have no idea of the depth of the depravity. Sandusky is one sick SOB. He'll be very popular in prison.

Grand Jury report of Sandusky investigation