Joe Paterno and the Penn State Coverup
So now that Jerry Sandusky has been found GUILTY of 45 child molestation charges and will hopefully spend the rest of his life behind bars, an investigation has found that Joe Paterno, who died last year of cancer, was guilty of covering up for Sandusky. His actions would have allowed Sandusky to molest many more kids than if he had done the right thing and stopped Sandusky when he first heard about it. Several other members of the Penn State board have been found to be negligent also. Here’s a link to the report that TMZ obtained.
I was happy to see that Nike is going to be removing Joe Paterno’s name from it’s Child Care Center. His name has no business being associated with a Child Development Center. I don’t care if he’s dead and I shouldn’t be dancing on his grave. The man knew what Sandusky was doing, and he was more worried about his precious football team and the Penn State name than he was about these innocent kids.
Here’s an piece from the report:
The most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Council is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims. As the Grand Jury similarly noted in the presentment there was no “attempt to investigate, the identify Victim 2, or to protect that child or any others from similar conduct except as related to preventing it’s re-occurrence on University property.”
Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University – President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President-Finance and Business Gary C. Schultz, Althletic Director Timothy M. Curley and Head Football coach Joseph V. Paterno – failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. The men concealed Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the University and authorities. The exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky’s victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001. Further, the exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child’s identity, of what McQueary saw in the shower the night on February 9, 2001.
These individuals, unchecked by the Board of Trustees that did not perform its oversight duties, empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have continued, unrestricted and unsupervised access to the University’s facilities and affiliation with the University’s prominent football program. Indeed, that continued access provided Sandusky with the very currency that enabled him to attract his victims. Some coaches, administrators and football program staff member ignored the red flags of Sandusky’s behaviors and no one warned the public about him.
It then goes on to say that by not promply and fully advising the board about the sexual abuse allegation against Sandusky, the men failed in the jobs. Its then continues with:
Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, the Special Investigative Counsel finds that it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at the University – Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the University’s Board of Trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large.
When will people get that a predator is a predator, and that if you let them get away with it once, they’re going to keep trying to get away with it. By not stopping to problem, you become an enabler. You’re effectively helping the predator to continue. It’s a cliche, but If you’re not part of the solution, the you’re part of the problem”.
Eventually, someone is going to speak up. Someone is going to have the balls to come forward. Then, others will also find their voice. The children will find strength in numbers, and then the shit will hit the fan. All of the douchebags who let it happen will be exposed. They will be shamed just like the predator.
Joe Paterno got off easy. He died before the shit really hit the fan. His memory will forever be tarnished. Hopefully the others, Schultz, Spanier and Curley will also have to face the music and pay for their ineptitude to save those kids.
I don’t give a shit how fabulous you think your football team is, or how wonderful your organization is, or how high your TV show is rating. If you allow a child predator to continue their deeds because you’re protecting a cash cow, you’re just as big a douchbag as the predator. You deserve to also face jail time and should be publicly named and shamed. In the case of these three remaining Penn State idiots, they should be fired, jailed and never allowed to work near kids again.
