Sexual abuse charges Rock Penn State University (Page 3)

Oh, no.

http://www.amazon.com/Touched-Jerry-Sandusky-Story/dp/1582613575/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320685899&sr=8-1

It really can't be.

Joe Paterno had a G.A. tell him he "saw" something happen... He didn't actually see the incident at all so to just assume it happened and possibly ruin a man's career based on what somebody says he saw would be foolish and that's why their is a hierarchy, to prevent that and to hold to the presumption of innocence.

I would think that after the higher-ups apparently did completed their follow-up and tell Joe Pa that they found no wrongdoing, that he would assume that the G.A. probably said he wasn't completely sure what he saw... and so again for the higher ups to go to the police anyway would be foolish

we DON'T know that a ten-year-old was ever raped in a shower at Penn Sate otherwise Sandusky would be in jail for the last ten years...

There's no law that says he can't have children at the Penn State facilities or practices.

 I wrote "people with a vested interest", not "people whose job descriptions". 

 Agreed. However, it appears that they decided that the best way to "project an image of a clean institution" was by quashing the allegations.  This is hardly out of the realm of credibility. One need only follow the news for a short time to find similar examples of people and organizations shortsightedly trying to cover up wrongdoing. It happens all the time.

Because it wasn't their job to "take care of it". It was their job to call the police and let the police "take care of it".  He's a smart man, he should know this. To do anything less is to participate in trying to hide it.

Maybe he did ask if it was reported to the authorities and was told it was. I doubt this as the next question would be "why didn't they talk to me?".

As I stated, this is based on my own experience.  It's not the kind of thing you just hand off to someone else and forget about, particularly if that someone else isn't law enforcement.   There is no way that an adult of any moral standing would simply pass on an allegation like this and not wonder why it wasn't followed up on by law enforcement.

You are correct here. Everything that I've posted is based on the facts as reported. If there are additional facts that would prove the scenario above to be incorrect, I hope that they are as widely publicized as the initial reports.

Agreed.

Based on the information I have heard, I don't assume one would necessarily follow the other.

And this is the attitude (sorry, don't take it personally), that allowed it to go on for what, 9 years?  

"He's not breaking any law, it's not my problem."  And they didn't report it, which is WHY he wasn't in jail. 

We didn't know that Jeffrey Dahmer killed and ate people, doesn't mean he shouldn't have been arrested prior to a trial.  This isn't a car or tattoo scandal warranting University/NCAA investigation.  It's an alleged criminal act

Mike...

1. why would they have a vested interest in stopping the allegations from going further? That's an assumption on your part... my point was that their responsibility as a high level administrator and "vested interest" would be to get rid of this guy as soon as possible

2. I didn't say that "quashing the allegations" was out of the realm of possibility, again I'm saying your assuming they quashed, and I'm saying maybe they did their due diligence and decide that it wasn't worth wrecking a guys career? Why wouldn't it be reasonable for Joe Pa to believ that was the case?

3. Who judges whether Joe Pa's a smart man? I would assume that they told him they took care of it and reported it to the authorities and would assume the authorities would take it from there. They don't necessarily have to contact him?

4. In addition to the facts that have been reported it's also out there that nothing has ever come from the previous allegations?  Is 7-8 possible incidents a lot? Hell yeah! But the fact remains, Sandusky is not in jail and has never been charged with anything to this point? They' re not going to widely publicize information to the contrary... that's not good for ratings and it's not juicy enough!

How come nobody mentions the tense relationship between Joe Pa and Spanier and how bad Spanier wants him out but knows he may stay there until he drops dead?  Any possibility of a leak? Spanier cancelled the press conference for today that Joe Pa gives every Tuesday for the past 46 years?

I'm not even a Penn State fanatic!!! Grew up following them as a Philly native and I could take or leave Joe Pa but drives me crazy when people get drug through the mud before the facts are presented!!

it was TEN YEARS AGO... we really DON'T know...

That's cool, but the fact that Sandusky didn't end up in jail means nothing to me at this point.

wow... reviews are brutal.

I don't think it's cool... it's just that child molesters are usually tried immediately, locked up and key tossed...

I would assume the facts are not so cut and dry, that's all...

FWIW, my feeling is he'll be found guilty eventually but why drag all this other BS into it about who knew and didn't know?

Not necessary... it's assumptions... about a guy (Joe Pa) that's done a lot more good in his life than most anybody.

Please try to understand that I was attempting to respect your statement and opinion, not say child molestation is cool or that you thought it was cool.  Sometimes you have to explain everything on the internet.

I agree with the usually part of your statement.  However, this situation seems, so far, to be far from the usual.

Do you really not understand this?  Let me rephrase, considering the allegations involved, do you really not understand this?

JoePa did what he had to do... he took a risk that the GA might not have seen what he thought he saw so he followed policy and simply reported it to higher ups.  He did what was legally necessary even if it fell short of moral necessity. 

Like it or not, we all make risk assessments when it comes to situations in our lives.  JoePa guessed wrong.  he could have done more but didn't.  Now he will have to live with the reality that is being reported. I suspect that will be no small affair for him, since his personal integrity and ethics are normally unquestionable.  Nonetheless he will pay for his inaction and mistake. He will also likely be the target along with others of a civil lawsuit. 

I wasn't being sarcastic... I see where you coming from.

No, I really don't understand the BS... it's assumptions and hearsay and innuendo regarding Joe Paterno. It's really not necessary. We don't know why he didn't follow up and to assume we know and drag his name through the mud on assumption only is wrong.

OK, I understand what you're saying as well.  However, what we are dealing with here are the people in our world most worthy of protection.  You factor in that parents entrusted Sandusky with their children based on a trusting relationship.  Now, you have very, very powerful people that knew of this alleged behavior and seemed to take less than reasonable steps from it happening again.  It happened again.  This is some damn serious, let's say, stuff. 

The quotes I've seen from Paterno himself suggest to me that he should have done more.  Maybe he did, but it seems that would have been included in the grand jury investigation.

I went to school at the University of North Carolina.  Maybe, in some part, basketball there is like football at Penn State.  If this came out about either Dean Smith, or Roy Williams, I would not want them to coach another game.  This didn't just happened on Paterno's watch, he knew about it.  I'm not saying Paterno spends a jail in day, but he should never set foot on campus again.  His risk assessment was wrong.

here I agree with you... HE is the one who should have called cops immediately. 

I don’t care if anyone here has idolized Penn State their entire life, or JoePa who stood for everything that was good about college athletics all these years, BUT I cannot even start to comprehend how anyone here can try to reason that JoePa or the Grad Assistant did the right thing by just reporting to the higher ups. 

They may have their behind covered on a legal basis and even the charges of perjury against the administrators will be hard to prove, but all of those involved had an obligation as human beings to do more than what they did.  The sad part is, that the number of kids that suffered because of their inaction, may never be known.

again, we don't know to what extent Joe Paterno followed up or anything... we're assuming he reported to the higher ups and then left it go... we don't know that.

maybe he did, maybe he didn't

I'm just saying to make assumptions is wrong.

To say they had an "obligation to do more than they did" is wrong... we don't know yet what they did or didn't do...

If these "allegations" came out about Dean Smith or Roy Williams I doubt you'd say "string em up" without due process. You'd like to think so, but more than likely you'd say wait for the facts.

I meant exactly what I wrote.  We're not talking about tatoos, too many phone calls in recruiting, or giving an athlete a ride across campus. 

I'm not talking about Sandusky's allegations... I'm talking about how much Dean or Roy knew or didn't know

You're gonna taint either one of their careers with assumptions tossed around in the media and on the internet? Really?

No, but findings of the grand jury will do just fine.  The University, and its obligations to the students, the State and its community, are worth it.  Paterno, Smith, Williams and similar are coaches with the pull to make things happen.  This makes it worse, to me.

understood...

Do you think the state police commissioner is operating on minimal facts?  He felt he knew enough to make a moral judgment about Paterno's course of action.