This is "Success With Honor" ?

Can anyone explain the crowds of people gathered and chanting support outside “Coach” Joe Paterno’s house?  Citynewswatch has read the facts and wonders if more charges in this case will be forthcoming.  Paterno’s account at best is that someone came to him and reported witnessing the rape of a small boy in the showers at Penn State facilities by one of his staff, and Paterno didn’t immediately call the police.  He never did.  The Grand Jury has found that at least eight more known victims of the alleged child predator exist.  The Attorney General is expecting more to come forward. 

Can someone explain the chanting crowd? 


The November 5, 2011 Press Release from the Attorney General’s office out of Pennsylvania has this headline:  “Childsex charges filed against Jerry Sandusky; two top Penn State Universityofficials charged with perjury & failure to report suspected child abuse”, and goes on to say:

"This is a case about a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys," Kelly said. "It is also a case about high-ranking university officials who allegedly failed to report the sexual assault of a young boy after the information was brought to their attention, and later made false statements to a grand jury that was investigating a series of assaults on young boys.

A lesson for anyone who doesn’t need this level of depravity to shock them into making a correct choice, take this as a general consideration:

"Equally disturbing is the lack of action and apparent lack of concern among those same officials, and others who received information about this case, who either avoided asking difficult questions or chose to look the other way."

This is not honor.

Some of those officials in this case are facing criminal charges already, and there are signals of more to come.  It should send a message to everyone that each is responsible for their own actions, especially when there is a possibility of criminal activity—of any kind. 

Read the full GRAND JURY REPORT laying out 8 victims identified and the details of their testimonies given to the jury.   Also observe the findings of fact that Sandusky established the “Second Mile Foundation” in 1977 with a stated mission to “help children who need additional support and would benefit from positive human interaction.”  In 1977, it started as a group foster home, and the program grew.  The possibility of others coming forward certainly exists. 

March 2, 2002, the then-10-year-old child who is in the news is named as “victim 2” in the Grand Jury report.  The Grand Jury reports that a Graduate Student observed Sandusky “having anal intercourse with” (unknown why they would not call this raping) the 10-year-old boy in the showers after hours.  The then-28-year-old Grad Student observed both the boy and Sandusky see him, then he ran away. 

What kind of person would observe an adult male raping a 10-year-old boy and not run toward the child to help?

After leaving and placing a phone call to his father instead of 911, the two of them decided the Grad Student would report it… to the Coach Joe Paterno.  Paterno reported to Athletic Director Curley.  Senior VP for Finance and Business Schulz and Athletic Director Curley had a meeting 1 1/2 weeks later and got the same report of the anal rape in the shower by Sandusky of a 10-year-old child, though they never bothered to find out who the child was. 

Schulz and Curley took away a couple of privileges at the school, if not in practice, and notified the Foundation of something—but not strongly enough to have Sandusky stop working with little boys.

One thing that did not happen from any of the adults entrusted with doing the right moral or legal thing is this:  no one contacted the police.  The graduate student who has testified he directly witnessed the rape of a 10-year-old child, Coach Joe Paterno, Athletic Director Curley,  Senior VP for Finance and Business Schulz should all have contacted the police at each step they were informed.  The Grand Jury stated they found ALL of his testimony to be “extremely credible.”  Even though Schulz oversaw the University Police, he didn’t even inform them. 

It sees that to keep the whole thing quiet may have been the biggest concern.

Curley and Schulz have been charged with perjury to the grand jury.  You can read the reports that explain why.  It feels like there should be charges for failure to report for the others involved and for Curley and Schulz.  The Grand Jury report references the law requiring reporting requirements—which may indicate more charges are forthcoming.   It feels so insidious that people would know about this for a minimum of nine years, possibly thirteen or longer, and allow Sandusky to continue to act, uninvestigated, free to look for other victims in a foundation he set up for at-risk youth, according to the indictment.  As the Attorney General and our legal system affirm, all charged are considered innocent until and unless convicted of any crimes.

There is at least one incident known to police and certain Penn State staff as early as 1998. 

There are 8 victims named in the Grand Jury report, dating back to 1994. 

If anyone who legitimately says they witness the rape of a child can walk away from that child, what hope is there for any other crime or corruption going on?  If you can think about this story without your stomach turning, you need help.  If you are cheering any of these people on, please seek help now. 

If you have witnessed or suspect sexual abuse:  do the right thing and report it.  Children are at stake.   I you have been the victim of sexual abuse, report that, too.  Predators don’t stop preying without “intervention.”

If you are a predator, stop destroying lives and turn yourself in.

Update:

Another question relates to the charges from the earlier dates of alleged victims not covered in this grand jury report.  Part of the mystery is explained in a missing District Attorney who was investigating those charges.  It’s unknown at this time why the charges weren’t picked back up again, or what happened to a DA described elsewhere as a very private man, but with a good relationship with his ex-wife and children, and a girlfriend.  Excerpts from the New York Times article are below and you can view the entire article by Ken Belson “Questions on Sandusky Are Wrapped in a 2005Mystery”   

One of the questions surrounding the sex-abuse case against Jerry Sandusky is why a former district attorney chose not to prosecute the then-Penn State assistant coach in 1998 after reports surfaced that he had inappropriate interactions with a boy.

The answer is unknowable because of an unsolved mystery: What happened to Ray Gricar, the Centre County, Pa., district attorney?

Gricar went missing in April 2005. The murky circumstances surrounding his disappearance — an abandoned car, a laptop recovered months later in a river without a hard drive, his body was never found — have spawned Web sites, television programs and conspiracy theories. More than six years later, the police still receive tips and reports of sightings.

Gricar’s cellphone was in the car, but not his laptop, wallet or keys, which were never recovered. Months later, the laptop was found in the Susquehanna River without its hard drive, which was discovered later. It was too damaged to yield any information.