bye JoePa

It is so sad that Paterno's career had to end this way. Paterno did the correct thing legally -- he reported it. But not ethically. The person who committed the acts remained employed. One can't continue to turn his/her back to child molestation.

Paterno did NOT do the right thing - either legally or ethically.

If he had, the person in question would be in jail getting a taste of his own medicine and Paterno's legacy would be about football and an honorable retirement - not child molestation and cover-ups.

We don't know yet whether he did the right thing legally. There may be some inconsistencies between what Paterno was told and what he told his superior. Supposedly that may have led the Athletic Director to assign a lack of severity to it.

Until more details emerge on that front (they probably won't) it is wrong to blame Paterno for this incident.

Based on what we know now though, it is wrong that Joe Paterno was fired. There was a law written that said what he needed to do, and he followed that law. If the actions he took did not do enough to stop the actions from taking place, then maybe the legislators who wrote the law should be taken out of office. There is one state senator who is already taking steps to redo the law to prevent this stuff from happening again. Joe Paterno is not an administrator at Penn State University. His boss is. He reported the incident to his boss, who did not follow his legal obligation to report it to authorities. The administrator screwed up, not the employee.

Paterno did NOT do the right thing - either legally or ethically.

If he had, the person in question would be in jail getting a taste of his own medicine and Paterno's legacy would be about football and an honorable retirement - not child molestation and cover-ups.

Good point.

Actually the perp. wasn't employed at PSU when he was caught in the shower with the 10y/o male by the Grad Asst. in 2002. He had "retired" in 1999.

Regarding Joe Pa , he did legally follow the PA statutes for reporting a possible child assault. Ethically, debatable....

What would Joepa do if it was his grandson?

It may become a technical issue depending on Pennsylvania law.

Paterno may avoid charges since he did report it to his superiors (they have both been charged), but he may have been legally required to report the incident to law enforcement and did not.

It's very cut and dried IMO.

It doesn't matter if the man raping a little kid was currently employed there or had retired. It doesn't matter if Paterno thought the guy was telling him that he saw him fondling a little kid instead of having sex with him. All of these things are still very very wrong and SHOULD have been immediately reported to the police by ANYONE who saw them or heard of them.

I know that when I took on a role of authority in my school and I had to sit through those legally required classes when you deal with children, what they kept telling us was, "If you see something, report it to your superior". Thankfully, I was never in that situation, but had I been, I probably would have followed what they drilled into our heads because that is what they told us to do. Maybe they should be telling us to call the cops immediately, but until they do, I don't think it should be my fault when I followed the law and reported it to my superior, just because my superior then failed to report it to authorities.

Having said that, I wouldn't stand by for a decade knowing that things are still going on just because I reported it to my supervisor. That is why there are a few things we need to know before making judgements on Paterno's actions.

What exactly was he told by Mcqueary?
What exactly did he tell the AD?
What did he know about AD not doing anything about the allegations for 10 years?

The grand jury testimony regarding those questions is inconsistent at best. I think that until we have answers to those questions, we don't know enough to judge whether he is at fault. The AD and President on the other hand withheld information and should be held responsible.

Noone should have to tell you to call the cops when you see someone raping or molesting a child.

These incidents are so far beyond the pale it is ridiculous to suggest that merely telling a supervisor is in any way an appropriate response.

Castration. That is an appropriate response.

Paterno did NOT do the right thing - either legally or ethically.

If he had, the person in question would be in jail getting a taste of his own medicine and Paterno's legacy would be about football and an honorable retirement - not child molestation and cover-ups.

Why focus on just Joe Pa? Why aren't you attacking the 28/yo GA who SAW the act and didn't do anything to stop it? How about his father who he told THAT night, but didn't call the PD and waited till the next day to contact Joe Pa? How about the janitor who witnessed a similar event in 1998 but didn't report it or call the PD. What about his janitor buddies who he told about the event in 1998 but didn't report it or call the PD.

Legally, Joe Pa did exactly what the state requires of someone in his position. IF his superiors would have done what the state requires of them, they wouldn't be charged and the perp. would have been put away a long time ago.

I am not just focused on Paterno, MANY people failed these poor kids and this former grad student/now assistant coach is VERY high on my **** list in all this.

But Paterno was the one in charge and who had the clout to help these kids. Noone in PA was going to go against Paterno if he chose to help these kids and make this guy stop. Instead he did the least possible and even lent his name to the guy's charity knowing it would put him in contact with these kids.

The fact that so many people saw or knew of these incidents and did nothing is the most upsetting part of this whole thing.

And there are a lot of upsetting parts. Including that this guy was a foster parent who lives less than 1,000 feet from a school.

Ok, so I agree that all those people should have done more. But if everyone thinks it's so blatantly obvious now that simply reporting the abuse to your superior is not enough, then why has been the law in most states for a long time?

I always like to hear all the facts before decisiding but on the face of it, it certainly seems like scooterbug is correct. When it comes to kids we should err on the side of caution. It sounds as if there was a conspiracy. A group who chose football over kids, over decency. Ultimately they sound like cowards who chose their way of life, their institution, their MONEy over children. If so then they are all monsters. Screw the technicalities of doing only what the law requires.

Reminds me of a certain religious institutuion that I won't name but whose leaders live in Vatican City.

It would have been hard for me not to have beat the **** out of the child molester then and there in the shower and call 911 to bring the young lad to the hospital.

I agree.

JoePa has hired a criminal attorney.

too bad he (and all of them) didn't take a course in ethics and common decency a long time ago.

I'm with Scooterbug--putting the fear of losing a job or idolizing a football coach, above the life of a child, is disgusting and cowardly. How anyone can read the Grand Jury report and have any sympathy at all for any of these adults, is beyond me.

Well said GoodWitch58!!!!!

It is refreshing to see that the University did the right thing. A head football coach or any other coach has the responsibility of policing his assistants and it is his responsibility to take action if they are involved in any wrong doing. The head coach is responsible for hiring and also for firing and I am glad the university chose the moral way and not just the judicial way.

Based on the logic put forward on this thread, I think an investigation needs to be started into anyone who had heard anything about our old friend Coach Cozzie between 2002 and 2007. Based on the following thread, that's a lot of people.

http://sowal.com/bb/showthread.php/12815-SoWal-High-School-Coach-Arrested-for-Sex-Abuse

A lot of people on this forum apparently had been hearing rumors about this guy for years, yet did nothing. Some of them probably did report it, but because the people in charge did not do more, the people who reported it should be fired and thrown in jail for life because of the scum they are.

Based on the logic put forward on this thread, I think an investigation needs to be started into anyone who had heard anything about our old friend Coach Cozzie between 2002 and 2007. Based on the following thread, that's a lot of people.

http://sowal.com/bb/showthread.php/12815-SoWal-High-School-Coach-Arrested-for-Sex-Abuse

A lot of people on this forum apparently had been hearing rumors about this guy for years, yet did nothing. Some of them probably did report it, but because the people in charge did not do more, the people who reported it should be fired and thrown in jail for life because of the scum they are.

Please take a chill pill.

And you will note in that thread that people were outraged and wanted to know why action wasn't taken sooner - especially if adults had been hearing rumors for years.

The reason he was investigated and arrested was because he was reported to Child Services and the police.

This whole scandal outrages me! I have grown up watching Joe Paterno coach football. I had great respect for him as a coach and person. Now, I am just totally disgusted with him. I don't care what anyone says, this man should have called the police when he was told what was witnessed by the GA. Why in the world the GA didn't call the police is beyond me. Following "protocol" and reporting it his superiors did nothing to help the poor child. OMG, all these people that knew what was happening and did NOTHING should be put away for the rest of their lives. Paterno's whole legacy washed down the toilet because innocent children were molested and he knew about it, and all he did was tell his superiors. So sick. It brings me to tears thinking about these poor children and what they have gone through. I don't give a SH*T about any of these adults. I know that I would have been the one sitting in jail if I had witnessed this act because that SOB would have never, ever had the chance to do what he did to another child. I would have made sure of that.

It is a tragedy that Joe Pa's life at Penn State ended like this. But it is also a tragedy that children were raped and that went on for years. So I agree with you KDW.

Did you know that the perp actually had some of those kids from his charity became his foster children (according to ESPN)? Gross.

They were talking on ESPN yesterday about why Paterno got fired, yet McQuery didn't (yes, I know he is on paid admininstrative leave). A lawyer speculated that it's because McQuery is the eye witness so he might have bargained with the authorities. I dunno.

EDIT: Check out this article. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...-s-troubling-attitude-toward-sex-charges.html. Basically it says that Paterno has a history of minimizing sex charges and gives specific examples.

Because of the inconsistencies of what the various people involved said, we have no way of knowing at this point what Joe Paterno knew. You can act like he should have told more people, but you have no idea if he even knew what had happened. The grand jury testimony says that McQueary told Paterno that he witnessed Sandusky fondling a child in the locker room. Ok, so was he patting the kid on the head, or raping him? Paterno has no way of knowing. And then, a few weeks later when the AD and that VP guy call McQueary into a meeting, only then does McQueary go into detail about he actually witnessed. The report specifically says Joe Paterno was not at that meeting.

So based on the facts of what the testimony says, we only know that the AD, VP, and McQueary knew what had happened and did nothing about it. So for all Joe Paterno knew, Sandusky was patting kids on the back and then the University told him not to bring kids on campus anymore. That just doesn't seem unreasonable to me.