bye JoePa

He was the Coach, FTLOG, he had an obligation to check it out...if his grad. assistant was concerned enough to tell him anything...as the Coach he was obligated to make sure there was no harm being done to anyone. There is no excusing him or any of the rest of them...especially the eye witness who did not have the courage to follow through when he saw that Coach was not doing anything about it.

Penn State lets victims down again

Statement by one of the victim's lawyers:

“The board of trustees got it wrong. They should have consulted the victims before making a decision on Mr. Paterno,” Ben Andreozzi said. “They should have considered these victims watch TV and are aware of the students’ reaction and may not want to be associated with the downfall of Mr. Paterno. The school instead elected to do what it felt was in its own best interest at the time. Isn’t that what put the school in this position in the first place?”
“The way the Board reached its decision raises more concerns than the decision itself. There is no indication the Board considered the impact of the decision on the abuse victims,” Andreozzi continued. “The school let the victims down once, and I think they owed it to the victims to at least gauge how the immediate termination decision would impact them as opposed to Mr. Paterno’s resignation at the end of the year. These victims do not live in a bubble.
“They see the students reaction to the termination, and to think this does not weigh on their minds would be naive.”

Can't Penn State stop focusing on public relations for 5 minutes and maybe consider the impact they are having on these victims? Sitting here in Bloomington Indiana right now, I can't help but think about the fact that the student who infamously got into an "argument" with Bob Knight, which led to Bob Knight getting fired. That kid was a life-long IU supporter and after that incident he had to leave only a week into his freshman year. Had the school not fired Bob Knight, that kid could have enjoyed his four years as a student at the university he wanted to attend his entire life.

Obviously the crime involved in this situation is much more serious, but the coach is not the one who committed it. Think about it, as bad of a life those victims have had, it's only going to be made worse because of the decision made by the university.

Get real.

Fondling does not mean "patting on the head" and obviously "patting a child on the head" is not something someone would be so concerned about they have to have a special meeting with their boss about it. :roll:

There is simply no excusing the repeated blind eyes and inaction of people involved - no matter how many football games they may have won.

A massive priority change is needed if winning football games is more important than protecting little kids from sexual predators.

Joe Paterno will suffer in shame until the day he dies at a time in his life when he was expecting to live out his final years reveling in glory. Serves him right. He has lost it all, and is now a broken man. This article details all of the writing that was on the wall for years in the abusive kingdom known as Penn State.

Scott Audette / Reuters
"Joe (Paterno) is perceived to be a father figure or grandfather figure, and that's a very hard thing for people to get to that realization, that your dad is bad," former Penn State assistant coach Matt Paknis says.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45283472/ns/sports-college_football/page/2/

Schultz is the head of campus police in State College, Pennsylvania. They have the exact same powers as the municipal police department in State College, Pennsylvania. Based on that, Joe Paterno did go to the police, as well as his superior (the AD). This is one of the worst scandals I have ever seen, and it seems horrible to me that people are putting all this blame on the wrong person. Schulz, the AD, and McQueary all knew exactly what happened, and proactively worked to cover it up. Joe Paterno knew that something happened and reported it to the head of the police department that had jurisdiction.

http://www.police.psu.edu/statestatutes/

to exercise the same powers as are now or may hereafter be exercised under authority of law or ordinance by the police of the municipalities wherein the college or university is located, including, but not limited to, those powers conferred pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 89 Subch. D (relating to municipal police jurisdiction).

Not to mention the Board of Trustees selfishly fired Joe Paterno for some good PR. Without taking into consideration the negative impact that would have on the victims in this case, as demonstrated by the lawyers statement.

Yes, he did the minimum that was required of him. I hope that he will be able to sleep at night knowing that he didn't do the MAXIMUM that he could to prevent a sexual predator from continuing to rape young children. From what I can see he isn't getting all the blame. There is plenty to go around. His problem is that he has always portrayed himself and his program as being above reproach and now he is showing that he is fallible and for over nine years allowed not only a crime to go unpunished but also allowed that same man to use the football facilities unmpeded. Well, that's not 100% true. If he wanted to rape children, he had to do it off campus.

I predict many more charges and some massive civil suits.

Now it is coming out that the head of the charity (resigned today) was also aware of the shower incident* and that he knew Sandusky was banned from local schools due to his behavior.

*He claims he was just told there were concerns, not the full details/extent. That is not going to hold up in court, as IMO the first thing you do if told someone in your organization is behaving inappropriately is ask for more information.

Amen

Public ignorance has become the currency of the Sandusky scandal. Not willful ignorance, although surely there have been ample amounts of that, but a more ordinary, everyday, lack-of-basic-information, we-just-don't-have-it-yet type of ignorance. It is terrifyingly obvious that many people are operating off shards of factoids and little else, and drawing broad conclusions based upon those shards, and generally not knowing very much with absolute certainty, because the case so far doesn't allow for that.

http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/kreidler-111117/echoes-duke-lacrosse-rush-judgment-penn-state-scandal

Another great article

Jane Turner is a former FBI agent and expert on child sex crimes.

While it isn't known what happened in the shower between McQueary and Sandusky, Turner said that given her expertise it would have been "100 percent normal" for McQueary to freeze, panic and shut down after seeing what he said he saw.

"You're trying to comprehend something your brain can't handle," Turner said. "You can't rationalize it. Compute it. Handle it. Most people turn around and walk away. And then they try to figure out, 'Oh my God. What the hell did I just see?' The people who say they would go in there and break it up? They're wrong. Nine times out of 10, that's just not how the human brain works."

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7237700/in-penn-state-child-sexual-abuse-scandal-there-no-easy-answers-assistant-mike-mcqueary

Throughout this whole thing whenever I have heard someone talk about how he would have gone into that shower and beat Sandusky up, I've had my doubts. That has to be one of the most traumatic things one can experience, and for someone to judge with any confidence how s/he would react without having actually experienced it is kind of ridiculous. It's like when you think about how you're going to react if the plane your on crashes. That's great that you think you will be calm, cool, and collected and save the lives of 27 women and children, but the truth is, you probably won't.

I'm solely referring to the immediate reaction to witnessing the event in the shower. Not saying anything while the guy is on your campus for 10 years is a whole different story.

Never did I say I would be calm, cool, and collected. But I do know how I react to things. In an emergency or crisis I spring into action. It's in my DNA and it's how I was trained.

Some people freeze, I react. My way of dealing with things is to fix them or act swiftly to keep them from getting worse. And you don't hurt kids when I am around, I am a combo of a pitbull and border collie when it comes to kids. This is well documented.

Yelling in shocked surprise or calling the police in an emergency is not exactly on par with saving a plane from crashing. (Though if my plane crashed, there would also be a lot of yelling, cursing, and I would be doing something.)

I'm with you Scooterbug, I am pretty confident I would have done something to stop this. I have witnessed several bad auto accidents, where cars were on fire, folks trapped and have always reacted quickly to assist. I'm with you think it's in my DNA, no training. I'm all pitbull when it comes to kids and the elderly.

I'm with you Scooterbug, I am pretty confident I would have done something to stop this. I have witnessed several bad auto accidents, where cars were on fire, folks trapped and have always reacted quickly to assist. I'm with you think it's in my DNA, no training. I'm all pitbull when it comes to kids and the elderly.

Picture walking into your office and your boss is having anal sex with a ten year old boy. I think that would be much more traumatizing than watching some cars crash. We see real videos of cars crashing on the news and fake ones in movies all the time. We don't typically see our bosses raping ten year old's.

I am with SB on this one; but you make an interesting point. IMO one would have to be intimidated by, or in awe of a boss, in order to be able to walk away from an adult person molesting a child...and it seems that 'way too many people at this school (and perhaps others) are intimidated by the football coach(s).

Maybe this horrible situation will help to eradicate that behavior on college campuses and anywhere it is happening.

I WOULD NOT STAND IDLY BY AND LET SOMEONE MOLEST A CHILD.

That's just my personal reality. You can justify your own lack of action and paint all the scenarios you want, but there is no way in hell I wouldn't do anything.

I don't care who is doing it, what position they hold over me, how it affects a fricking football game, you name it.

I've called the cops, confronted people, and taken unpopular stands for FAR less important reasons than stopping the abuse of a child.

And if the campus police didn't do anything, I would keep harping on it and going above their heads until I found someone who would do something.

There are things that are important enough that you do them regardless of what the consequences might be to you and you life. Stopping people from raping children tops that list.

I WOULD NOT STAND IDLY BY AND LET SOMEONE MOLEST A CHILD.

That's just my personal reality. You can justify your own lack of action and paint all the scenarios you want, but there is no way in hell I wouldn't do anything.

I don't care who is doing it, what position they hold over me, how it affects a fricking football game, you name it.

I've called the cops, confronted people, and taken unpopular stands for FAR less important reasons than stopping the abuse of a child.

And if the campus police didn't do anything, I would keep harping on it and going above their heads until I found someone who would do something.

There are things that are important enough that you do them regardless of what the consequences might be to you and you life. Stopping people from raping children tops that list.

Two words- "Thank you". IMO, Rape is the most horrible crime in the world (even worse then murder), add in the child factor and I pray there is a special place in hell for those individuals.

as I have said before, there is no justification in my mind for anyone refusing to intervene on behalf of someone being raped; especially if the victim is a child.

Amen




http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/...uke-lacrosse-rush-judgment-penn-state-scandal

Another great article

Jane Turner is a former FBI agent and expert on child sex crimes.





http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_...there-no-easy-answers-assistant-mike-mcqueary

Throughout this whole thing whenever I have heard someone talk about how he would have gone into that shower and beat Sandusky up, I've had my doubts. That has to be one of the most traumatic things one can experience, and for someone to judge with any confidence how s/he would react without having actually experienced it is kind of ridiculous. It's like when you think about how you're going to react if the plane your on crashes. That's great that you think you will be calm, cool, and collected and save the lives of 27 women and children, but the truth is, you probably won't.

I'm solely referring to the immediate reaction to witnessing the event in the shower. Not saying anything while the guy is on your campus for 10 years is a whole different story.

And yet you are presuming to know better than I as to how I would react? Interesting p.o.v....

And yet you are presuming to know better than I as to how I would react? Interesting p.o.v....

Um, no. I was not referring to you. The woman I cited studies these things for a living and she thinks that in most cases the person would not intervene at that immediate moment. I don't know you, so I don't know what experiences you have had that would lend to you either responding or not. I would imagine that the type of people who would respond are those with military training and wouldn't be as traumatized. Read the grand jury testimony. I feel like if it makes you sick to read that, you are probably not the type of person who would respond immediately in that situation. My main point is that whether the person responds immediately or not has less to do with their morality than how prone they are to being traumatized by a very graphic experience.

I disagree - because it makes me sick/is so shocking is why I am so sure I WOULD act. The shock and severity of the incident would be part of what was driving my actions.

The fight or flight reaction of the shock of seeing something horrendous is interesting to ponder. We'd all like to think we'd do the right thing in any situation but it may be a little more complicated. I could imagine being the low man on the totem pole with powerful personalities you fear. I can imagine seeing that and being so shocked, bewildered, and confused that maybe I couldn't believe my eyes for a few minutes. Maybe my whole world was crumbling and my head was spinning.

But I can't imagine any person in "normal" society who wouldn't at least go get help or call police within a few minutes of witnessing such abuse. It is disconcerting because we like to think a tight ship like a PSU organization is better than "normal" society. To be looked up to. I am saddened that is no longer the case and I fear what is around the bend. The only way I can sort it out in my head is there is a cult-like mentality going on whereby normal rules of human behavior don't exist.

It makes me wonder what horrors might happen within an even tighter and more secretive organization like a religion, government, or military.

My feeling is that if you ponder for a second (here and now) about whether you would freeze or act, then you will most likely freeze. The people most likely to act are those who think that they will. The well rehearsed perform better. It's that simple.

What keeps getting lost is that this man was NOT his boss. He was not even a fellow employee. He had retired years ago.

So IF the reason he kept quiet WAS because he worried about losing his job if he said something, it again comes back to Paterno......and a former player and current employee thinking Paterno would fire him if he tried to help the kid. During and after the fact.

Yes, there is a great deal that gets swept under the rug by big organizations - especially when trying to protect their brand. But there are also always people there frustrated by that status quo and willing to help - even if that means negative consequences for them.