Penn State horror story

[The Sir]

I think this was one of those "bury this and hope it disappears" situations, because no matter what happened Penn St was going to look horrible.

 

And as a Penn Stater, I'll be the first to admit that this goes completely against the ideals of honor and dignity that we claim to represent.

[Kyyle23]

And as a Penn Stater, I'll be the first to admit that this goes completely against the ideals of honor and dignity that we claim to represent.

 

Come on, this goes against the ideals of honor and dignity of every college, not just Penn St. This is a sick crime

[The Sir]

Come on, this goes against the ideals of honor and dignity of every college, not just Penn St. This is a sick crime

 

All I'm saying is that for as long as I've been familiar with the university, which is pretty much my entire life since my dad is also an alum, we've been very proud of our sense of honor and dignity. The athletes get good grades, we don't tolerate thuggery and punkishness, etc. These men, and supposedly their leaders, are not only good on the field, but they are good men off the field as well. That was always a big part of our shtick and this goes against all of that.

 

As for being a sick crime, obviously I agree with you.

[southsider2k5]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colle...0,7963686.story

 

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Just hours after stepping down, two high-ranking Penn State administrators face arraignment Monday on charges they lied to a grand jury investigating former defense coordinator Jerry Sandusky and failed to properly report suspected child abuse, a case that has left fans reeling.

 

Late Sunday, after an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees, university President Graham Spanier announced that Athletic Director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, the school's senior vice president for business and finance, would be leaving their posts.

 

Curley requested to be placed on administrative leave so he could devote time to his defense, and Schultz will be going back into retirement, Spanier said. Both men have maintained they are innocent of any wrongdoing in connection with the probe into whether Sandusky sexually abused eight boys over a 15-year period.

 

State Attorney General Linda Kelly and state police Commissioner Frank Noonan are expected to hold a 1 p.m. news conference about the case Monday a few miles from the Harrisburg district court. The arraignment is scheduled for immediately after that.

 

Sandusky was arrested Saturday on charges that he preyed on boys he met through The Second Mile, a charity he founded for at-risk youths. The charity said in a statement Sunday that Sandusky has had no involvement with The Second Mile programs involving children since 2008, when Sandusky told the foundation that he was being investigated on child-sex allegations.

 

The case has rocked State College, a campus town routinely ranked among America's best places to live and nicknamed Happy Valley. Under head football coach Joe Paterno -- who testified before the grand jury and isn't considered a suspect -- the teams were revered both for winning games, including two national championships, and largely steering clear of trouble.

 

In a statement issued Sunday, Paterno said the charges were "shocking."

 

"The fact that someone we thought we knew might have harmed young people to this extent is deeply troubling," he said. "If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers."

 

Sandusky, whose defenses were usually anchored by tough-guy linebackers, spent three decades at the school. The charges against him cover the period from 1994 to 2009.

 

Sandusky retired in 1999 but continued to use the school's facilities, but university officials said Sunday they were moving to ban him from campus in the wake of the charges.

 

Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, told The Associated Press on Sunday that whether Paterno might testify was premature and nothing more than rampant speculation.

 

"That's putting the cart way ahead of the horse," he said. "We're certainly not going to be discussing the lineup of potential witnesses."

 

The allegations against Sandusky, who started The Second Mile in 1977, range from sexual advances to touching to oral and anal sex. The young men testified before a state grand jury that they were in their early teens when some of the abuse occurred; there is evidence even younger children may have been victimized.

 

Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola said his client has been aware of the accusations for about three years and has maintained his innocence.

 

"He's shaky, as you can expect," Amendola told WJAC-TV. "Being 67 years old, never having faced criminal charges in his life and having the distinguished career that he's had, these are very serious allegations."

 

Sandusky is charged with multiple counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor, as well as single counts of aggravated indecent assault and attempted indecent assault.

 

One accuser, now 27, testified that Sandusky initiated contact with a "soap battle" in the shower that led to multiple instances of involuntary sexual intercourse and indecent assault at Sandusky's hands, the grand jury report said.

 

He said he traveled to charity functions and Penn State games with Sandusky. But when the boy resisted his advances, Sandusky threatened to send him home from the 1999 Alamo Bowl, the report said.

 

Sandusky also gave him clothes, shoes, a snowboard, golf clubs, hockey gear and football jerseys, and even guaranteed that he could walk on to the football team, the grand jury said. He testified that Sandusky once gave him $50 to buy marijuana, drove him to purchase it and then drove him home as the boy smoked the drug.

 

The first case to come to light was a boy who met Sandusky when he was 11 or 12, and physical contact began during his overnight stays at Sandusky's house, the grand jury said. Eventually, the boy's mother reported the sexual assault allegations to his high school, and Sandusky was banned from the child's school district in Clinton County. That triggered the state investigation that culminated in charges Saturday.

 

But the report also alleges much earlier instances of abuse and details failed efforts to stop it by some who became aware of what was happening.

 

Another child, known only as a boy about 11 to 13, was seen by a janitor pinned against a wall while Sandusky performed oral sex on him in fall 2000, the grand jury said.

 

And in 2002, Kelly said, a graduate assistant saw Sandusky sexually assault a naked boy, estimated to be about 10 years old, in a team locker room shower. The grad student and his father reported what he saw to Paterno, who immediately told Curley, prosecutors said.

 

The two school administrators fielded the complaint from an unnamed graduate assistant and from Paterno. Two people familiar with the investigation confirmed the identity of the graduate assistant as Mike McQueary, now the team's wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. The two spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the names in the grand jury report haven't been publicly released.

 

McQueary's father, John, said his son was out of town on a recruiting trip Sunday, and he declined to comment about the case or say whether they were the two named in the grand jury report.

 

"I know it's online, and I know it's available," John McQueary told the AP. "I have gone out of my way not to read it for a number of reasons."

 

Curley and Schultz met with the graduate assistant about a week and a half after the attack was reported, Kelly said.

 

"Despite a powerful eyewitness statement about the sexual assault of a child, this incident was not reported to any law enforcement or child protective agency, as required by Pennsylvania law," Kelly said.

 

There's no indication that anyone at school attempted to find the boy or follow up with the witness, she said.

 

Schultz's lawyer, Thomas J. Farrell, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the mandated reporting rules only apply to people who come into direct contact with children. He also said the statute of limitations for the summary offense with which Schultz is charged is two years, so it expired in 2004.

 

The grand jury report that lays out the accusations against the men cites the state's Child Protective Services Law, which requires immediate reporting by doctors, nurses, school administrators, teachers, day care workers, police and others.

 

Neither Schultz nor Curley appear to have had direct contact with the boys Sandusky is accused of abusing, including the one involved in the eyewitness account prosecutors say they were given.

 

The law "applies only to children under the care and supervision of the organization for which he works, and that's Penn State, it's not The Second Mile," Farrell said of his client. "This child, from what we know, was a Second Mile child."

 

Messages left later Sunday seeking comment from Frederiksen with the attorney general's office, and from Curley's lawyer, Caroline Roberto, weren't immediately returned. Farrell said it was accurate to say the allegations against Curley are legally flawed in the same manner.

 

Farrell said he plans to seek dismissal at the earliest opportunity. "Now, tomorrow is probably not the appropriate time," Farrell said. "We'll bring every legal challenge that is appropriate, and I think quite a few are appropriate."

 

As a summary offense, failure to report suspected child abuse carries up to three months in jail and a $200 fine.

 

"As far as my research shows, there has never been a reported criminal decision under this statute, and the civil decisions go our way," he said.

 

Curley and Schultz also are accused of perjury for their testimony to the grand jury that issued a 23-page report on the matter Friday, the day before state prosecutors charged them. Sandusky was arrested Saturday and charged with 40 criminal counts.

 

Curley denied that the assistant had reported anything of a sexual nature, calling it "merely 'horsing around,'" the grand jury report said. But he also testified that he barred Sandusky from bringing children onto campus and that he advised Spanier of the matter.

 

The grand jury said Curley was lying, Kelly said, adding that it also deemed portions of Schultz's testimony not to be credible.

 

Schultz told the jurors he also knew of a 1998 investigation involving sexually inappropriate behavior by Sandusky with a boy in the showers the football team used.

 

But despite his job overseeing campus police, he never reported the 2002 allegations to any authorities, "never sought or received a police report on the 1998 incident and never attempted to learn the identity of the child in the shower in 2002," the jurors wrote. "No one from the university did so."

 

Farrell said Schultz "should have been required only to report it to his supervisor, which he did."

 

Schultz reports to Spanier, who testified before the grand jury that Schultz and Curley came to him with a report that a staff member was uncomfortable because he'd seen Sandusky "horsing around" with a boy. Spanier wasn't charged.

 

About the perjury charge, Farrell said: "We're going to have a lot of issues with that, both factual and legal. I think there's a very strong defense here."

 

The university is paying legal costs for Curley and Schultz because the allegations against them concern how they fulfilled their responsibilities as employees, spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.

[Kyyle23]

the mugshots of Curley and Schultz smiling makes me want to cut their fingers off

[clyons]

The legendary coach said an assistant coach told him in 2002 about an "incident in the shower of our locker room facility."

 

"It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report. Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky. As Coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at that time, I referred the matter to university administrators," Paterno said.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/06/justice/penn....html?hpt=hp_t1

 

 

Translation: "He told me my old-buddy Sandusky was taking inappropriate liberties with a child, but because he didn't specifically describe the particular act (which I almost certainly didn't ask about), I did the bare minimum by reporting it, but just not to the police. It wasn't really my problem anymore because Sandusky wasn't working for me in 2002.'"

Edited November 7, 2011 by PlaySumFnJurny

[RockRaines]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/06/justice/penn....html?hpt=hp_t1

 

 

Translation: "He told me my old-buddy Sandusky was taking inappropriate liberties with a child, but because he didn't specifically describe the particular act (which I almost certainly didn't ask about), I did the bare minimum by reporting it, but just not to the police. It wasn't really my problem anymore because Sandusky wasn't working for me in 2002.'"

It was pretty clear in the Grand Jury's report that the GA (now an assistant coach) met with Paterno at his house to tell him he saw Sandusky blowing a kid. There is no way for Joe to escape this.

[zenryan]

Anyone wanna guess who was reportedly working out at the Penn State weight room last week?

 

 

link

[bmags]

I can't wrap my head around this scandal. I can't imagine having heard this from someone I knew and not done anything about it. It's so awful.

[RockRaines]

Anyone wanna guess who was reportedly working out at the Penn State weight room last week?

 

 

link

Sick. I saw today that there are real indications that Paterno knew about this way before Sandusky even went into retirement such as cutting his pay in half and not speaking at his retirement dinner. Crazy s***. I guess there are a TON of FOIA requests going on to find out more about his access and salary as well as trips paid for by PSU where he traveled with kids and raped them.

[LittleHurt05]

Front page of the Harrisburg Patriot-News. Great editorial IMO.

[LittleHurt05]

Penn State cancels Paterno's weekly press conference that was supposed to start in under an hour. The media had already been lining up outside.

[daa84]

New York Times reporting Paterno is out

[RockRaines]

Penn State cancels Paterno's weekly press conference that was supposed to start in under an hour. The media had already been lining up outside.

Methinks JoePa may be getting an early retirement.

[LittleHurt05]

New York Times reporting Paterno is out

 

Definitely won't coach next season. Still not official if he will finish this one.

 

I guess Matt Millen was crying on SportsCenter in support of Penn State

[daa84]

Definitely won't coach next season. Still not official if he will finish this one.

 

I guess Matt Millen was crying on SportsCenter in support of Penn State

i watched it....Millen was crying, but it wasnt really defending PSU. He was emotional and saying he loves Paterno, and he finds this all very hard to believe, but he said if true this is deplorable. Its not like the guy was defending what happened or something

Edited November 8, 2011 by daa84

[Kyyle23]

Definitely won't coach next season. Still not official if he will finish this one.

 

I guess Matt Millen was crying on SportsCenter in support of Penn State

 

f*** that. cry for the little boys that had their lives ruined by Sandusky

[RockRaines]

f*** that. cry for the little boys that had their lives ruined by Sandusky

No s***. Shame on anyone would was exposed to this and stuck their heads in the sand.

[GoSox05]

Everyone in that entire Penn State program has to go. You must clean house.

 

 

[Kyyle23]

Everyone in that entire Penn State program has to go. You must clean house.

 

+1

[daa84]

anyone see SVU a couple weeks ago? The one with Bosh and Carmelo as guest stars, and it turned out the head basketball coach (played by the dad from the wonder years) was sexually abusing boys for years...almost identical situation to this.

 

What a truly disgusting and awful story. Apparently there is now a 9th confirmed victim, and whats so unthinkable is that its possible that the true number of victims may be way more than that given the number of kids this guy interacted with in his "charity". just appalling that this stuff actually exists. You see it fictionalized on tv, but never really think its out there

[Kyyle23]

anyone see SVU a couple weeks ago? The one with Bosh and Carmelo as guest stars, and it turned out the head basketball coach (played by the dad from the wonder years) was sexually abusing boys for years...almost identical situation to this.

 

What a truly disgusting and awful story. Apparently there is now a 9th confirmed victim, and whats so unthinkable is that its possible that the true number of victims may be way more than that given the number of kids this guy interacted with in his "charity". just appalling that this stuff actually exists. You see it fictionalized on tv, but never really think its out there

 

This is something I have thought about a lot since this story came out, and it is terrifying.

[RockRaines]

Matt Millen "PSU should investigate this on their own timetable"

 

Go draft some more WR's douche

[LittleHurt05]

Matt Millen "PSU should investigate this on their own timetable"

 

Go draft some more WR's douche

 

PSU already has done this on their own timetable. It took over 10 years to get a child molester arrested, while he was hurting more children the whole time.

[bmags]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/720508...wing-penn-state

 

From those capable of introspection