Penn State/Sandusky Scandal

[ben138]

discuss it here if you still care.

[jokar15]

My quick reaction to the JoPa firing (you know, since my opinion matters): As a teacher, if I have even the slightest suspicion of abuse the FIRST person I MUST report it to IMMEDIATELY is the authorities (police). If I wait (even one night) to think it over, or report it to my supervisor (or coworker) so they can deal with it, it is grounds for me to be fired. No matter how little of it JoPa knew, IF he knew ANYTHING about it and did not report it to law enforcement, there is proper reason to fire him.

[KillerSavage]

I have a bad feeling that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

[ClixKiller]

i feel the same as killer savage and this is the tip of the iceberg,and why would jopa need to hire a defense attorney,unless he has known all along his friend was a monster.

[VelvetGuru9]

I think everything is still a bit premature and that the firing of Paterno was based on emotions and protecting the University. One man (Sandusky) who actually did the acts, gets to have his day in court and is innocent until proven guilty, while the other (Paterno) has already been convicted in the court of public opinion and is being judged without everyone having all the information that's available.

[KillerSavage]

I think if there was anything that could redeem Paterno even in the slightest it would have surfaced already. It'll only get worse.

[VelvetGuru9]

I think if there was anything that could redeem Paterno even in the slightest it would have surfaced already. It'll only get worse.

Probably, but shouldn't we let those facts come out first before jumping to any conclusions? There have been too many times in the last decade that news events were announced, only to be retracted and the real story came out.

[KillerSavage]

Probably, but shouldn't we let those facts come out first before jumping to any conclusions? There have been too many times in the last decade that news events were announced, only to be retracted and the real story came out.
i think the thing is that even under the best case scenario how it was handled was wrong. The guy who went to Paterno should have been doing it after he went to or notified the police. Paterno's first question should have been about the police and if/when they were notified.

i don't care how good a friends you are with somebody this is not the kind of thing where you look the other way. Even if taking care of it properly(because I think it's not unreasonable to say it wasn't handled properly by any means) would have tarnished your and the school's reputation there was something more important than those things that needed to be stopped.

Let's say passing it along to your superior is enough. How long do you wait until you wonder what's being done? If it's getting taken care of? A day? A week? A month?

Maybe people should wonder why it took as long as it did to fire him.

[kontrol]

Is Paterno saying he should've done more, as is being reported?

[KillerSavage]

Is Paterno saying he should've done more, as is being reported?
This (http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/text-of-statement-released-by-penn-state-coach-joe-paterno-on-his-retirement-at-end-of-season/2011/11/09/gIQATRSR5M_story.html) has him quoted as saying it.

[VelvetGuru9]

Let's say passing it along to your superior is enough. How long do you wait until you wonder what's being done? If it's getting taken care of? A day? A week? A month?

Maybe people should wonder why it took as long as it did to fire him.

Now, this is just speculation, but lets say that he waited two months and went to the superior and was told that there was an investigation underway and it might take a while and had the detectives interviewed him yet, but everything was still on the QT.

That's probably not what happened and at some point in this investigation Paterno will need to be held accountable for what he didn't do. But until that time, I think he should be cut some slack. Remember, under the law, he did not do anything wrong. You on the other hand are held to a different standing and that may be because you are working with younger kids, and I totally applaud you for that and for the moral ethic you show. But shouldn't we give Paterno a chance for more facts to come out about this sordid mess and if it shows he had no followup and his silence let this go on, then I'll be there at the forefront calling for his head. That's all I'm saying, One man gets to declare his innocence and is considered innocent until proven otherwise while another is already vilified in the media and in households around the world.

[Zatara55]

Did the abuse occur within their football program? How old were the victims? I guess we're getting vague information, but I'm not understanding how a coach could forceably sexually abuse several football players. I think there were several vitcims, not sure though.

[madslaust]

Did the abuse occur within their football program? How old were the victims? I guess we're getting vague information, but I'm not understanding how a coach could forceably sexually abuse several football players. I think there were several vitcims, not sure though.

The one I'm aware of was 10 years old.

[ben138]

Did the abuse occur within their football program? How old were the victims? I guess we're getting vague information, but I'm not understanding how a coach could forceably sexually abuse several football players. I think there were several vitcims, not sure though.


not players, it was young boys involved

here's a timeline of the alleged events:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/penn-state-scandal-timeline-jerry-sandusky_n_1084204.html?ref=mostpopular

[kontrol]

Well if that timeline is accurate. Joe Paterno doesn't have a leg to stand on. He's known about this since at least 2002, when a grad student told him.

[Fredwood]

This reminds me a little of the Woody Hayes thing. Not the situation just the fact a great career will be remembered for something that happened at the end. Same with Tressel, unless hes able to get a job somewhere else.

[ben138]

http://gma.yahoo.com/penn-state-scandal-mother-alleged-victim-says-son-082520374.html

[jackstar7]

Let 'em burn.

[wintremute]

If you can stomach it, I suggest you read the Grand Jury Report before you start passing judgement.

http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4181508116.PDF

AND THEN LET THE FIRE AND BRIMSTONE COME DOWN ON ALL OF THEM THAT ALLOWED THESE HEINOUS ACTIONS TO CONTINUE.


What I simply don't understand is how the janitor in 2000 or the grad assistant in 2002 didn't STOP THE ACT and PROTECT THE CHILD. It just simply baffles me. So what if you think you might lose your job or jeopardize your career. You are witnessing a child being molested and all you do is go tell other people what you saw! I am at a loss. Is it because I'm a parent? Is it because of how I was raised? I just cannot conceive of a situation where you don't intervene immediately and try to stop what is going on.

[KillerSavage]

If you can stomach it, I suggest you read the Grand Jury Report before you start passing judgement.

http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4181508116.PDF

AND THEN LET THE FIRE AND BRIMSTONE COME DOWN ON ALL OF THEM THAT ALLOWED THESE HEINOUS ACTIONS TO CONTINUE.


What I simply don't understand is how the janitor in 2000 or the grad assistant in 2002 didn't STOP THE ACT and PROTECT THE CHILD. It just simply baffles me. So what if you think you might lose your job or jeopardize your career. You are witnessing a child being molested and all you do is go tell other people what you saw! I am at a loss. Is it because I'm a parent? Is it because of how I was raised? I just cannot conceive of a situation where you don't intervene immediately and try to stop what is going on.
This whole thing is disgusting me. I'm fairly sure somebody needs to take a good look at that Second Mile organization. I feel bad if there were kids who found it beneficial but I'm thinking it needs dissolved altogether. Just get a shady vibe about the whole thing.

[absolutvt69]

Lots of thoughts on this that I've expressed elsewhere but I'll repeat here.

First off I read the entire grand jury report. It's horrific... and that's not even a good word to describe it. And these are just the kids they know about.

As far as it relates to Paterno, I don't think they had any other option but to fire him. First he comes out with the statement that he's going to retire at the end of the season and the board shouldn't waste any more time discussing his future. That was a powerplay. That was JoePa saying "I'm going to dictate the terms here". If the board had not removed him it would have looked like Paterno was in charge which is the last thing you want if you're Penn State. That's basically what got them into this mess, Joe Paterno and the football team being put ahead of the welfare of innocent children. On top of that, if you let Paterno retire like that then Saturday's game becomes a circus. Imagine Penn State winning and the players carrying Paterno off the field. It sends the complete wrong message (the focus being on Paterno instead of on the victims that have already been neglected for so long). I hate to see a great career end this way and I want to believe that Paterno simply made a poor decision and regrets it now. But at best he was negligent and ignorant of the crimes being committed by one of his coaches... and at worst he was complicit in helping protect a child molester.

I also think McQueary, the guy who saw the 2002 incident when he was a grad assistant and is now a full time coach needs to be removed. I've read that they've placed him on leave due to concerns for his safety but he needs to be fired plain and simple. You can't witness something like that and not at the very least call the cops.

Finally, like I said above, I want to believe that all of this was on Sandusky and everyone else involved just made bad choices but weren't trying to actively protect him. But then the cynic in me looks at some of the facts and begins to wonder.

You've got the 1998 incident where police investigated but eventually closed the case w/ no charges. The next year Sandusky retires even though he's only 55 and considered to be a great defensive coach. Not only does he retire abruptly but he is never hired again at any position by any other school Just seems odd that someone who is highly thought of as a coach and is still relatively young for a coach would never end up anywhere. You also wonder about the retirement and whether Penn State decided to let him retire rather than have these allegations come out.

Then you've got the incident with McQueary in 2002. McQueary is a former Penn State QB and is a graduate assistant which I believe is unpaid. He witnesses this incident and the next year he's a full time paid assistant coach. Again, you wonder did Penn State promote him in an attempt to keep him quiet. Did they not want him going to another school because then he'd feel more free to talk about what he saw?

And then you've got the weirdness with the DA who decided not to prosecute the 1998 case. He mysteriously disappeared in 2005, has never been found and his laptop minus the hard drive was found in a river. Again there could be other explanations for this as DAs are already not the most popular guys given the nature of their jobs but with all that's come to light it does make you wonder.

All in all it's just a terrible thing. It's terrible for Paterno, it's terrible for Penn State, it's terrible for college football but most of all, it's terrible for those young boys who have had to live with this abuse all these years. That's the worst thing about all this. That these victims have been neglected for decades.

[KillerSavage]

Anyone see that the Judge for Sandusky's bail may have been a good long time friend of his? I thought 100,000 seemed a little low.

[darius_dax1]

This is just sick. The latest headline is "Sandusky: I shouldn't have showered with those boys."

WTF?!? Showered? Weaksauce defense. Showered...really?

[KillerSavage]

This is just sick. The latest headline is "Sandusky: I shouldn't have showered with those boys."

WTF?!? Showered? Weaksauce defense. Showered...really?
Shouldn't have bought a house with the elementary school adjacent to the backyard and a dozen other things too right. This guy is a class A perv. LASVU would have to do a whole season based on everything this creep had going on.

[ben138]

I saw on NBC where McQuery tweeted or something saying he stopped Sandusky from doing what he was doing in the shower. I hope that much is the truth. Doesn't seem like he took any action to stop it from continuing to happen later.

[wintremute]

Yeah, I'm waiting to see how the McQuery thing progresses. Did he really stop what was happening. If so, did he take the next step and get the boy out of there? If not, did he really stop anything? If so, where did he take him and how did things not escalate from that point?

[thanosstar]

paterno did a grand jury testimony in 2002. the courts let sandusky free....then the SCHOOL no paterno gave sandusky access to the college again. paterno did the right thing by bringing it to school officials attention and doing the grand jury testitmony. people wanna bash him but he did the right thing. yes he shoulda pressed the issue to the schooll...but why didnt the parents in 2002??? one kid came forward then. if it was my children i wouldnt rest till he was in jail or executed. im sick of people blaming paterno. he is the biggest name there so he is the fall guy

[VelvetGuru9]

paterno did a grand jury testimony in 2002. the courts let sandusky free....then the SCHOOL no paterno gave sandusky access to the college again. paterno did the right thing by bringing it to school officials attention and doing the grand jury testitmony. people wanna bash him but he did the right thing. yes he shoulda pressed the issue to the schooll...but why didnt the parents in 2002??? one kid came forward then. if it was my children i wouldnt rest till he was in jail or executed. im sick of people blaming paterno. he is the biggest name there so he is the fall guy

I hadn't heard that. Is that true?

[wintremute]

looking into that.


I can't find anything/any proof about a grand jury testimony that occurred in 2002. I see references in the recent GJT about events that happened in 2002, and I see a smattering of messages on message boards alluding to a 2002 GJT, but I don't see any credible evidence of it. I'll keep looking, though.

However, thanosstar, if you have a link to it, that would be great.

[hail_eris]

This is just sick. The latest headline is "Sandusky: I shouldn't have showered with those boys."

WTF?!? Showered? Weaksauce defense. Showered...really?
Yeah, I heard an excerpt of the interview with Costas, and all I could think was "Wow. Sandusky's lawyers must *hate* him." I mean, a first-year student would know better than to let his or her client spout off like that on national TV.

[thanosstar]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7200340/joe-paterno-penn-state-nittany-lions-says-true-were-all-fooled

[wintremute]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7200340/joe-paterno-penn-state-nittany-lions-says-true-were-all-fooled

In that article, all references to the Grand Jury Testimony are regarding the most recent (and public) Grand Jury Testimony.

I believe this paragraph is somewhat confusing:
According to the statement released Saturday by Pennsylvania attorney general Linda Kelly, the grand jury found that in March 2002, a then-graduate assistant (Mike McQueary, a former Nittany Lions quarterback who is now a fulltime assistant), witnessed Sandusky sexually assaulting an underage boy in the showers in the Lasch Football Building. According to Kelly, the graduate assistant went to Paterno's home "to explain what he had seen."

The Grand Jury determined what happened in the past, in 2002. Not - In 2002 The Grand Jury determined something.

[KillerSavage]

Anybody see that Sandusky's lawyer impregnated a 16 year old girl when he was 49? Guess he was sent straight over from the pedo club.

[wintremute]

Wow! Even though he ended up marrying her, it does seem to be a conflict of ethical interest to get a teenage girl in your office emancipated and then pregnant.

Joe Amendola, the State College, Pa., attorney representing accused child molester Jerry Sandusky, has an interesting back story himself: He got a teen-age client pregnant during the mid-1990s.

Amendola, 63, married the girl several years after the birth of their child, The Daily reported Monday night, citing documents filed at the Centre County, Pa., courthouse.

Amendola represented a 16-year-old girl then known as Mary Iavasile when she filed an emancipation petition in September 1996. The emancipation petition said the girl had graduated from high school in two years with a 3.69 GPA and held a fulltime job at Amendola's law office.

The girl gave birth to Amendola's child when she was 17 years old, her mother, Janet Iavasile, said. Amendola would have been about 49 years old at the time. The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16.

Janet Iavasile said she didn't know the extent of the relationship between her daughter and the attorney. She thought he was more of a mentor than a paramour.

"She was interested in law," the mother said.

Amendola married the girl in February 2003 and the couple had a second child before they separated. Amendola's estranged wife, now a 32, has retained his last name.

"Joe is a very good father and has loved his two children very much, and that's the most important thing for me right now," Janet Iavasile said.

Joe Amendola did not return calls for comment.

Sandusky is not the only member of the Penn State football community who was represented by Amendola after being accused of a sexual crime.

Amendola also represented Nittany Lions tailback Austin Scott after another student accused Scott of rape in 2007. Centre County prosecutors dropped the case on the eve of trial in 2008 when a judge said the jury could be told that the alleged victim had accused another man of a similar crime four years earlier. The man in the earlier case was acquitted.

In July, a federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit filed by Scott accusing Penn State, police and the alleged victim of conspiring against him.

Defense lawyers across the country are still baffled about why Amedola gave his blessing to Sandusky's appearance on NBC's "Rock Center" on Monday. During the interview with Bob Costas, Sandusky said he was not guilty of the criminal charges he faces, but acknowledged that he did engage with inappropriate behavior with children, including taking showers with boys.

Sandusky's statements will certainly be scrutinized and used by prosecutors as well as attorneys representing victims who file civil suits.

"I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped," Sandusky said. "There are many that I didn't have - I hardly had any contact with who I helped in many, many ways."

Mary Amendola is apparently unconvinced. When Costas asked the lawyer if he would leave his children alone with Sandusky, Amendola said "yes, without hesitation."

"OMG," Mary Amendola wrote on her Facebook page, "did Joe just say that he would allow my kids to be alone with Jerry Sandusky?"

[KillerSavage]

Wow! Even though he ended up marrying her, it does seem to be a conflict of ethical interest to get a teenage girl in your office emancipated and then pregnant.
I wonder why they separated. She got too old?

[ben138]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/19/us/sandusky-memoir-profile/index.html?hpt=hp_c2



Sandusky's book comes off pretty creepy now