Incredible ugliness at Penn State

[Razor Shines]

I grew up Catholic and as I mentioned before the 3 individuals I knew that were busted for child molestation were all involved with sports through the Catholic church. Razor Shines who I used to coach may remember the one individual and trust me, it was no secret he was messing around with and trying to mess around with several of the kids. The guy used to have sleep overs at his house and pay kids to take sleeping pills. I could go into more details of other things that happened but this is the most PG version I can give. The amazing thing is the pastor of our parish knew all about the allegations and there were many, but he choose to ignore them. The other 2 individuals who were also busted and did jail time were also hardly a suprise to anyone. The common response among the many around them was it was time they got caught.

Thats why I have little doubt Paterno didn't know about this stuff, he just choose to ignore it.

Yes I know. He coached me in basketball and baseball my 7th grade year. I didn't go to the church and I never spent any time with him outside of practice and games but I knew the kids that he did stuff to. I was invited to a few of the sleep overs, I recall, but either we had other things to do or my parents didn't let me go. I didn't find out about it all until after the season when he was arrested though, I didn't go to the school either so I had no idea what was going on but apparently some of the kids did. Part of the reason this Penn St. thing hits a little close to home for me I guess.

[Captain Hook]

These students at PSU really think that Paterno should be allowed to continue coaching despite being a big part of covering up some unbelievably terrible things going on under his watch?I wonder what they'd do if he'd been fired for covering for a few players that got some free tattoos?

[savafan]

@MarkMaddenX Mark Madden Don't believe this can get worse? Give it 72 hrs. People really digging into Second Mile. Even more shocking revelation is ahead. Yikes.

I think we're about to find out that there was a very terrible reason for why Sandusky founded Second Mile, and it had nothing to do with helping kids. As if we couldn't already assume that.

[Caveat Emperor]

And this may just be this guy stirring up interest, but hes normally pretty legit in his reports and he claims this is about to get worse. I really dont know how thats even possible and dont wanna speculate.

This guy is quite legit, as far as sports bloggers go.

Here's where the story is undoubtedly going to get worse: for every 1 victim of sexual abuse (especially male-on-male sexual abuse, due to the lingering social stigma attached to homosexuality) who comes forward, there are always a dozen more who stay silent.

With the number of victims who have already come forward against Sandusky, you have to believe there are a large number who have stayed silent thus far. Once the story is out there, more will come forward to have their voice heard.

[WMR]

This isn't about me or my feet. It's about Paterno and PSU. You're free to disagree with the way I see it and I'll do the same with you

Thing is, I think pretty much everyone disagrees with you (clearly the people at Penn State disagree). That's why RFS posted what he did.

[savafan]

CBS Chicago reporter Dan Bernstein (@dan_berstein) claims that there is evidence that there were/are other men at the Second Mile that were having inappropriate relationships with children.

[Razor Shines]

Here's a good link with the timeline of key dates in this. Reading through it makes me angrier. How was this allowed to continue to happen? It's tragic and disgraceful.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...sex-abuse-case

Wow. That's as bad as I could imagine it looking for Paterno and the whole bunch of them. How could anyone still think he should have been allowed to be employed by Penn St. one second longer than he was?

[savafan]

Also, the district attorney that chose not to prosecute Sandusky in 1998, the one that went missing, was on the Second Mile board.

[Caveat Emperor]

Joe Pa's got a lot on his plate with running the football team so he leaves it at that and doesn't give it another thought. I think that's very plausible.

If you've ever actually experienced dealing with allegations that a young child has been sexually abused (and I have, numerous times, as part of my job), I can tell you quite conclusively that you don't simply put it off your plate.

Because, here is what Joe Paterno was told (in effect):

"I saw your former assistant coach, who worked for you for 30 years, who runs a charitable organization for young children and associates with young children on a daily basis, and who maintains an office on campus that he visits every day, anally raping a 10 year old in your football team's locker room."

If you can put that out of your mind and assume it's been taken care of just because you don't hear anything else about it, God help you as a human being.

And that's not even getting into the fact that if you DON'T believe that's true, you continued to employ the accuser on your staff? Really? You call an assistant coach of 30 years a pedophile and get to keep your job? If Paterno really believed Sandusky was innocent, that kid would've been on the next bus out of Happy Valley for lying.

[Razor Shines]

If you've ever actually experienced dealing with allegations that a young child has been sexually abused (and I have, numerous times, as part of my job), I can tell you quite conclusively that you don't simply put it off your plate.

Because, here is what Joe Paterno was told (in effect):

"I saw your former assistant coach, who worked for you for 30 years, who runs a charitable organization for young children and associates with young children on a daily basis, and who maintains an office on campus that he visits every day, anally raping a 10 year old in your football team's locker room."

If you can put that out of your mind and assume it's been taken care of just because you don't hear anything else about it, God help you as a human being.

And that's not even getting into the fact that if you DON'T believe that's true, you continued to employ the accuser on your staff? Really? You call an assistant coach of 30 years a pedophile and get to keep your job? If Paterno really believed Sandusky was innocent, that kid would've been on the next bus out of Happy Valley for lying.

Great post. There's no way Paterno thought the GA was lying. No one could convince me that Paterno didn't know about all (or at least some) of the past allegations against Sandusky.

[ervinsm84]

These students at PSU really think that Paterno should be allowed to continue coaching despite being a big part of covering up some unbelievably terrible things going on under his watch?

What they are doing is really absurd to say the least. A lot of the stuff almost feels like a pep rally in favor of Joepa and "we are Penn State." Just a terrible culture created there. If youre a bengal fan and a member of their main posting forum, youd be blown away by the stuff some of the bengals fans are saying there too. They claim the media is just out to get joe and its a witch hunt or what not. The average poster IQ and moral compass on redszone is so much > than on the bengals forum.

This guy is quite legit, as far as sports bloggers go.

Here's where the story is undoubtedly going to get worse: for every 1 victim of sexual abuse (especially male-on-male sexual abuse, due to the lingering social stigma attached to homosexuality) who comes forward, there are always a dozen more who stay silent.

With the number of victims who have already come forward against Sandusky, you have to believe there are a large number who have stayed silent thus far. Once the story is out there, more will come forward to have their voice heard.

Youre def right on the numbers.

I know i read one report where there was a survey conducted of pedophiles in jail about their number of victims and I think the average # of kids was around 130-140 victims per person. Given this guy had a charity started in 77 and was still bringing kids around in 07 to practice, thats prob at least 30 years. If he has 3-4 kids a year average its not even that unlikely that he abused more than 100 kids. puke vomit disgustin

CBS Chicago reporter Dan Bernstein (@dan_berstein) claims that there is evidence that there were/are other men at the Second Mile that were having inappropriate relationships with children.

Holy **** If that is true, there are no words to describe it.

[WMR]

If you've ever actually experienced dealing with allegations that a young child has been sexually abused (and I have, numerous times, as part of my job), I can tell you quite conclusively that you don't simply put it off your plate.

Because, here is what Joe Paterno was told (in effect):

"I saw your former assistant coach, who worked for you for 30 years, who runs a charitable organization for young children and associates with young children on a daily basis, and who maintains an office on campus that he visits every day, anally raping a 10 year old in your football team's locker room."

If you can put that out of your mind and assume it's been taken care of just because you don't hear anything else about it, God help you as a human being.

And that's not even getting into the fact that if you DON'T believe that's true, you continued to employ the accuser on your staff? Really? You call an assistant coach of 30 years a pedophile and get to keep your job? If Paterno really believed Sandusky was innocent, that kid would've been on the next bus out of Happy Valley for lying.

Exactly, great post.

[RFS62]

If you've ever actually experienced dealing with allegations that a young child has been sexually abused (and I have, numerous times, as part of my job), I can tell you quite conclusively that you don't simply put it off your plate.

Because, here is what Joe Paterno was told (in effect):

"I saw your former assistant coach, who worked for you for 30 years, who runs a charitable organization for young children and associates with young children on a daily basis, and who maintains an office on campus that he visits every day, anally raping a 10 year old in your football team's locker room."

If you can put that out of your mind and assume it's been taken care of just because you don't hear anything else about it, God help you as a human being.

And that's not even getting into the fact that if you DON'T believe that's true, you continued to employ the accuser on your staff? Really? You call an assistant coach of 30 years a pedophile and get to keep your job? If Paterno really believed Sandusky was innocent, that kid would've been on the next bus out of Happy Valley for lying.

Well said.

[redsfandan]

That is a great point and one I've been thinking about. You have to know that Paterno - who I believe is Catholic - had heard about the scandals that rocked the Church over the past few decades. You would think he would have learned something from that.

I don't want to say Paterno was the only one culpable and the only one deserving of losing his job however he was the program. I don't believe that anything happened in that program or that affected that program that Paterno didn't know and/or approve of. And that's no different than any other program with a "legend" as a coach. These coaches are czars and have almost complete control over the athletic department. So if Joe Paterno didn't want Sandusky on campus - much less the athletic facilities - he wouldn't have been on campus. That is why he is more culpable than anyone else who failed to report these crimes.

Paterno is 84 years old. I'm sure he was aware of some things but, at the same time, it wouldn't surprise me if someone that old missed something.

Yet McQueary still remains at Penn State? That's the most unfathomable thing to me.

Apparently the interim head coach is going to hold an 11:00 am news conference at which time he might address the status of McQueary. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot.../post/16055896


Here's a statement that Paterno released early Thursday morning:

"I am disappointed with the Board of Trustees' decision, but I have to accept it. A tragedy occurred, and we all have to have patience to let the legal process proceed. I appreciate the outpouring of support but want to emphasize that everyone should remain calm and please respect the university, its property and all that we value. I have been incredibly blessed to spend my entire career working with people I love. I am grateful beyond words to all of the coaches, players and staff who have been a part of this program. And to all of our fans and supporters, my family and I will be forever in your debt."
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot.../post/16055837

[TeamSelig]

Wonder if Joe was on that Second Mile board