# It's time to officially Pit Joe Paterno and the Penn State football program. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 7, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167 "2011-11-07T14:23:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/301 "2011-11-09T03:59:15Z")
I just watched the video where the fans were chanting “We want Joe”. I’m scared of people who somehow think winning football games is somehow more important than protecting small children from sexual predators. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/302 "2011-11-09T04:02:06Z")
> [@SnakesCatLady](#): > > I just watched the video where the fans were chanting “We want Joe”. I’m scared of people who somehow think winning football games is somehow more important than protecting small children from sexual predators. You’ve never heard the phrase “take one for the team”? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/303 "2011-11-09T04:03:03Z")
I’m horrified this thread made it to page 7. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/304 "2011-11-09T04:14:04Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Joe Paterno should have retired years ago with his reputation in tact. Now he can go out in the midst of a horrid scandal. > > [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/penn-state-ad-tim-curley-vp-gary-schultz-charged-perjury-step-jerry-sandusky-sex-abuse-scandal-cover-up-article-1.973110](http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/penn-state-ad-tim-curley-vp-gary-schultz-charged-perjury-step-jerry-sandusky-sex-abuse-scandal-cover-up-article-1.973110) > > The accusations in this scandal are really serious and really ugly. > > PSU Athletic Dept./Catholic Bishops = despicable enablers of crime. > > So here’s to you Paterno and your bosses, wallow in the Pit of the despised. I never, ever thought that Joe Pa should end his life in jail but now I’m not so sure. He built his legacy on helping young boys. I guess it really wasn’t that way. Well, sorry, but I think I should point out the inconsistency of your statement. Why would his reputation be intact if he had retired years ago and we now know that he turned a blind eye to child abuse? The major criminal here is the abuser, but there should be no excuses for the trash that covered him up or ignored what they knew, just to keep propping up a multi-million $$ operation. But so many people in our society, sadly, choose to worship random people that carry a ball in a football field instead of caring for the welfare of their children. We don’t know all the details, but reporting something like this to internal higher-up admins is the least any decent person should do. For such an esteemed position Paterno had, he should have investigated the incident himself with the help of the authorities. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/305 "2011-11-09T04:14:11Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > I’m horrified this thread made it to page 7. [honest question] Why? It’s about a scandalous, criminal fact pattern involving a very well know institution and public figure, both long reputed to be upstanding in every way. It raises important legal and ethical issues that apparently, still need some working out, for some. It’s about a horrific series of crimes going unavenged for a long time (the same fact pattern that has launched thousands of true crime and mystery books, understandably so). It’s about an all-too-familiar (apparently innately human) tendency to downplay, excuse, overlook certain types of horrific crimes, either out of misplaced solidarity with the transgressor or out of the factually-incorrect (we now know almost for certain), yet apparently still-believed-by-some notion that “it was a mistake” or “it won’t happen again” or “it was consensual” or “it wasn’t what it looked like” can EVER be acceptable or accurate bases for overlooking a predator’s sexual activity with children. They ALWAYS repeat themselves – it’s as close to true as anything science knows, and I’d say posting that mantra alone through seven pages and forcing anyone who’s tangentially involved with, or in charge of those who are involved with, supervision of children to read, would be a worthy exercise. Nor is it RO – students are cheering him at this very moment, allegations of more abuse are emerging and will no doubt continue to do so, the University hasn’t fired JP, and the doddering fool is appearing in his front yard acting as though he’s just going to gosh darn it brazen it out with the help of his Kool-Aid drinking supporters. If that’s the case, it’s an ongoing, and real, outrage, a continuation of his original moral failing and – hey, almost the stuff of tragedy. Wait, what the Hell did I mean by that “almost?” I’ve seen American Idol threads go on for twice this many pages, with infinitely less interesting or important issues arising or being debated. So I don’t read them. I almost never read, let alone post in, the Pit, but this is about a subject I (and a lot of posters) know about intimately (football, not abuse). Why shouldn’t it go on? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/306 "2011-11-09T04:33:24Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > [honest question] Why? > > It’s about a scandalous, criminal fact pattern involving a very well know institution and public figure, both long reputed to be upstanding in every way. > > It raises important legal and ethical issues that apparently, still need some working out, for some. > > It’s about a horrific series of crimes going unavenged for a long time (the same fact pattern that has launched thousands of true crime and mystery books, understandably so). > > It’s about an all-too-familiar (apparently innately human) tendency to downplay, excuse, overlook certain types of horrific crimes, either out of misplaced solidarity with the transgressor or out of the factually-incorrect (we now know almost for certain), yet apparently still-believed-by-some notion that “it was a mistake” or “it won’t happen again” or “it was consensual” or “it wasn’t what it looked like” can EVER be acceptable or accurate bases for overlooking a predator’s sexual activity with children. They ALWAYS repeat themselves – it’s as close to true as anything science knows, and I’d say posting that mantra alone through seven pages and forcing anyone who’s tangentially involved with, or in charge of those who are involved with, supervision of children to read, would be a worthy exercise. > > Nor is it RO – students are cheering him at this very moment, allegations of more abuse are emerging and will no doubt continue to do so, the University hasn’t fired JP, and the doddering fool is appearing in his front yard acting as though he’s just going to gosh darn it brazen it out with the help of his Kool-Aid drinking supporters. If that’s the case, it’s an ongoing, and real, outrage, a continuation of his original moral failing and – hey, almost the stuff of tragedy. Wait, what the Hell did I mean by that “almost?” > > I’ve seen American Idol threads go on for twice this many pages, with infinitely less interesting or important issues arising or being debated. So I don’t read them. I almost never read, let alone post in, the Pit, but this is about a subject I (and a lot of posters) know about intimately (football, not abuse). Why shouldn’t it go on? Can I hire you to write the book about this? If this isn’t a classic morality tale then what is? From the start I have thought of Robert Penn Warren and " **All The Kings Men"**. From this site: [http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/warren0408.htm](http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/warren0408.htm) This quote: > [@](#): > > Perhaps the more important character in ALL THE KING’S MEN is Jack Burden, the former graduate student and newspaper columnist turned aide to Willie Stark, from whose perspective the novel is written. At no small cost to himself, Burden becomes complicit in some of Stark’s more dangerous plots. One of the most powerful dynamics in the novel is the Burden-Stark relationship, and the question of why a man as smart and pedigreed as Burden would give himself so wholly to Stark, even when it is clear to him that there are massive problems with Stark’s method. The answer has something to do with the fact that Burden, for all his privilege, is deeply alienated. He is rootless. Like so many Americans, Burden feels disconnected, disinherited, disenfranchised. And he finds in Stark a figure of order. Stark offers Burden the connection to a communal vision, and connection and communion are what Burden dearly lacks. Communion and connection on terms that are corrupt may be preferable, we learn, to no communion and connection at all. Does this sound vaguely familiar? And of course, the most famous quote from the book: > [@](#): > > “Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud,” Sorry, Joe Pa. Sorry that it went down this way. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/307 "2011-11-09T04:39:39Z")
I’m a big Nebraska fan, and I want no part of this game on Saturday. What an ugly mess we’re going into in Happy Valley. Especially if the fans and players dedicate the game to JoePa. Go in, play the game, go home. And here we thought we left all that drama behind in the Big XII ---
**Author:** ![Ennui](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ennui/32/3396_2.png) [@Ennui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ennui)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/308 "2011-11-09T05:04:32Z")
There are many aspects of this story which are truly disgusting, the pedophile predator and the people who enabled him. But correct me if I’m wrong but the price of Jerry Sandusky’s autobiography on Amazon is frigging skyrocketing. I don’t clearly recall what the price was yesterday when I first clicked on the link that was in this thread but I seem to recall the paperback was far cheaper than the \ leather bound version but [now it lists](http://www.amazon.com/Touched-Jerry-Sandusky-Story/dp/1582613575) for almost twice that price. I suppose if I ever get tired of being nauseated by the people who directly did or directly refused to do anything which contributed to this atrocious situation, I’ll start getting pissed off at the people who view owning a copy of Jerry Sandusky’s _Touched_ as either a collectable or an investment opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/309 "2011-11-09T05:20:51Z")
I’d love to see the NCAA take this on. Don’t think they will, it’s not close to their core competencies, but – while it was not traditional “football misconduct” – this crap happened partly on Penn State premises, was perpetrated by a Penn State employee, and overlooked/minimized by high-ranking Penn State officials. I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen a clearer case of “lack of institutional control,” which is one of the triggers for the NCAA death penalty. I hate it when commentators suggest that SMU proved/established that the death penalty should/could never be applied again. F that, PSU and any fans who are rallying to support/defend Joe P. Deserve five years of no football for their shameful conduct. It won’t get those kids their lives back (I’m relishing, oops I meant dreading, reading details of how F’d up some of their lives are), but it sure no more than proportional justice. There are indeed several books to be written here, low, middle, and highbrow. If I were smart, I’d be doing my pitch/draft for the (attempted) latter one right now. As to the quote a bit above – there is a whole thread unto itself to be posted inviting taglines from the classics. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lather, rinse, repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/310 "2011-11-09T05:43:09Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You keep saying that Paterno’s contention that he didn’t get the _details_ of what actually went on excused his lack of follow-up and reportage to actual law enforcement. That’s your whole argument. I haven’t said anything about what Paterno’s contention has been. What I’ve been doing is suggesting scenarios which might explain why Paterno didn’t react more strongly to what McQueary told him. Paterno"s testimony was that McQueary’s report was vague (fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy." If he is telling the truth, and there’s no evidence at this point to suggest that he isn’t, then what McQueary saw might have been anything from wrestling with the kid in the shower to groping him to something even more serious. But prior to my entrance into the thread, people were going berserk and accusing Paterno of subborning or covering up anal rape of a child and I was trying to show that this may very well have not been true. With regard to what was reported and to whom, yes, some types of behavior call for the police and some don’t. Had Sandusky been engaging in some sketchy but factually defenceable behavior such as playfully grabbing the kid and wrestling or horsing around with him, I can see where Paterno might feel that it should be handled in-house. And on the other hand if it had been something more serious I can see where Paterno would trust that the school’s administrators would contact the police with whatever evidence they had gathered. I imagine that since they didn’t do that, he figured that the administration’s investigation found nothing of substance to act upon so he let it drop. Since McQueary didn’t go to the cops, and the school’s administrators didn’t go to the cops, it probably never occurred to him that he should. Frankly, I think that he most likely felt that what McQueary saw or thought he saw (this from Paterno’s perspective) turned out to be a non-starter and so he simply let the matter drop. There is absolutely no evidence at this time to suggest that Paterno knew what Sandusky had done, and no evidence whatever that Paterno was a knowing enabler of child anal rape or that he knowingly engaged in any sort of coverup to keep it hidden. Thus there is no evidence that he has engaged in any of the behavior he has with such certainty been accused of in this thread, and therefore he doesn’t deserve the scapegoating that he is being subjected to. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/311 "2011-11-09T05:47:10Z")
You are truly a untruthful, partisan, disgusting piece of shit-eating filth, **SA.** And that is all the effort, time, and care I am expending upon you from this moment on. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/312 "2011-11-09T06:14:37Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > With regard to what was reported and to whom, yes, some types of behavior call for the police and some don’t. Had Sandusky been engaging in some sketchy but factually defenceable behavior such as playfully grabbing the kid and wrestling or horsing around with him, I can see where Paterno might feel that it should be handled in-house. And on the other hand if it had been something more serious I can see where Paterno would trust that the school’s administrators would contact the police with whatever evidence they had gathered. I imagine that since they didn’t do that, he figured that the administration’s investigation found nothing of substance to act upon so he let it drop. Since McQueary didn’t go to the cops, and the school’s administrators didn’t go to the cops, it probably never occurred to him that he should. Frankly, I think that he most likely felt that what McQueary saw or thought he saw (this from Paterno’s perspective) turned out to be a non-starter and so he simply let the matter drop. > > There is absolutely no evidence at this time to suggest that Paterno knew what Sandusky had done, and no evidence whatever that Paterno was a knowing enabler of child anal rape or that he knowingly engaged in any sort of coverup to keep it hidden. Thus there is no evidence that he has engaged in any of the behavior he has with such certainty been accused of in this thread, and therefore he doesn’t deserve the scapegoating that he is being subjected to. I can’t help myself: have you engaged in some “lesser” form of homosexual child abuse? "Cause that’s the only thing I can think of that would explain the assiduity (I said ass) of your fine distinctions as to different categories of abusive rectal ranger activities by a 60 year old man with a ten year old boy, and how Paterno did/should have treated them. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/313 "2011-11-09T06:43:03Z")
I’m fairly certain that you won’t find different levels of child anal rape in any of my posts. And no, no homosexual child abuse, and no heterosexual child abuse either. Sorry, I’m operating strictly out out of common sense - and an aversion to people who behave like Nancy Grace. Do a little searching and you’ll find out that my revulsion for her and the way she thinks and behaves is well established on this board. And believe me there’s not a hair’s breadth of difference between her and the likes of you. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/314 "2011-11-09T07:03:24Z")
**Starving Artist** , if someone made the report to you that an older man was “fondling or doing something of a sexual nature” to your kid, would you simply just alert your supervisors and leave it at that? That, I think, is the question any person should be asking “how would I handle it if it was my child?” or “how would I want any other adult to handle it if it was my child?” The bar is extremely low on something like this - it doesn’t mean you get hysterical and make assumptions, but you do what is right and follow up on it. It’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/315 "2011-11-09T07:06:06Z")
“Nancy Grace” is not a totem we get to use as a free pass. Homosexual abuse of boys is wrong – even if it is/is not part of what that meiodcirty of a woman includes in her diatribes (or isnt). Successive generations of (possibly naïve, possibly complicitly pedophile homosexual men) covering something up) is proof of nothing other than human tendencies toward covering up. I am fairly sure that in Western Penna., admitting to homosexual/pedophile tendencies was No Encouraged in the "60s/'70s. Sandusky could have been a (relatively, all else equal) gaylord at Studio 51 had his life circumatances been different. Instead, he indulged his aberrant boy-love as he did. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/316 "2011-11-09T07:27:01Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Homosexual abuse of boys is wrong – even if it is/is not part of what that meiodcirty of a woman includes in her diatribes (or isnt). > > Successive generations of (possibly naïve, possibly complicitly pedophile homosexual men) covering something up) is proof of nothing other than human tendencies toward covering up. > > I am fairly sure that in Western Penna., admitting to homosexual/pedophile tendencies was No Encouraged in the "60s/'70s. Sandusky could have been a (relatively, all else equal) gaylord at Studio 51 had his life circumatances been different. Instead, he indulged his aberrant boy-love as he did. Please do not conflate homosexuality with pedophilia. Whereas in this particular case Sandusky’s child molestation was same-sex, that’s not the case for all child molestation, and the two are not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/317 "2011-11-09T07:31:12Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > I am fairly sure that in Western Penna., admitting to homosexual/pedophile tendencies was No Encouraged in the "60s/'70s. Sandusky could have been a (relatively, all else equal) gaylord at Studio 51 had his life circumatances been different. Instead, he indulged his aberrant boy-love as he did. Whoa there. Don’t foist this piece of shit on us. Gay men are attracted to men, not boys. The implication that all he need to do was fuck men is off the mark. I’m fairly certain that even in the 60’s and 70’s, Western PA frowned upon fucking children way more than homosexuality. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/318 "2011-11-09T07:33:20Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I haven’t said anything about what Paterno’s contention has been. What I’ve been doing is suggesting scenarios which might explain why Paterno didn’t react more strongly to what McQueary told him. Paterno"s testimony was that McQueary’s report was vague (fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy." **If he is telling the truth, and there’s no evidence at this point to suggest that he isn’t, then what McQueary saw might have been anything from wrestling with the kid in the shower to groping him to something even more serious.** (The bolding in this quote was done by me for emphasis.) You are either a lying piece of shit or a willful idiot. McQueary testified he told Paterno he saw Sandusky engaging in ANAL SEX with a 10 YEAR OLD BOY. What is wrong with you? [To quote from the Grand Jury report -](http://cbschicago.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/sandusky-grand-jury-presentment.pdf) > [@](#): > > As the graduate assistant entered the locker room doors, he was surprised to find the lights and showers on. He then heard slapping sounds.He believed the sounds to be those of sexual activity. As the graduate assistant put the sneakers in his locker, he looked into the shower. He saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be 10 years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky. The graduate assistant was shocked but noticed that both Victim 2 and Sandusky saw him. The graduate assistant left immediately, distraught. > > ``` > The graduate assistant went to his office and called his father, reporting to him what he had seen. His father told the graduate assistant to leave the building and come to his home. The graduate assistant and his father decided that the graduate assistant had to report what he had seen to Coach Joe Paterno ("Paterno"), head football coach of Penn State. The next morning, a Saturday, the graduate assistant telephoned Paterno and went to Paterno's home, where he reported what he had seen. > > ``` Any decent adult I know would call the police when told by a credible witness about the rape of a child. Continuing to make excuses for Paterno at this point is pathetic. I have no idea what world you live in where anal intercourse between an adult male and a 10 year old boy could be confused with “wrestling with the kid in the shower to groping him to something even more serious” (your words). And honestly, the fact McQueary failed to stop the rape in progress and call the police doesn’t make him look very good either. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/319 "2011-11-09T07:52:03Z")
What’s boggling my mind is trying to figure out their motivation for not dropping the dime on Sandusky. Did he have enough dirt on Penn State from his years of coaching there to intimidate them? Was Sandusky tight with any local or state politicians? There was a police investigation over the 1998 incident; it seems to have resulted in Sandusky’s retirement & not much else. There must be a lot more to this story than a few stupid admins & coaches - however criminally negligent they may be. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/320 "2011-11-09T08:14:09Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > **Starving Artist** , if someone made the report to you that an older man was “fondling or doing something of a sexual nature” to your kid, would you simply just alert your supervisors and leave it at that? > > That, I think, is the question any person should be asking “how would I handle it if it was my child?” or “how would I want any other adult to handle it if it was my child?” > > The bar is extremely low on something like this - it doesn’t mean you get hysterical and make assumptions, but you do what is right and follow up on it. > > It’s that simple. If my child was taken to a school and raped anally in a shower and that crime was observed by someone employed by the school who did nothing about it at the time but reported it to his boss the next day in rather vague terms, and that person then immediately passed that vague nformation along to the people running the school only to have nothing come of it, the last person I would be pissed off at would be the guy who passed the information from the witness to the school’s administrators. This stuff about how it was Paterno’s responsibility to force the issue with the police is nothing but a stalking horse being used by the type of people who want to go after the guy with the biggest name whether he’s guilty or not. Paterno passed the information up the chain of command just like was supposed to do legally and in accordance with school policy, given that he was unaware of the true nature of the offense. The people I would be furious with is, number one, the guy abusing my child; and number two, the witness for: a) not stopping it in the first place; b) not calling the cops himself; c) not reporting it till the next day; and d) not insisting that the police be notified when it became clear that the school’s administration wasn’t going to do anything about it. He’s the only one in this entire scenario who could state firsthand exactly what he saw and what was really going on. To my mind McQueary bears most of the blame for having not gotten the police involved. Then, depending on how much detail he gave the school’s administration, they come in for the rest of the blame. If he only told them that he saw Sandusky doing some sort of sexual stuff with a kid, and they told me that because no one knew who my child was and therefore he couldn’t be found and questioned, and because Sandusky insisted he didn’t know what McCreary was talking about, no evidence could be found to substantiate McQueary’s claim. Therefore they didn’t make a report to the police because there was only he said/he said evidence that a crime had taken place and they were reluctant to get the police involved and ruin Sandusky’s life and that of his family on the strength of only one man’s allegations. This, I would understand. On the other hand, if I found out that they knew the crime likely occurred and made no effort to do anything about, then yes I would be very pissed indeed. So the anger would go to Sandusky number one, McCreary number two, and the school’s administrators number three depending on what they knew and how they acted or didn’t act upon what they found out. The guy in Paterno’s position would hardly draw a glance. And that’s a fact. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167.md?page=17)