Paterno's responsibility?

If I witness a crime, I suspect I do have a responsibility to report it. Especially if it is progress and maybe the cops can stop it. I don’t think I have any responsibility to try to stop it myself (some years ago a man who tried to break up a fight was killed for his efforts). But if someone tells me about a crime he claims to have witnessed, I don’t think I have any responsibility to report it. At that point, it is just hearsay. I would advise the person telling me about it to report it himself. After all, he is a witness. I don’t know whether Paterno did that, but he did report it to higher authorities who then covered it up. To me it seems that he nothing specially reprehensible and has taken the fall for those higher authorities, not to mention for the guy who told him about it. And we don’t even know how much he was told. Did he even know there was an actual rape involved?

Am I totally off the wall on this? I know my wife is also disturbed by what happened to Paterno. They would not even allow him to resign. Maybe the entire university administration should walk the plank.

From what little I’ve read and recall, he was told it was anal rape.

I think the main concern is - your trusted underling comes and tells you that he saw this trusted man who runs a program for kids, in the shower anally raping a 10-year-old boy, and the sole response of both of you is to kick it upstairs to the university administration? Not talk to the police? Not take that man out for a drive and ask him WTF? Be OK with letting him continue to run his camp for kids?

It’s not just Paterno - various administrators have lost their jobs over this. He’s the only one who has a name people recognize. And it’s not necessarily the legal requirements, it’s the moral and ethical requirements.

The view of the people who think Paterno didn’t do enough (me among them) is that he knew sexual abuse was taking place within his program, he had loads of clout at the college, and his “brand” if you will was based on “success with honor.” When he saw his superiors weren’t doing the anything, the honorable thing to do would have been to make a stink until someone did.

I believe him when he says he regrets not doing more, but that doesn’t help the kids who were molested after the event was sort of kicked under the rug.

Both Paterno and McQueary fell far short of their responsibility as members of society. No matter what their rank was in the PSU org chart, when they witnessed or became aware of what Sandusky was doing, 9-1-1 should have been the next step.

BTW, the President of the University was fired at the same time as Paterno. But who gives a damn about that, huh? God knows a football coach is more important. :smack:

My version of justice:

Sandusky - no punishment will be enough. I hear child molesters are treated very “special” by other inmates, I hopein his case that’s true.

McQueary - If I understand correctly he actually witnessed the anal rape of a 10 year old boy, and did nothing (in that moment) to stop it. Isn’t there something like a charge of depaved indifference that could be applied to him? I know that particular legal term usually applies to murder/manslaughter cases, but maybe PA law has something similar for rape. Anyway, he should be fired and prosecuted, IMHO.

Paterno - yes, I know he met the “minimally required” protocol of passing it up the food chain, but come on, all BS aside, does anyone here dispute that Paterno was the most powerful man at PSU? If he wanted something done about it, all he had to do was say so. He is far from blameless in this, please don’t start to think he is the victim. Minimally, he should be fired (done) and all ties to the university severed.

The other thing, of course, is that Sandusky had been caught in the showers before, and had been told that he was not allowed to shower with young children anymore (which is one of the more horrifically surreal things I’ve ever read.) Paterno was absolute king of Penn State athletics. If you’re going to tell me that he didn’t know about Sandusky’s proclivities BEFORE the McQueary incident, and that he thought he was doing the right thing by kicking it “upstairs” (not really upstairs at all) after McQueary and his dad came to see him, well, I’m just going to have to doubt you.

Regarding “They would not even allow him to resign”, before he was fired, the news reports said that he intended to resign at the end of the season. The board of trustees apparently felt (correctly, IMHO) that waiting until the end of the season was not soon enough. So he was fired. As for whether he had a responsibility to report the crime, there is the question of whether he and others were “mandated reporters” when it comes to child abuse. In Pennsylvania, school teachers and staff are mandated reporters, but I don’t know if university faculty and staff are.

Obviously, I have NO first-hand knowledge of who said exactly what to Joe Paterno.

We know that Mike McQueary told the grand jury he saw Coach Sandusky raping a boy in the shower. He says he panicked, ran out, and called his father, who told him to leave immediately, and tell Paterno about it the next day.

Now, what DID McQueary tell Paterno the next day? Here’s where we get a major discrepancy, and it’s a huge, crucial discrepancy. McQueary says he told Paterno everything, while Paterno makes it sound as if McQueary only told him that something inappropriate went on.

If McQueary is telling the truth, Paterno has lied publicly and to law enforcement, and may yet be in a LOT of legal trouble.

But we don’t know that. Again, I don’t KNOW, I can only offer guesses and suspicions. But my hunch is, McQueary (like a lot of people in a similar position) was panicky and more worried about his job than about doing the right thing. He didn’t try to help the kid and he didn’t try to call the cops. He went to his boss.

That alone tells you a lot. When you don’t take action and you don’t call the cops, you’re saying “First and foremost, I don’t want to get in trouble. Sandusky is above me, he’s the heir apparent to the head coaching job, he’s Paterno’s friend… I don’t DARE tattle on him to the cops.”

From the very first, McQueary was hedging his bets. He didn’t want to do anything that could hurt his own career. So, even if his father convinced him to tell Paterno what he saw, it’s only too easy to imagine McQueary soft-peddling the whole thing. It’s VERY easy for me to imagine McQueary coming there to report a rape, but chickening out and saying only, “Um, well, Coach Sandusky was in the shower with a kid, and … well, something didn’t seem quite right about it, and maybe it was a little, you know, inappropriate.”

IF that’s the case, Paterno is a BIT less culpable… though not much, in my book. Because, if janitors and assstant coaches alike are afraid to report what they know, that’s a sign that something very wrong is going on in the athletic department. It’s a sign that word is out- “Paterno and the football team RUN this university, and you don’t ever question them if you like your job.”

Even if Paterno isn’t personally responsible for what happened in THIS case, he’s very much responsible for creating a climate of fear in which “Shut your mouth and cover your ass” is the only safe way to live.

I’m fine with his initial action of reporting it up the chain. however, I am not OK with the fact that kicking it up the chain was all he did. I would have expected that if he knew the gravity of the situation, that he would have taken it upon himself to involve the police after seeing the university’s inaction.

Especially considering that he had already been told to not shower with kids any longer… I would be very very disturbed to hear that he was anywhere near those showers, and would have hoped that Paterno would have mercilessly cross-examined McQueary about what exactly went on. And even if “kinda inappropriate” was the only description, that is still a Very Bad Thing.

My understanding of the law in PA from reading media reports is that he was mandated, but only to notify the head of his administration, then the burden of reporting was passed on to them. That’s why Paterno isn’t under criminal investigation or indictment.

Obviously this has no bearing on his responsibility as a human being.

Paterno fulfilled his legal responsibilities, but failed his moral obligations as a human being. He deserved to be fired.

McQueary fulfilled his legal responsibilities, but failed his moral obligations as a human being. He deserves to be fired.

Curley and Schultz have been indicted for perjury, so whether or not they fulfilled their legal responsibilities is unclear. However, they, too, failed their moral obligations as human beings, and deserve to be fired (one has resigned and the other is on a leave of absence, I believe).

None of these powerful grown men thought that they had the moral obligation to call the police when a report was made of sexual activity involving a child that took place in their facilities. That’s is an unconscionable failure to recognize right from wrong.

If you were told that a good friend and colleague was seen in the locker room anally abusing a 10 year old, would you just ignore it? Would you feel like you had done enough to discover whether the report you got was true or not if you just passed along the rumor you heard? I can’t imagine that I would be willing to continue dealling with a person if they had this cloud attached to them, until I could find out the truth. Apparently Joe was perfectly fine with his friend’s actions as long as he didn’t have to actually see them. He may be a good coach but he fails at being a decent human being.

Plus, we have here a coach trying to claim that he isn’t responsible for what goes on in his own field house. That is just pathetic. Who needs a pathetic coach?

  1. Paterno lying to the public is not a crime. Despicable, but not illegal as far as I know unless it’s an attempt to defraud someone.

  2. At the time of the shower rape incident, Sandusky was NOT the heir apparent. He retired in 1999, well before that incident. Of course, this was quite probably in response to earlier allegations that were not followed through on by law enforcement, but which were (as I understand it) at least known to PSU management. I suspect he was encouraged to leave.

Beyond that, I think your analysis is correct. “Paterno’s friend, I’m low on the totem pole, don’t want to lose my job…”.

Do I think McQueary’s actions were insufficient? Oh hell yes, and I think it’s disgraceful that he’s still keeping his job. However, they are somewhat understandable - I mean, if he feels that The Big Guy isn’t doing anything further, why should he?

What if you’re the boss, and the crime happens at your place of work?

Say you run a clothing store and one of your employees comes in and says he just saw another employee molesting a little girl in a dressing room. Wouldn’t you agree that, because of the position of authority you hold, you have a moral and ethical responsibility to follow up on the accusation? This doesn’t mean that you have to confront the accused yourself, or conduct your own investigation, but it does mean that you have a duty to make sure that the proper authorities are notified, and to follow up to make sure that the matter is resolved.

You call the police. And then if the police don’t seem to be doing anything, you call them back. You follow up until the matter is resolved. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because if you care at all about the reputation of your store, it’s also in your best interests not to turn it into a safe haven for child molesters.

Your scenario reminds me of the case of David Cash, a UC Berkeley student who visited a Reno casino with a friend, Jeremy Strohmeyer. Cash saw Strohmeyer forcibly take a girl into a bathroom stall, and Cash saw Strohmeyer with his hand over the girl’s mouth, while he molested her. Later, Strohmeyer killed her, although that was not witnessed by Cash.

David Cash did nothing to stop his friend or report the crime. He was not prosecuted. And despite widespread protests at Berkeley, he was not expelled. As a result, though, a law was passed in Nevada that required “people to report to authorities when they have reasonable suspicions that a child younger than 18 is being sexually abused or violently treated.”

In general what you say is true. However, with regard to child abuse, the responsibility of adults involved with children is much higher. This is why it has been formalized legally so that a crime is committed by failure to report. Yes, Joe followed the law when he DID report to his superior… But I believe he had an even higher responsibility because of his elevated status at the university. Everyone looked up to him. Parents must have felt their children would be safe there in any program because of the umbrella of security knowing Joe was somehow there. There was a severe breach of trust by Joe and the president. They well deserved to be fired and their careers tainted for all time. I feel their behavior was criminal, but I don’t favor interpreting the laws differently to apply to Joe and the president. I bet the law will change very soon to require reporting to the police as well as higher ups.

There is no honor in a man with as much power and respect allowing this to continue under his own roof. None and zero. I don’t know anything about Paterno other than that he is a successful coach and what has come out in the past couple of weeks. I can have no respect for his career in view of his not taking lots of action to make sure this didn’t happen. It is so repulsive and counter-intuitive that I think Sandusky must have had some serious blackmail info on Paterno, not that it would affect my opinion if he did nor did not.

Paterno had extra responsibility to do something because Sandusky was hiding behind the Paterno and Penn State Football image to get his victims.

From what I’ve read, he met all of his victims through the Second Mile foundation, which hands out Penn State Football trading cards to kids and holds events with Penn State players attending along with Sandusky. Sandusky was also allowed (even after Paterno was informed of the abuse) to bring children to the Penn State campus. Parents felt safe leaving their kids with Sandusky because of Penn State.

Paterno was no random bystander here.

I am a Penn State grad from a family with many Penn State alumni, there is even a building on campus named after my great-grandfather who was a prof there, so I have followed this situation with absolute horror. I just took a training course aimed at coaches (different sport altogether and I am a volunteer not a coach) primarily about sexual abuse of minors within sports programs. It has some bearing on what happened.

First, the basics: Sandusky was not a current employee of Penn State, but as an emeritus coach, had access to the facilities. That access was also provided to Sandusky’s charity, Second Life. The organization held sports camps on campus, which was undoubtedly part of their draw.

Sandusky was investigated but not prosecuted by two different agencies due to a 1998 incident at the Alamo Bowl. Neither agency felt there was enough evidence to prosecute, but believed something happened. (I still can’t tell if he fondled a boy in a shower, or “just” acted completely inappropriately as part of a grooming process.)

It is likely that Paterno knew that Sandusky did something wrong, and he flat out told Sandusky he would never be head coach and that he should resign, which he did.

A few years later, Sandusky raped a boy in the showers at one of the football facilities. McQueary saw it, did not stop it, and did not call police. I can see McQueary being so freaked out, he couldn’t process it yet; same as women who are raped and do not immediately call police. I can believe he was in shock, but come on, he was 28! (I must add, that a Baylor assistant coach who blew the whistle on the head bball coach trying to cover up one player killing another, reportedly has never had another job coaching. I have to think maintaining his career went through his head.)

The next day, McQueary told Paterno something about what happened. Paterno says he stopped McQueary from providing details. The public version of the Grand Jury report does not say that McQueary gave him details. I can certainly see any human being not wanting to know these details. I can not bring myself to read the Grand Jury report, so I can’t really fault Paterno yet.

At this point, Paterno actually follows what the training course I took says to do: report a sexual abuse scenario to his bosses. McQueary, also I suppose, but let’s face it, he saw a crime. Up until this point, I can see why Paterno did what he appears to have done.

Paterno speaks to both is nominal boss: the AD, and the VP in charge of the police and Sandusky’s access to campus. The PSU campus police are not mall cops, they service as big a population as the State College police, and University Park is its own city. These two then interview McQueary. McQueary claims he gave them every detail, they both denied it. Since Paterno corroborated that McQueary saw something of a sexual nature, the Grand Jury chose to believe McQueary and charged both the AD and the VP with perjury.

Both the AD and the VP reported something to the President of PSU. Spanier claims he was told Sandusky was horsing around in the showers. The other two claim otherwise. At least one person is lying here.

Neither McQueary nor Paterno ever called the police. Neither seems to have followed up the AD and the VP. For that, and I speak as a 50 year old life long fan, Paterno deserved to be fired. How could any one not make sure Sandusky was locked away, put in a mental insitution, something! I just don’t understand, and I want to hear from Paterno WTF he was thinking!

Paterno created an environment in which a grown man did not feel the need to call the police about anal rape of a small boy. Yeah, I’m sure there is a strong, “well he is part of the team, even if he is an asshole” component, but this isn’t a family member drinking too much every New Years. This is a family member raping a small boy. You’d call the police on an uncle, a friend, even a sibling.

He had to be fired.

Well, no one here agrees with me and I will have to rethink it. I guess what I didn’t take into account was the degree to which Paterno was the big cheese at State College and that he would have set the tone.

But I appreciate all your opinions.