If what was reported in the Grand Jury Presentment is true, Jerry Sandusky committed some extremely depraved and disordered actions. I personally find it extremely disturbing that a child predator, by virtue of fame and connections, managed to found his own charitable organization (The Second Mile), which placed him in contact with a plethora of potential victims – not just any victims, but victims who ended up being especially vulnerable to his predatory behaviors because of their life situations.
Predators will always tend to prey on the disenfranchised, but I can think of few things more heinous than molesting, sexually assaulting and raping underprivileged children because the organization that you founded gave you contact and control of them. He violated these children and he violated the law. Not only did this man violate his victims in a physical manner, he also violated their childhoods and violated their trust.
When it’s all said and done, Jerry Sandusky will get something of what he deserves. I read the Grand Jury report, and let me just say … some of the report is raw, visceral and explicit. I really don’t understand the principle of releasing the man on $100,000 bail after the atrocities he committed.
The sad thing is, Jerry Sandusky ended up with a long string of enablers along his path. These include the DA from the 1998 investigation who dropped charges. For everything after the 2002 incident, this includes the graduate assistant (now a positions coach at Penn State), Joe Paterno (the Penn State football coach), Timothy Curley (the Penn State Athletic Director at the time), Gary Schultz (the Penn State Senior Vice President of Finance and Business), President Spanier, and the board of trustees or directors for The Second Mile.
These images were taken from http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=6277
The Grand Jury Presentment outlines how a matter of child endangerment was swept under the rug by the organizational chain of command and NEVER reported to law enforcement. These people went up the organizational flow chart instead of doing the morally and legally appropriate thing to do: report the incident to someone who could and would investigate what happened, and press charges if necessary. People were more worried about the reputation of the organization than they were about the victims of the crime. As the current Pennsylvania DA Linda Kelly stated, “Those officials, to whom it was reported, did not report the incident to law enforcement or any child protective agency, and their inaction likely allowed a child predator to continue to victimize children for many more years.”
So no, good ol’ Joe Pa never reported Sandusky’s potential transgressions to the actual police. Please quit saying that he did. Part of Gary Schultz’s job as the Senior VP of Finance and Business at PSU was oversight of the police department; that doesn’t mean that Joe Paterno actually went to the cops. That’s about like saying that going to the town treasurer to report an incident of a retired town official raping someone in the bathroom of the town courthouse is the same as going to the cops.
Also, you want to know how long Jerry Sandusky continued working with The Second Mile? Until September of 2010 when he stepped down to focus on his family and personal matters. One of the victims was still being contacted by and harassed by Sandusky well into 2005 and 2006.
What will his enablers face? Curley and Schultz may face counts for perjury and failure to report child abuse. What about the graduate assistant (now a positions coach) and Joe Paterno? They cooperated with the grand jury investigation and went through the organizational chain, so they don’t face charges of failure to report child abuse? Really? Seems like they both failed to report child abuse as well.
As far as Curley and Schultz go, Schultz seemed to be the bigger idiot in the Grand Jury Presentment. He agreed that what happened to the victim in 2002 may have been sexual in nature and that it was “inappropriate”, but he wouldn’t agree that what happened was “serious”. Really, Mr. Schultz? If someone in a position of power over you (say, President Spanier) fondled your package without your consent, you wouldn’t find it to be a “serious” offense or violation of your person?
Really, the whole situation is sickening ALL the way around. Yes, Jerry Sandusky is responsible for most of what happened, but the people around him at Penn State and The Second Mile enabled him. Almost as disgusting as the molestation of children is the fact that a former DA in 1998 and then Penn State officials in 2002 swept allegations under the rug, and it was probably more about the image of the institution and the safety of its legends than anything else.
A lot more needs to come out about the entire situation, especially the cover up after the 2002 incident. If Curley and Schultz are prosecuted, I’m sure more information will come out about all of it. Also, people everywhere out there, quit acting like Joe Paterno is a victim here when people complain about his lack of action enabling a predator. Real victims here? Eight or more people who had their childhood destroyed.
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