Report: PSU disregarded safety and welfare of children/victims

Luigi59

Luigi59

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Penn State University showed 'total disregard' for Sandusky victims

PHILADELPHIA, July 12 (Reuters) - Former FBI director Louis Freeh, in an investigative report of Penn State University released on Thursday, blamed late legendary football coach Joe Paterno and other top school officials for failing to alert police about child sex abuse by his assistant Jerry Sandusky.

The highly-anticipated conclusion to Freeh's eight-month investigation into Penn State's handling of the scandal blasted the most powerful leaders at the school for not notifying authorities, which prosecutors say allowed the abuse to continue.

Freeh, in prepared remarks he was to deliver later on Thursday, said Paterno and others showed "total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims."

Freeh was hired by Penn State's Board of Trustees in November to lead an internal review of the case that rocked the high-stakes world of collegiate sports and cost both Paterno, the winningest coach in college football history, and university president Graham Spanier their jobs.
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The statue of Paterno must come down, melted to form the bars of the cell to hold Sandusky. His name should be a pariah henceforth.

I won't be surprised if the NCAA finds a reason to give the "death penalty" to Penn State football for the careless, reckless, disgusting behavior of Paterno and the university.
 
The list of defendants just got a lot longer.

PA residents get your check books out.
 
PSU students and alumni are rabid in their devotion to their school. I read just last week that contributions to the school are at their all time high. If this is true I don't think PA residents need to worry about their wallets.

I did hear on the news last night the Paterno family had already issued a statement stating to the effect Joe knew nothing, never thought Sandusky was a pedophile, which when I heard that I stated out loud BS! He worked with the guy and was told something from a staff member that disturbed him enough he went to the campus police, but now he knew nothing?
 
"The idea that any sane, responsible adult would knowingly cover up for a child predator is impossible to accept. The far more realistic conclusion is that many people didn't fully understand what was happening and underestimated or misinterpreted events," the statement said. "If Joe Paterno had understood what Sandusky was, a fear of bad publicity would not have factored into his actions."
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How on earth do you not understand or misinterpret a grown man taking a shower alone with a 10 yr old? I highly doubt Joe would have allowed his sons to take a shower with a 50+ old man at that age without flags going up screaming CREEPY!

BS flag, every sane, responsible adult would say they looked the other way for their own personal needs... in Paterno's case back at that time PSU was no longer a powerhouse for FB, there were yrs where people wanted him to be fired due to losing seasons, but kept him because he was Joe Paterno out of loyalty. A scandal like this in 01 would have meant Paterno would get walking papers, loyalty would not save him.

The Paterno family IMPO should have kept their mouth shut, or at least issued a statement stating, that due to respect of their father, at this time there will be no statement. This he didn't know about it, when emails state he did, just damages his legacy.
 
For now it will be, but 5 yrs from now it will be back to him being one of the most successful coaches. That is why I stated the family should have said no comment. Saying anything just links Joe Pa to this scandal even more. It places into question his own character, and he cannot defend it, people like me can only speculate on why.

Forever, when ever they announce a record that eclipsed his, it will always be with that caveat...unfortunately, we also remember he is remembered for the Sandusky sex scandal that occurred under his watch.

It's like Duke and LAX. That happened 6 yrs ago, they are successful again, but whenever people talk about Duke LAX that scandal still creeps into the conversation. It will be for yrs a taint on the school image.
 
The local sports station here in DFW has suggested that the school leave the statue up but "turn it the other way...." Very appropriate.
 
Luigi - you are not going far enough. For sure, Paterno is not the biggest failure here. And he is dead. Beat the drums to tarnish his legacy but don't forget about all the others who deliberately covered up Sandusky's crimes. They must be brought to justice.

The Governor - Tom Corbett MUST resign or be impeached. He belongs in JAIL.
Spanier - who is still employed at Penn State, Curley and Shultz all belong in JAIL. Jack Raykowitz belongs in JAIL.

Not a Paterno apologist but there were plenty of people who were 'more' guilty of not doing enough than he.

The bottom line is NO ONE believed the kids or their Mothers. This is actually a quite typical response - men in power don't tend to believe children - who make up stories - or women - who are seen as 'hysterical' and 'emotional'. This is exactly what happened with Sandusky's adopted son. That Judge who took him from his mother should go to Jail also.

If you are ever faced with 'suspicions' will you have the courage to believe? Will you believe a kid who says he/she is being abused? Will you believe the woman who says she was raped? Will you connect the dots?
 
Just_A_Mom said:
men in power don't tend to believe children - who make up stories - or women - who are seen as 'hysterical' and 'emotional'.
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DAMN MEN! They're always to blame.

Of course, JAM would turn a blind eye to the wife, who had such abuses happening under her own roof! But then, she's just a mom.... she didn't have any real reason to open her eyes.

Let 'em all burn!
 
Just_A_Mom said:
Not a Paterno apologist but there were plenty of people who were 'more' guilty of not doing enough than he.
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Yet none of them have a statue outside the football stadium that is worshiped by a lot of misguided Penn State "fans."
 
Luigi59 said:
Yet none of them have a statue outside the football stadium that is worshiped by a lot of misguided Penn State "fans."
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And THAT is why he deserves the headlines that the rest didn't get in the press?

"Joe Pa (and a bunch of guys who were his bosses) found responsible for child molestation at Penn State" seems to be the gist of the headlines.

As much as everyone wants to say Joe Pa ran Penn State and that everyone else served at his pleasure and what Joe Pa says about Sandusky's fate is how it will be, last I checked (at least on paper) Joe Pa reports to the AD who reports to the President who reports to the Board of Regents, who might I add were the jokers who commissioned this report.

Can we say the Board of Regents didn't do THEIR job by hiring and standing behind a president who does the right thing regardless what his "rock star" coach says (still haven't seen the documents where Jo Pa said let him go, just snippets suggesting that he wasn't sure if this was the right course - a huge difference - the press doesn't like to do due diligence on the day a report is released).

What is missing here is that the WHOLE institution is more interested keeping ALUMNI DONATIONS coming in (that give justification to their oversized salaries) than anything else. This starts at the top. They let the tail (Joe Pa) wag the dog.

While lots of folks like to paint Joe Pa like a godfather who just nods and "things happen", I'm not seeing that in a guy who by all accounts didn't live like a king, pile up huge bank accounts (seemed to like to give a lot of his salary back to the institution), didn't go out of his way to captivate the press (he is no Pete Carroll). Just doesn't fit the behavior of guys who are puppet masters.
 
Leave Paterno Alone

In my opinion, why should the media still be going after Paterno? He wasn't the one that abused those poor boys. He wasn't the one who witnessed the crimes and instead of stopping it, went home and called thir father for advice. He wasn't the one who tried to cover it up.

Paterno was a man who loved Penn State and donated millions to the campus. At his age, he did what he thought was right, LEGALLY. The men above him should have took action. Yes, morally
He should have followed up on his actions, but Paterno should not be ripped apart for what he did. He loved the students and took his firing with a broken heart. I will be attending Penn State this fall and I'm proud to say ill be part of the blue and white line.
 
goaliedad said:
While lots of folks like to paint Joe Pa like a godfather who just nods and "things happen", I'm not seeing that in a guy who by all accounts didn't live like a king, pile up huge bank accounts (seemed to like to give a lot of his salary back to the institution), didn't go out of his way to captivate the press (he is no Pete Carroll). Just doesn't fit the behavior of guys who are puppet masters.
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From the Freeh report:

... after the 2001 report of Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the showers, university officials barred him from bringing children to campus but decided not to report him to child-welfare authorities.

Some of the most damning evidence against Paterno consists of handwritten notes and emails that portray him as having been involved in that decision.

According to the report, Spanier, Schultz and Curley drew up an "action plan" that called for reporting Sandusky to the state Department of Public Welfare. But Curley later said in an email that he changed his mind about the plan "after giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe." Instead, Curley proposed to offer Sandusky "professional help."

In an email, Spanier agreed with that course of action but noted "the only downside for us is if the message isn't (heard) and acted upon and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it."

Freeh suggested it was Paterno's intervention that kept administrators from going to authorities. "Based on the evidence, the only known intervening factor ... was Mr. Paterno's Feb. 26 conversation with Mr. Curley," Freeh said.
 
Vista123 said:
From the Freeh report:

... after the 2001 report of Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the showers, university officials barred him from bringing children to campus but decided not to report him to child-welfare authorities.

Does "university officials" specifically equal Joe Pa?

Some of the most damning evidence against Paterno consists of handwritten notes and emails that portray him as having been involved in that decision.

According to the report, Spanier, Schultz and Curley drew up an "action plan" that called for reporting Sandusky to the state Department of Public Welfare. But Curley later said in an email that he changed his mind about the plan "after giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe." Instead, Curley proposed to offer Sandusky "professional help."

This says that Curley thought it over after talking to Joe Pa. It DOES NOT say Joe Pa's opinion on the matter. The person who wants to hang Joe Pa will say that Joe Pa agreed with that position. The person who thinks Curley was in control could say that Joe Pa didn't persuade Curley to turn Sandusky in and wasn't going to fight his superior (Curley) on that decision.

In an email, Spanier agreed with that course of action but noted "the only downside for us is if the message isn't (heard) and acted upon and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it."

It is unclear who "we" referred to in this sentence.

Freeh suggested it was Paterno's intervention that kept administrators from going to authorities. "Based on the evidence, the only known intervening factor ... was Mr. Paterno's Feb. 26 conversation with Mr. Curley," Freeh said.

It sounds like Louis Freeh has bought into the innuendo that Joe Pa agreed with Curley's decision (referred to above) which still isn't clear.
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Like I said earlier, the board hired Mr. Freeh with the purpose of finding who DOWN THE FOODCHAIN FROM THEM was responsible for this happening. The question here is how did the board magically absolve itself from the decisions of the officials THEY hired? How did THEY hire a president that allowed this culture to continue/exist? Why are THEY trying to cover THEIR responsibility for overseeing the top university officials with this "Report" which is only an opinion they paid for. When you hire a consultant, they tell you what YOU want to hear. Mr. Freeh did a good job of that.
 
goaliedad said:
And THAT is why he deserves the headlines that the rest didn't get in the press?.
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Try to keep up, my response was to JAM, who seemed to take issued that my closing line in the OP only called for the statue of Paterno to be removed. As the AD, President, BoD, etc, whoever else was involved = as I said, none of them have a statue that is worshiped by the misguided.

Paterno's dead, he escapes judgment by the law.

The rest of them?

Throw them all in prison, shut down the football program.

Lack Of Institutional Control can trigger the NCAA death penalty, and in no other case in history is it so appropriate.
 
CrossCountryRunner12 said:
In my opinion, why should the media still be going after Paterno? He wasn't the one that abused those poor boys. He wasn't the one who witnessed the crimes and instead of stopping it, went home and called thir father for advice. He wasn't the one who tried to cover it up.

Paterno was a man who loved Penn State and donated millions to the campus. At his age, he did what he thought was right, LEGALLY. The men above him should have took action. Yes, morally
He should have followed up on his actions, but Paterno should not be ripped apart for what he did. He loved the students and took his firing with a broken heart. I will be attending Penn State this fall and I'm proud to say ill be part of the blue and white line.
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I have never understood the weird "culture of reverance" around Joe Paterno. It strikes me as strange and unhealthy. This is probably because I couldn't really care less about college football.

It sounds like for most of his life, Joe Paterno was a decent human being. He won Penn State lots of football games and donated lots of money to the school, among other philanthropic interests. That's fine.

But when being a decent human being mattered most, he dropped the ball. Sure, Paterno had no legal obligation. As a pillar of the community and person who seems to have "defined" Penn State or, hell, just as a decent human being, he certainly had a moral obligation. He put the interests of his institution over the well-being of children and this completely tarnishes his legacy.

And then he lied about what he knew in order to protect his own reputation as a good person and not "man who doesn't report rape of children to police."
That, to me, is completely indefensible.
 
Luigi - I did not *take issue* but rather said you did not go FAR ENOUGH.
That statue could come down at midnight tonight and nothing would change. Not culture, not procedures, not justice.

By focusing on taking down the statue - which seems to be the question of the day - folks are not focusing on CRIMINALS who have not been brought to justice.

I highly suggest that you all read the report in full. Do your homework and take a few minutes (hours) to understand the complexities involved in this case.
It's fascinating really. You will read about how a judge ordered Sandusky's foster son back into Sandusky's house and blamed his mother for his misbehavior even though he was being molested.
You will read about a high school principal who told a mom she needed to 'think hard' about reporting Sandusky to authorities.
You will read about a psychologist (female) who pegged Sandusky for a pedophile and whose report was disregarded. You will read about a psychologist (male) who said Sandusky simply had 'boundary issues' and not a molester. His report was considered.
You will read about the Second Mile CEO who failed to report. You will read about a Governor who put the investigation on the back burner because he was running for Governor. During the investigation he accepted a campaign donation from Second Mile KNOWING they were under investigation.
To Be Clear: The failure of JOE was not the only failure nor the biggest. When you focus on one small part you will lose sight of the entirety of the case.

As far as shutting down the football program..... what does that accomplish and who does it hurt?
Do you shut down just football or all athletics? For how long? One year? Five years? Forever? After all the AD ran the entire athletic program.
How about academics? Do you shut down the entire university? Spanier what President and implicated (more than Joe) in the report.
Luigi - I am not criticizing you but just would like to know - how far would you go?
 
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