In Defense of Paterno

BLKNGOLD48 said:
To me, this is the most disturbing. How in the world could you let a man who has been accused, have access to the same sick playground for this long, makes no sense at all to me.
Click to expand...

Maybe Sandusky had something on JoePa or the university?
 
Guess I have some questions for this loud-mouth Cop, accusing Paterno of not doing his duty? As I read this, the police were informed of Sandusky having relations with a 10 year old, over ten years ago and the guy was still on the street until this week?

What kind of police dept allows that? :mad:
 
I think that the prudent thing is to let the facts emerge,and then make a judgement on JoePa's culpability. He has not been allowed to tell his side yet.

People are so disturbed by this scandal,and rightfully so, that they are mixing up the timelines on how it went down.
As far as I can tell, JoePa had no knowledge of any issues on Sandusky until McQueary told him in 2002 that he had seen Sandusky and a kid in a shower.
Sandusky had left PSU in 1999,3 years earlier.
I keep hearing some fans say Joe should have fired him on the spot after McQueary came to him....Sandusky no longer worked for PSU in 2002.

So, I think it is possible that JoePa was told by the AD that they investigated the incident and there was nothing to it...or that he simply could not believe that his longtime guy was capable of these heinous acts.

I read a post by psychiatrist/psychotherapist on another board who specializes in sex crimes of this sort,and he said that very often family members or close friends simply cannot bring themselves to believe a beloved member could be capable of such acts and do not come forward for years.
 
The sad thing in all of this is the victims....however, also saddening is that JoePa is probably a good guy and has great character, but the game and all that comes with it has long surpassed him and probably has for a number of years, even previous to the incident in '99. Coaching wins/losses is not the only reason he's more than a decade past due.
 
dualradius said:
Maybe Sandusky had something on JoePa or the university?
Click to expand...

That's the only explanation that makes sense to me when asking the question "why was nothing ever said?". The only reasonable explanation seems to be that Sandusky has information about the program or JoePa that is big enough to justify not bringing this to the police.
 
dualradius said:
Of course not... but "fondling" and "rape" resonate different reactions emotionally when you hear the words.
Click to expand...

Wrong, not when you are talking about a 10 year old boy (or girl for that matter). It is not like we are talking about a perv who inappropriately touched a womans breast instead of raping her, we are talking about a pedophile who was caught by his grad assistant coach sodomizing a 10 year old kid.
 
There are plenty of reason as to why this all happened. However, none of those reasons are good.

I know it's easy to say what should have been done, but when you are in the midst of something this horrendous, sometimes your mind doesn't make the best decisions, unfortunately.
 
I think it is too early to draw conclusions about Paterno and his actions. All people have to go on is the Grand Jury report and that doesn't focus on whether Paterno followed up with the AD or what the AD told him because frankly it is not relevant to case. The only relevant part was that he reported what he was told to the AD and the AD was required to report it and he didn't and that is why it was included in the grand jury report. We don't know yet what Paterno was told as far as what was being done to take care of the situation (i.e., if the authorities had been contacted).

Keep in mind that this is a grand jury and the only thing that was presented to the jury was the prosecution's case and normal rules of evidence don't apply, which means that hearsay is allowed.
 
This whole thing is horrible however have you ever heard of the chain of command? If Joe Pa told the University higher ups, why should he go to the police to make a report?

Obviously we don't really know what he did but I'd say he did his job if he reported it to University Administrators and it is their responsbility to go to the police.
 
papahawk said:
This whole thing is horrible however have you ever heard of the chain of command? If Joe Pa told the University higher ups, why should he go to the police to make a report?

Obviously we don't really know what he did but I'd say he did his job if he reported it to University Administrators and it is their responsbility to go to the police.
Click to expand...

So, if you witness a murder at work, you.... tell your boss?

I'd call 911.
 
If Joe Pa witnessed the abuse then I agree that he had an obligation to see it to the end meaning probably to the police. If he heard it second hand then he reported it to the correct administrator that's different. There is a big difference in these 2 situations.

Now again having knowledge about this, if he still allowed use of the facilities to a possible pedophile then he is very guilty and should go.

I won't argue that he should have followed up on it as time went on to make sure it wasn't just swept under the table.

Sometimes people are pronounced guilty without all the information. I guess the jury is still out at this time.

I have not read every news article on this so may be behind the story and if that is the case please accept my apology.

In short there is no place for such actions. Period!!!!
 
The VP of Finance who JoePa reported the incident to was responsible for the PSU Campus Police,so maybe in JoePa's mind,that is like reporting it to the police.
The timeline is still important. They could have told JoePa that they were conducting an investigation,and not to tamper with that. The grand jury deal started a couple of years later and they could have told JoePa to not tamper with that.

I just think that folks should wait for all the facts to emerge before rounding up a lynch mob for JoePa. Why not wait? At this point,Sandusky has been arrested and presumbly will not be allowed to have contact with any young people,so why not sort thru the facts of the case?
 
There is no defense of or for Paterno in this instance. There was a 1998 incident in a PSU shower...in 1999 Sandusky resigned...then this 2002 incident in the PSU shower, and Paterno was informed the day after it occurred.

Sorry, there are some things you don't get the benefit of the doubt for not doing. Not reporting child molestation to the police would be at the top of that list.
 
JonDMiller said:
There is no defense of or for Paterno in this instance. There was a 1998 incident in a PSU shower...in 1999 Sandusky resigned...then this 2002 incident in the PSU shower, and Paterno was informed the day after it occurred.

Sorry, there are some things you don't get the benefit of the doubt for not doing. Not reporting child molestation to the police would be at the top of that list.
Click to expand...

What if JoPa did try to follow up? What was he told by the rest of the administration? There is more information needed than what we know to pass that type of judgement Jon. He may very well deserve to have a tarnished legacy and be forced out of coaching...but we do not know the facts to make those judgments yet.
 
kuhntz said:
What if JoPa did try to follow up? What was he told by the rest of the administration? There is more information needed than what we know to pass that type of judgement Jon. He may very well deserve to have a tarnished legacy and be forced out of coaching...but we do not know the facts to make those judgments yet.
Click to expand...

A child was raped in the house that Joe built. This was four years after another such incident took place in the same house that Joe built.

You call the freaking police, what you dont do is give the guy emeritus status, keys to the facility, educational discounts for himself and eligible dependents, discount at the school book store, his own parking place, etc.

You just don't.

This will be Paterno's last year at Penn State, and I certainly have no problems with that.

I don't think Joe is some monster; that is Sandusky.

Joe has helped a lot of young people in his life and I don't forget that...but he has failed several young people the last decade or so because of not going to police. Sorry, but you don't get a do over for this sort of thing, and it's not wiped away.

Of anyone in the state, Joe was powerful enough in 1998 and 2002 to do this. He chose not to.

That is on him and will be forever.
 
JonDMiller said:
There is no defense of or for Paterno in this instance. There was a 1998 incident in a PSU shower...in 1999 Sandusky resigned...then this 2002 incident in the PSU shower, and Paterno was informed the day after it occurred.

Sorry, there are some things you don't get the benefit of the doubt for not doing. Not reporting child molestation to the police would be at the top of that list.
Click to expand...

These were not unrelated events.
 
JonDMiller said:
A child was raped in the house that Joe built. This was four years after another such incident took place in the same house that Joe built.

You call the freaking police, what you dont do is give the guy emeritus status, keys to the facility, educational discounts for himself and eligible dependents, discount at the school book store, his own parking place, etc.

You just don't.

This will be Paterno's last year at Penn State, and I certainly have no problems with that.

I don't think Joe is some monster; that is Sandusky.

Joe has helped a lot of young people in his life and I don't forget that...but he has failed several young people the last decade or so because of not going to police. Sorry, but you don't get a do over for this sort of thing, and it's not wiped away.

Of anyone in the state, Joe was powerful enough in 1998 and 2002 to do this. He chose not to.

That is on him and will be forever.
Click to expand...

Jon, do you consider the possibility that he was blackmailed or lied to?

I just don't believe that Paterno let this go entirely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top