This lawyer thinks JoePa acted correctly both morally and ethically

[ICHawk24]

You are wrong. The GA saw the assualt, left the facility and called his dad. He and his dad went to JoePa's house that night. The following day JoePa relayed the info to the AD and the VP in charge of the campus police force.

The be pedantic:

GA saw it 10pmish Friday night
GA and father show up at Joe's house Saturday morning and tell Joe
Paterno tells AD on Sunday

 

[fsanford]

Power and control are two entirely different things.

They normally walk hand and hand..

 

[ICHawk24]

Fine, but it's become clear he had no further association with the team. The fact he was allowed on campus is not a JoePa related matter.

What? He continued to have an office in the football complex. He continued to bring young boys to practices and games. Can I start going to private practices, bringing random children with me? He was working out in the team workout room LAST WEEK. Can I do that?

He was still part of the program. Not an active coach, but part of the program. He had total access to the facilities.

 

[Bigtenchamp]

Sandusky fondled a kid in the shower in 1998. The kid told his mother, who called PSU. University police were notified, but it does not seem like any serious investigation was ever conducted. Sandusky was advised not to shower with kids anymore. I gotta think this incident led to Paterno forcing Sandusky out.

In 2000 a janitor saw Sandusky engaging in sexual activities with a boy in the showers of the FB building again. The janitor reported it to his immediate supervisor, but neither the janitor or supervisor took it any further. It seems they were afraid of losing their jobs.

Then the 2002 rape occurred, which was witnessed by a graduate assistant. The GA claims he told Paterno about the incident in graphic detail, and Paterno told the AD about it. The AD then interviewed the GA; again, the GA claims he told the AD about it in graphic detail. The AD claims the incident was described as "horsing around," and that there was never any indication that it was sexual in nature. The grand jury did not believe the AD's testimony, which is why he is being charged with perjury.

That is 3 incidents between 1998-2002, all with credible witnesses, 2 of which were reported to the AD.

You have to wonder how many total people have turned a blind eye to this. Clearly the GA, Paterno, the AD, the man in charge of PSU police, the janitors, and probably many more. I find it hard to believe Sandusky's wife had no idea. I am sure many of the other PSU coaches heard rumblings. If this was swept under the rug to protect "the program," it is one of the most despicable things to ever happen in college athletics, and everyone involved should be prosecuted harshly.

However, I get the suspicion that it was less a coverup, and more a sad reflection on human nature. Sandusky is a creep and needs to be destroyed. Most of the other people mixed up in this would probably be described by others as good people, people who want to do the right thing. Yet through some combination of denial, hesitancy to get involved in something so ugly, and a strong sense of self-preservation, they convinced themselves that either nothing was going on, or that what was going on wasn't that bad.

We all hope to God that we would have more strength and sense than that, and we can swear to the mountain tops that we would, but ultimately we never know until being put in that position. I am in no way excusing, just commenting that most people look out for their own interests first and foremost, and protecting others, especially those they don't know, is often an afterthought.

This is a great post

 

[Bigtenchamp]

I'm inclined to believe that they knew he had a problem for over 20 years.

Why could he never be the next HC? Why did he retire so early?

I have a feeling there is much much much more being covered up.

Like most people they were trying to save their own rear ends.

When you don't take action immediatley (which despite so much tough guy talk on this board is what happens most of the time) then now you left your self in a position where you have to start burying everything.

Do you think these guys at Penn State think they are morally corrupt? Of course not and they could give you a run around for hours about how it's not their fault that they had no choice.

A bigger mess is coming.

 

[bws258]

That Lawyer Dude: A Strong Defense of Joe Paterno: Why Paterno Was Morally & Ethically Right Not To Go Further in The Sandusky Sex Abuse Case

well written, excellent link

 

[DuffMan]

You are wrong. The GA saw the assualt, left the facility and called his dad. He and his dad went to JoePa's house that night. The following day JoePa relayed the info to the AD and the VP in charge of the campus police force.

The be pedantic:GA saw it 10pmish Friday nightGA and father show up at Joe's house Saturday morning and tell JoePaterno tells AD on Sunday

So both the incident was reported to the AD and VP in charge of campus police as quickly as 36 and no later than 48 hours after it occurred

 

[ICHawk24]

So both the incident was reported to the AD and VP in charge of campus police as quickly as 36 and no later than 48 hours after it occurred

Yes, I wasn't disagreeing with the spirit of your description, just clarifying the exact timeline.

 

[silvanthalas]

That guy's arguments are terrible. He's the Brian Kaldenberg of lawyers.

Win!

And hopefully That Lawyer Dude and Kaldenberg will both lose business because of their indefensible stances.

 

[hawkinaclownhouse]

What? He continued to have an office in the football complex. He continued to bring young boys to practices and games. Can I start going to private practices, bringing random children with me? He was working out in the team workout room LAST WEEK. Can I do that?

He was still part of the program. Not an active coach, but part of the program. He had total access to the facilities.

To be clear Sandusky had an office on campus. It was not in the football complex it was in another building on campus. And the report was he was working out in a weight room but it did not state it was the football facility. He was granted "professor emeritus of phycial education" when he retired and was given the same rights and privileges as all other retired professors at the university.

Now I have a real problem with the reports of him bringing boys to football practices and JoePa failed to stop it so with what he knew that is inexcusably bad judgement.

 

[theboat]

Lastly consider this. Most of us realize that JoePa has a much lesser role in the football program than he used to, or many other head coaches have. Many of us consider him the HC in title only and consider him a figure head. Why does anyone expect that someone that has less than full control in the day to day operations of his own football team to have some additional control over larger aspects of the University?

JoePa circa 1998 or 2002 is not JoePa today. That is just silly to use as an out.


Again, I say he handled things LEGALLY, but MORALLY it is dispicable and there is no excuse whatsoever that can change that unless McQueery is lying and JoePa never knew.

 

[FalseMirage]

To be clear Sandusky had an office on campus. It was not in the football complex it was in another building on campus. And the report was he was working out in a weight room but it did not state it was the football facility. He was granted "professor emeritus of phycial education" when he retired and was given the same rights and privileges as all other retired professors at the university.

Now I have a real problem with the reports of him bringing boys to football practices and JoePa failed to stop it so with what he knew that is inexcusably bad judgement.

It goes way beyond bad judgment and well into enabling territory.

 

[tm3308]

Jon, as that article stated one of the bosses was the police.

As CAAR stated later, that's not truly the case. Everybody on campus has a superior to report to, all the way up to the president. The police may report to the VP, but the VP is not a cop and never has been. At least in the real world, a police commish was at one time, a regular cop. The VP basically handles the budget.

 

[hawkinaclownhouse]

It goes way beyond bad judgment and well into enabling territory.

I don't disagree with that assessment.

 

[silvanthalas]

Why didnt McQueary go to the police himself?/QUOTE]

Which is why McQueary needs to be gone yesterday as well.

There's also a janitor or two who are conveniently being forgotten in all of this.

 

[DJL]

I am so sick of people defending JoePa. If someone came to me at 10:00 at night and said they saw someone in my team's locker room showers with a 10 year old boy doing something of a sexual nature, I would first slap him for not stopping it, and then call the cops, tell someone to get over there NOW! I would then drive him to the station to make an official statement and get that POS put away for a long long time. If anyone would have done anything differently, then you need to look in the mirror and decide what kind of person you want to be. Instead JoePa thought, "hmm, this might look really bad for the program, he has been accused a few years ago of this kind of thing. I bet this could make us look bad, I'll wait and figure out a plan of action in the morning with the AD." JoePa did what he needed to do to cover his a**, and nothing more. Pathetic and wrong.

 

[Cydkar]

Joe didn't break the law but you can do some really ****** things without breaking the law. He hit a homerun in that department.

 

[ICHawk24]

To be clear Sandusky had an office on campus. It was not in the football complex it was in another building on campus. And the report was he was working out in a weight room but it did not state it was the football facility. He was granted "professor emeritus of phycial education" when he retired and was given the same rights and privileges as all other retired professors at the university.

Now I have a real problem with the reports of him bringing boys to football practices and JoePa failed to stop it so with what he knew that is inexcusably bad judgement.

From my reading of the documents, it seemed that his office was in Lasch building, which is the football complex. Was it not in Lasch?

Some people think it is bizarre that he had an office in the first place, but he was similar to any other emeritus. My problem is that he should have lost access in 2002. The VP was aware of the 1998 incident when the 2002 incident occurred.

 

[74Hunter]

Of course a lawyer would have no problem morally or ethically. They are lawyers, most have no morals or ethics.

 

[homes]

However, I get the suspicion that it was less a coverup, and more a sad reflection on human nature. Sandusky is a creep and needs to be destroyed. Most of the other people mixed up in this would probably be described by others as good people, people who want to do the right thing. Yet through some combination of denial, hesitancy to get involved in something so ugly, and a strong sense of self-preservation, they convinced themselves that either nothing was going on, or that what was going on wasn't that bad.

We all hope to God that we would have more strength and sense than that, and we can swear to the mountain tops that we would, but ultimately we never know until being put in that position. I am in no way excusing, just commenting that most people look out for their own interests first and foremost, and protecting others, especially those they don't know, is often an afterthought.

I am reminded of the scene from Saving Private Ryan, where the soldier who was brought along to interpret, panicked and hid, with all of the ammo, while his fellow soldiers were killed. We all see ourselves as being noble and heroic, but in the heat of the moment, self-preservation can be a powerful force. Spielberg portrayed that with great impact in that movie, life can sometimes imitate art.