Penn State Scandal: Why Jerry Sandusky's Pension Is Another Black Mark

Jerry Sandusky is still getting paid by Penn State University.

Yes, you read that correctly. The man who is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse is still receiving more than $50,000 a year in pension money for the job he worked when many of the alleged acts took place.

The Patriot-News tells us exactly how much Sandusky is currently making from the state of Pennsylvania via the university:

“When he retired, Sandusky opted to take a lump-sum pension payment of $148,271 from the State Employees’ Retirement System. The rest of his pension is being paid out monthly and is $58,898 annually.”

$58,898 a year is a ridiculous sum for the state to be paying a man who many people within the university allegedly knew was attacking children.

Assistant coach Mike McQueary, former head coach Joe Paterno, former athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz all allegedly knew that something suspicious was happening with Sandusky in the Penn State locker rooms, but did nothing to stop it.

Then, when Sandusky retired, he still was allowed to come into the locker rooms. In fact, he had access to the locker room whenever he wanted it. This was despite the fact that he had already been investigated by police in the late ‘90s. 

It’s just ridiculous that people knew what was going on (McQueary even saw one attack, a janitor saw another), but no one questioned his access to the locker rooms or the pension benefits he was getting.

He should have been fired at the first suspicion of his behavior, back in 1998. He shouldn’t have been allowed to retire on his own in 1999.

If he had been fired in 1998 based on the child sex allegations at the time, Penn State couldn’t possibly find a way to keep giving Sandusky money.

The Patriot-News recaps the first chance prosecutors had of stopping Sandusky:

“Though the grand jury indictment includes four previous victims, an 11-year old boy in 1998 was the first to come forward. He is called Victim Six in the grand jury presentment.
    
The boy told police that Sandusky had showered naked with him. A second boy was in the showers at the time, but did not testify before the grand jury.”

The article goes on to say that Sandusky admitted his guilt in front of the boy’s mother, asking for forgiveness and wishing he were dead.

Somebody (or multiple somebodies) at Penn State knew what was going on and didn’t do anything about it. Sandusky should have been fired, sent to jail and not paid another dime.

But, the fact that he continues to receive a pension is a black mark (actually, 58,898 black marks annually) on the university.