Penn State Scandal: Everything You Thought About Joe Paterno Changes Forever Now

When the sports world and the criminal world come together, no one wins.

Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and one count of aggravated indecent assault, as well as 32 other criminal charges all relating to sexual abuse of minors.

So far there are eight victims, six of whom have been identified, but there could be many more.

Additionally, Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz (the former has taken an administrative leave and the latter has resigned) have been charged with perjury regarding their testimony in the case, when it went to grand jury in 2002.

“This is not a case about football or universities; it is about children having innocence stolen and lack of action taken,” said Frank Noonan, Pennsylvania State police commissioner.

You can read the full 23 page report from the attorney general here.

The case against Sandusky began in 1998, but the incidents date back to 1994 or 1995 and could possibly go back even further. He met these children through his charity called “Second Mile,” a charity that he founded in 1977, which provides help to at-risk youths and is centered in State College.

You may hear the term “grooming” being used in this case, which refers to a sexual predator identifying potential victims, becoming a mentor figure, which then leads to excess touching and eventually sexual abuse. Noonan said in a press conference that this was not unusual.

Many Penn State students and student-athletes volunteered for the organization. It is important to note that Sandusky is not the only person running the charity and they have helped many children in need in the past.

In 1998, University Police launched an investigation into Sandusky. He resigned from the university in 1999 which, at the time, was considered very odd, as many thought he would succeed legendary head coach Joe Paterno.

However, as part of his retirement package, Sandusky was allowed to use university facilities. This is where Paterno’s involvement becomes critical.

In March of 2002, a graduate assistant overheard what sounded like sexual activity in the football showers and saw Sandusky having sex with an unidentified boy of about 10 years of age. The assistant immediately called his father who told him to report the incident to Paterno which he did the following day.

Paterno then told Curley and Schultz, but did not inform any other authorities, like the police. Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Linda Kelly, said in Monday’s press conference, "We believe he had an obligation to report it to the school administrators and he did this." She failed to comment on the difference between legal and moral rights or obligations.

She did make it a point to say that Paterno “is not regarded as a target” in these investigations. Kelly did not say whether or not current university president, Graham Spanier, is a target in the investigation.

It was based off of this that Schultz and Curley are being charged with perjury. Curley told the grand jury in 2002 that he had never been told of the report and Schultz said he and Curley had “no indication that a crime had occurred.”

Spanier is quoted as saying, “Tim Curley and Gary Schultz operate at the highest levels of honesty, integrity and compassion.”

Joe Paterno has stated that he was told by the graduate assistant that “something inappropriate” occurred but nothing more explicit or graphic.

The only additional punishment levied against Sandusky for this incident was being barred from university facilities, but only if he was with a child from Second Mile.

This comes back into play in 2007 when he brought a Second Mile child onto campus with him. A reporter at the press conference asked Kelly if Paterno or the graduate assistant should have reported that incident, since someone must have seen the two together. Kelly responded, “that’s an interesting question” and is something that could be brought up down the road.

In 2009, Sandusky was banned from an entire school district after a victim’s mother reported the allegations of sexual abuse but according to multiple sources, he was working out in the Penn State facilities as late as last week.

Even the thought of these allegations being true is just sickening, but it is obvious from testimony, and the attorney general’s report that Sandusky used his authority at Penn State to victimize children.

He even promised one child who traveled to several games with Sandusky and the team that he could walk-on to the squad once he was old enough.

Frank Noonan even admits that he has never seen a case like this in that eye-witness testimony did not lead directly to law enforcement being notified. No one in the university even bothered looked into the identity of the child in the 2002 incident.

All of this begs the question, what could possibly have made Joe Paterno think that he shouldn’t contact the police?

It is that question that has irreparably damaged his otherwise amazing legacy at Penn State. He is regarded as one of the legends of college football and has more wins than any FBS coach in history.

But now all of that comes with a big asterisk, except unlike a Barry Bonds, failing to perform what nearly everyone would consider basic and obvious procedure after being notified of child sex abuse is much worse than taking steroids or allowing players to take cash to play football.

This investigation is not close to being over and so far only Curley and Schultz have taken a leave of absence and resigned, respectfully.

In order for Penn State, as an athletic department and possibly as a university to survive a scandal of this magnitude, everyone remotely involved in this situation must be immediately fired, and that includes Spanier.

Paterno may not be considered a target of prosecution at this point, but all of the facts are not known as of yet. Even if he is not charged with anything, the fact that he failed to report a sexual abuse case to police all the way back in 2002 and nine years later has the audacity to say allegations he testified against are suddenly “very shocking to me” is sickening, revolting, disgusting and horrifying.

People like Curley, Schultz and Sandusky will always be remembered for their roles in this scandal and Joe Paterno will at the very least always have it come up when he is discussed in the history books.

If it is later determined that he had gross negligence in this, more so than what he has already failed to do, the wins he has may never matter.

To help prevent more child abuse around the country, please donate to the Heath Evans Foundation.