Jerry Sandusky Sex Scandal: Why Mike McQueary Should Be Punished

Mike McQueary is the forgotten man. Lost in the chaos behind Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Graham Spanier and several other people in power at Penn State, McQueary reportedly saw Sandusky committing sex abuse back in 2002 and did nothing more than report it to Paterno (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

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Paterno should be finished at Penn State. Now. The same is true of McQueary, who also did nothing after reporting the alleged rape to Paterno until he testified before a grand jury in December 2010.

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McQueary, who is currently the receivers coach, is just as much to blame as everybody else who failed to report these crimes to proper authorities. Even if he thought Paterno and athletic director Tim Curley would take care of it, once he figured out they were going to let it slip through, he should have acted.

It's shocking that so many people, including McQueary, could even have vague knowledge of Sandusky's actions and not pursue it further.

Perhaps it was an attempt to avoid the spotlight in order to save the football program from scrutiny. If so, shouldn't they have at least barred Sandusky from campus? Better yet, how about trying to get him to recognize what he was doing was terribly wrong.

While neither of those options would have been perfect, they're a heck of a lot better than pretending like nothing was happening.

No one person is to blame here. It's a massive failure of epic proportions and there's more than enough heat to go around. That said, you have to wonder how McQueary was able to sleep at night knowing what he'd seen was going unpunished.

It's certainly a cautionary tale to anybody else in a similar position. The unforgivable acts McQueary witnessed are rarely an isolated incident. So if there's a chance to put an end to them, it's best to do it right away instead of hoping they end before a scandal erupts.

Penn State is obviously reeling and is attempting to figure out what to do next. There has been an almost awkward silence from university officials over the past few days, other than deciding to cancel Paterno's weekly press conference.

In the meantime, the New York Times is reporting that the Paterno era is nearing its conclusion. There is no definite timetable for an announcement, but it sources two people close to the situation.

If Paterno is sent packing, there would be no acceptable explanation to keep McQueary, who arguably did less with more information than the head coach. A more proactive approach on his part could have led to less victims and a much smaller backlash.

The time for transparency at Penn State is now and, if they decide cleaning house is the best decision, McQueary should not escape unscathed.