Joe Paterno Just as Guilty as the Rest; Needs To Be Fired

Mike McQueary, Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Graham Spanier, Jerry Sandusky.

These are the names of the guilty, the men whose actions and failures to act are responsible for the ruination of at least nine lives, and probably many more. These are the names of the men who must lose their jobs, and face legal charges, for their conduct as it relates to this case.

The background is this: Jerry Sandusky, who was once thought to be Paterno's natural successor for the head coaching job at Penn State, has been indicted on 40 counts of various sexual crimes against minors.

According to the indictment, Sandusky has been witnessed molesting children at least twice on-campus: once in 2000 by a janitor, and then again by then-graduate assistant (and now full-time assistant coach) Mike McQueary.

The latter of the two incidents is drawing the most media attention, clearly because it is the one that actually accuses Paterno and other administrators of having knowledge of Sandusky's actions.

According to the indictment, McQueary witnessed Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in the showers at Penn State, and apparently left without intervening. The next day, McQueary reported the crime to Joe Paterno, who waited a day before reporting the incident to Curley, the AD at Penn State.

It was a week and a half later that McQueary was called to a meeting with Curley and Gary Schultz, the Senior Vice President for Finance and Business at Penn State. It was "a couple of weeks later" that McQueary heard back from Tim Curley, who informed the graduate assistant that Sandusky had his keys to the locker rooms taken away, and had been reported to The Second Mile, Sandusky's charity for underprivileged youths founded in the '70s.

McQueary was never contacted by campus police or local authorities, and, according to the indictment, no authorities were ever contacted. 

Curley and Schultz have both denied that McQueary reported the actual crimes to them. Instead, they claim that they were told of "inappropriate conduct" that made McQueary "uncomfortable," but nothing, apparently, that would indicate rape, or anything of a sexual nature. Both have been charged with perjury, as well as failing to report the incident to the police.

It needs to be understood that neither Curley or Schultz attempted to find out the names of the child or contact his family in the 2002 case. In fact, none of the eight children who have come forward prior to the indictment (one more has come forward since, and I expect more will in time) were sought out or contacted by anyone following the alleged abuses.

This is not okay. This is not normal or moral behavior. Even if Curley was only told of "inappropriate" behavior by McQueary, he should have at the very least called the police, or even contacted the family of the child in question. What they did instead was nothing.

He lost his keys to the locker room, but he was still allowed on campus. And even though they took his keys to the locker room away, he still had access to those locker rooms when they weren't locked, as well as every building on campus. He was banned from bringing children on campus, but even Tim Curley admitted that the ban was unenforceable. 

Legally, McQueary and Paterno are apparently safe. They notified their immediate superiors, and the legal responsibility of notifying authorities lies with them.

But morally, the fact that McQueary didn't even step in and stop Sandusky from raping the child, that Paterno never called the police or requested that Sandusky be banned from the campus, speaks to the fact that both men, as well as the others involved, were primarily interested in the well-being of Penn State, and possibly Sandusky, and not concerned with the well-being of the children being molested.

There is no defense for that. Joe Paterno's legacy is immaterial here, as is his legal responsibility to contact the police (a law that clearly needs to be changed, as it should be everyone's responsibility to contact authorities).

All that matters here is that he knew of Sandusky's actions and took no actions of their own aside from the absolute least of his legal responsibilities. He did nothing more than contact his superior. That's it.

Paterno's supporters, blinded by his legacy and their love for Penn State football, will tout this as why he should not be held accountable, but there isn't one of them who would find Paterno's non-action acceptable if they had any relation to the child in question.

Now, don't get me wrong: it should not require being a relative of the child to realize JoePa's guilt in this, but I also understand what it's like to be a passionate sports fan, and how those allegiances can blind you to obvious truths.

I don't blame fans for supporting him, I only hope they voice their opinions on the matter to like-minded people, preferably on the Internet, because defending Paterno in public to decent people who don't share their love for Penn State will not go well for them.

In other words, if you're supporting Paterno in this, don't say it in mixed company, because you might tarnish your own reputation in defense of an indefensible act. 

So what comes of this? Hopefully, an entirely new athletic department at Penn State. McQueary, Paterno, et al. need to be fired for not calling the police or Child Protective Services. Curley and Schultz need to go to jail for their crimes. 

Jerry Sandusky needs to spend the rest of his life in prison, where he will be targeted by fellow inmates for what even thieves and murderers find a mortal sin.

If Penn State takes the field this Saturday with Joe Paterno as its head football coach, we will know that they value sports over human life, legacy over the futures of the children raped and molested. They cannot do this.

They also can't let him step down. The university needs to make a statement, and take a stand. This is bigger than JoePa's legacy. He needs to be fired for this.

And I sincerely hope this defines his legacy, because of all the things he's done in his life, this was the most important. He had the chance to save the lives of children and failed by not calling the police. That is bigger than 409 wins.