Joe Paterno Fired: Alleged Victims' Attorney Finds Fault with Paterno Firing

The firing of Joe Paterno was never cut and dry. There are two sides to the public dismissal of the legendary coach. As one attorney sees it, the only side that should have been considered is that of the victims. 

As The Patriot-News reports, Ben Andreozzi is a civil attorney working with Let Go Let Peace Come In, an organization providing services to child sex abuse victims.

Andreozzi has been serving as an adviser to the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky. He has some very pointed thoughts on the firing of Paterno, a firing that invoked passion and emotion from just about anyone who has been paying attention to the emerging scandal. 

You might think that Andreozzi would find that the quick dismissal of Paterno was in the best interest of the university and the victims at large. You would be mistaken as he raises some salient points in how the feelings of the boys, many of whom are young men now, received the news. 

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The board of trustees got it wrong. They should have consulted the victims before making a decision on Mr. Paterno. They should have considered these victims watch TV and are aware of the students' reaction and may not want to be associated with the downfall of Mr. Paterno. The school instead elected to do what it felt was in its own best interest at the time. Isn’t that what put the school in this position in the first place?

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In the wild and tumultuous night that followed Paterno's firing, not one person that I saw raised the question on how the victims might be receiving the news. 

There were of course comments of keeping the victims in our thoughts and prayers, but never an in-depth analysis of what they were seeing and how it made them feel. 

The attorney continues. 

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The way the Board reached its decision raises more concerns than the decision itself. There is no indication the Board considered the impact of the decision on the abuse victims...They see the students reaction to the termination, and to think this does not weigh on their minds would be naive.

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Allow me to offer an obvious statement for what has been an emotional few days. This is a messy situation. 

The university was caught in the most undesirable of choices. They could not have Paterno represent the university or the program in this weekend's game against Nebraska. 

The last thing they wanted was for the first time that Paterno commented on the travesty to be at a post-game conference that is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. 

Nobody wanted Paterno to go out in the way he did, but he simply needed to go, and he needed to go immediately. The fact that the victims would be put through even more pain because of it is gut-wrenching. 

You always look for a silver lining in the most disgusting of circumstances. I fear this is one instance where none exist.