- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Austin Babies
august8080
member
Penn State scandal update: JoePa is retiring
august8080
member
I've already stated my opinion in the other post, so I won't beat a dead horse.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Penn State scandal update: JoePa is retiring
I said it on FB, I'll say it here!
He'll be lucky if he doesn't spend the rest of his life in prison. I am so disgusted.
I know. I would be crushed if we found out the Daddy Mack did the same thing. I do feel bad for the Penn fans.
Wait...I must have missed something. Is he involved too?!?!
"Paterno, according to a grand jury report, had been told in 2002 that Sandusky had been seen doing something of a sexual nature with a young boy in Penn State's locker room. The coach told the university's athletic director about the incident, but apparently did not tell police. Paterno has not been charged with any crime."
He knew and he didn't call the police. And when the AD didn't do anything about it, he didn't do anything, either. He just told the AD and then washed his hands of it.
52 Choices For Better Health
Totally. I understand that he is beloved (to put it mildly) but, morally, totally in the wrong here. He holds as much responsibility as everyone else who knew and didn't call the police.
To play devil's advocate here, I said about the same thing (that JoePa should retire for how he didn't follow through) to my husband and he said that JoePa is being made to look worse than he is because he DID tell officials, he followed school procedure. He was going off hearsay, right? So for him to tell police based on something he was told would not have been so easy, yes? I think the school president and whoever else was in charge who was told about it should be in worse trouble, if they aren't already (I'm not really following the story too closely).
I'm kind of with joyco's DH here. I haven't been following the story that closely either, and his retirement is probably the right course of action here, but try to turn the tables around here.
Say that you're at work one day and your friend, Jane, tells you that she thinks your other coworker, Bob, has been "doing something of a sexual nature with a young boy". You would tell your boss, for sure. Would you call the police and tell them about the office gossip? I dunno. Maybe, but maybe not. I mean, if I had actually seen it, or if I had heard it directly from Bob, then yeah, I would certainly be all up in that business. But if it was the talk at the water cooler, I don't know if I would do much more than report it to someone more senior than me and trust that they investigate it and do whatever they need to do.
But from what I understand, this wasn't "office gossip." It was someone coming to him, saying that they saw something terrible and horrible with their own eyes. I would absolutely go straight to the police if I had a reasonable suspicion that something like this was going on.
I absolutely get this point, I really do. But we're talking about someone suspecting another adult of doing something SEXUAL with a YOUNG BOY. No amount of "I'll let someone else handle this" is okay, IMO. The fact that you're dealing with a minor (in age) victim should require that people are more vigilant in reporting these suspicions to the police.
JoPa needs to get the fuuck out of there now. He's a dirty scum bag.
And I get that too, but whythefuck didn't that student go to the police? I mean, holy crap, why is this all falling on the higher ups when the guy who saw everything could have just gone straight to the police himself and get this right over with back then? KWIM?
Again, I don't know the whole story.
52 Choices For Better Health
Ditto. Word for word.
And, the person who told JoePa didn't just THINK he was doing something inappropriate, he saw it. With his own eyes. And then he went to that person's boss to report it. And that person's boss, who also knew that the kiddie fiddler had easy access to other boys through a charitable organization, mentioned it to his boss and then didn't do anything else.
They are all pieces of chit.
You're right. He is equally as responsible as JoPa. But JoPa is the "face" of the team and therefore will take the brunt of the public lashing. That's why head coaches get paid the big bucks.
The Board of Regents is likely going to "clean house" and fire anyone that had anything to do with the scandal by the time this is all over. I don't think there is any question about that at this point. {Or so says ESPN.}
Yes, there are more people than just JoePa who have committed a moral or legal breach here and certainly when the GA realized that no one else was going to tell the police he should have. Everyone holds responsibility that this sick bastard was allowed to continue for as long as he did.
As the head coach of the program, (or the AD, or the director of finance--all of whom are being roasted in this), you have more responsibility. You have been given such a great deal of power and authority and I hold those people to a higher standard in terms of their behavior.
The whole thing is sick and so disappointing.
That about sums it up on how I feel. It makes me sick to think there are people like this in the world.
*Disclaimer: I fully believe that JoePa, the GA and the two yahoos who were indicted for perjury and failure to report abuse (the AD and the VP) were all morally obligated to do more about what the GA reported seeing in 2002.
HOWEVER. The law is tricky. The reason that JoePa will not be charged with Failure to Report is this Pennsylvania law:
Persons required to report suspected child abuse - 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. ? 6311
which says, in part:
(c) Staff members of institutions, etc.--Whenever a person
is required to report under subsection (b) in the capacity as a
member of the staff of a medical or other public or private
institution, school, facility or agency, that person shall
immediately notify the person in charge of the institution,
school, facility or agency or the designated agent of the person
in charge. Upon notification, the person in charge or the
designated agent, if any, shall assume the responsibility and
have the legal obligation to report or cause a report to be made
in accordance with section 6313. This chapter does not require
more than one report from any such institution, school, facility
or agency.
JoePa did his legal duty under this statute by reporting it to his higher ups, and one of the heads of the institution. In fact, this law is listed in PA Code under "Domestic Relations", which it could be argued are not at play here: the alleged victim and assailant are not relatives, therefore this is not a domestic relation, and the legal duty to report is not required. But that's neither here nor there.
Additionally, the AD and VP will likely have the Fail to Report charge dropped, because as this article points out, the PA law in 2002 offers a loophole, in which only staff members who are in direct contact with the alleged victim are required to report suspected abuse under this statute. The law was broadened in 2006.
Lastly, the Fail to Report charges are misdemeanors, which carry a statute of limitations in PA of 2 years. This means that if more than 2 years has lapsed between when the offense allegedly occured and the investigation revealed probable cause that they committed the offense, they can't be charged. So, I don't really see how any of them will legally be held accountable for not reporting this.
Which is a godda** travesty, in my opinion. The whole thing makes me sick.
When 3 Became 4
I would argue that the SOL starts not from the date of the offense that wasn't reported, but from the date of the actual non-reporting, which was ongoing. I would find caselaw to support my argument. And then I would argue the hell out of it.
Yea I don't feel sorry for Paterno. He's scum.
And, to me, this is beyond office gossip. Office gossip is "so and so likes to frequent stip clubs" or "joe and jackie are shacking up in the supply closet on fridays" or "guess which unmarried co-worker is pg" office gossip is not "I think there was a 10yo boy raped in the locker room"
And I have a real issue w/ that grad assistant. Saw a young boy being raped with his own two eyes and didn't do anything to stop it right then and there? He had to run to his office and call his daddy to ask what to do? Please. Makes me sick.
52 Choices For Better Health
Ok, yeah I thought of that as I was posting but was in a rush to pick up DS so didn't have time to fully ponder it and form the argument but I agree with you. I figured there had to be a reason the State felt they could bring that charge to begin with and it had something to do with an ongoing failure to report. So strike that part of my post!
When 3 Became 4
Huge Ditto... every word.
The O'Baby Blog