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Joe Paterno knew about the abuse in 1976

BigBlueDownTheShore : 5/5/2016 8:06 pm
God what's wrong with people.
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Did Paterno know?  
Bramton1 : 5/5/2016 10:38 pm : link
It's a large range of people. For some, he definitely knew, and nothing short of time travel will prove otherwise. For others, he probably knew. But others, nothing short of a smoking gun will make them believe he knew.

The first and third group are based on irrational pure emotion. These people tend to argue that as a man of his stature, he had his hands in everything (amusing enough, these are the same people who said he was nothing more than a figurehead before all this went down).There's not enough evidence to say definitively, but there is enough to have a reasonable doubt that he was oblivious to it all.
RE: that program should have gotten the death penalty  
Boy Cord : 5/5/2016 11:09 pm : link
In comment 12947270 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
it's a sick cult from top to bottom.


Could not agree more.
....  
yankees78 : 5/5/2016 11:12 pm : link
awful
Paterno is a piece of shit  
OBJ_AllDay : 5/5/2016 11:16 pm : link
Nobody can defend any of the assholes that were linked to this man. Not even his wife is without blame in all of this. There had to be signs. What a sick group of people. The scarier thing is this goes on far more than we hear about. Anyone ever read about the Franklin Scandal? Child sex abuse seems to be prominent in political circles as well. Sickening some of the names that have been linked to this type of behavior.
...  
bceagle05 : 5/5/2016 11:18 pm : link
Quote:
According to the Freeh Report, in e-mails from February 2001—after Mike McQueary reported witnessing Sandusky rape a small child in Penn State's Football Program's Lasch building—President Spanier, Vice President Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley decided to confront Sandusky, alert Sandusky's charity/victim breeding ground The Second Mile and, most importantly, contact the Department of Welfare.

That plan changed only after Curley had a little chinwag with coach Joe Paterno.

In an e-mail to Spanier and Schultz Curley writes, "After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps."

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I would not be in favor of shutting the program down....  
EricJ : 5/5/2016 11:28 pm : link
simply because you are then punishing the kids who are there now. What I WOULD do is remove, prosecute, and punish ANYONE who was involved with this going back as far as the 70's. IF anyone still is employed by the University... they should be fired and replaced... then let the program go on.
I know NOTHING about Penn State ...  
Manny in CA : 5/6/2016 12:02 am : link
But I've never heard "college station" in reference to that university (I've heard "State College")

I am familiar with "college station" in reference to Texas A&M.
Wasn't Joe PA the same guy who chased down some kid speeding on campus  
Optimus-NY : 5/6/2016 3:49 am : link
going a couple of miles above the 10 MPH sped limit, or something? LOL & SMFH!
Should have shut down the entire university  
Go Terps : 5/6/2016 3:59 am : link
Institutionally covered up child rape is as bad as it gets. Penn State can go fuck itself. And the Catholic church can follow it.

Scumbags.
Here's the logic test Penn State folks fail.  
FStubbs : 5/6/2016 6:31 am : link
If Paterno really was completely and totally unaware of what Sandusky was doing (ROTFLMAO but okay ...)

That is the textbook definition of "Complete lack of institutional control". That in itself merits the Death Penalty.

Penn State and the NCAA are both corrupt.
RE: Should have shut down the entire university  
Giants2012 : 5/6/2016 8:45 am : link
In comment 12947574 Go Terps said:
Quote:
Institutionally covered up child rape is as bad as it gets. Penn State can go fuck itself. And the Catholic church can follow it.

Scumbags.


I'm glad somebody brought up the Catholic Church. I'm just amazed how many predators are out there. Just stunned.
RE: RE: Should have shut down the entire university  
Sec 103 : 5/6/2016 9:05 am : link
In comment 12947704 Giants2012 said:
Quote:
In comment 12947574 Go Terps said:


Quote:


Institutionally covered up child rape is as bad as it gets. Penn State can go fuck itself. And the Catholic church can follow it.

Scumbags.



I'm glad somebody brought up the Catholic Church. I'm just amazed how many predators are out there. Just stunned.

The abuse of young boys and girls dates back to the Greeks and Romans... The Church (all of them) are covered with pedophiles and sickos. But the tolerance to not immediately punish severely (read brutal) the known people is what makes me even more enraged.
I don't know about that far..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/6/2016 9:09 am : link
Quote:
Should have shut down the entire university
Go Terps : 3:59 am : link : reply
Institutionally covered up child rape is as bad as it gets. Penn State can go fuck itself


But they should have shut down the football program. How could what SMU or USF basketball have done that was worse than giving a child molester free reign?

Hell, the PSU punishment isn't too much more severe than what Syracuse basketball got.
USC was hit harder because agents gave Bush's parents a house  
Greg from LI : 5/6/2016 9:17 am : link
Chew on that for a while.
The NCAA is a joke, but that's not news  
Go Terps : 5/6/2016 9:27 am : link
The Penn State thing is about more than the football program. There's something fundamentally fucked up about all the people that came out in support of Paterno and the school (I know several in my own network of family and friends). Those people needed to be delivered a message by someone bigger than the NCAA.

Penn State could have lost football, but so what? It's a fucking football program. Big deal.

The school itself fosters some kind of odd culture that shouldn't be around kids that are supposed to be educated by this publicly funded university. They deemed football more important than an immediate no stone unturned investigation into a rapist. And more kids were raped as a direct result of that negligence.

Fuck that entire school and anyone that would choose to involve themselves with it.

A rapist. For a football program.
Terps, it really is a cult  
Greg from LI : 5/6/2016 9:32 am : link
They venerate their god-king to the extent that they will jam their fingers in their ears and scream "I'm not listening" over and over again rather than even begin to face what their beloved program did.

I've said it before, I'll say it again - if UVA had done what Penn State did, you would never hear another peep out of me about the Wahoos. I'd be ashamed to admit that I ever went there.
RE: RE: RE: Should have shut down the entire university  
Giants2012 : 5/6/2016 9:33 am : link
In comment 12947732 Sec 103 said:
Quote:
In comment 12947704 Giants2012 said:


Quote:


In comment 12947574 Go Terps said:


Quote:


Institutionally covered up child rape is as bad as it gets. Penn State can go fuck itself. And the Catholic church can follow it.

Scumbags.



I'm glad somebody brought up the Catholic Church. I'm just amazed how many predators are out there. Just stunned.


The abuse of young boys and girls dates back to the Greeks and Romans... The Church (all of them) are covered with pedophiles and sickos. But the tolerance to not immediately punish severely (read brutal) the known people is what makes me even more enraged.


Admittedly, i was ignorant about the topic until I started watching SVU many years ago. I started researching the topic and have been, i can't even put into words, how many predators, traffic, etc there is.
They should've gotten the death penalty  
Bobby Humphrey's Earpad : 5/6/2016 9:38 am : link
but that would've essentially killed the university and the NCAA was never going to do it.

The fact they got their scholarships back was garbage enough.
At a place like Penn State, shutting down....  
Crispino : 5/6/2016 9:41 am : link
the football program would cripple the university. Thousands of jobs lost, huge impact of the state budget, lost opportunities for kids. A whole litany of unintended bad consequences would ensue. So, while it may sound like an obvious solution to just shut it down, I don't think it's that simple or prudent in the long run.
You shut down the football program..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/6/2016 9:46 am : link
and send the message that no institution is above ruining a bunch of kid's lives.

I never really got too invested in what happened there, but it was absolutely disgusting the number of people who actively went to bat for the football program. It was a program that not only had a serial molester on staff, it kept him employed with access to kids.

Losing football wouldn't have shuttered the school. It is a state university with 15 campuses and a decent academic reputation. They'd find a way to survive - and maybe even learn for the future.
RE: At a place like Penn State, shutting down....  
Giants2012 : 5/6/2016 9:51 am : link
In comment 12947807 Crispino said:
Quote:
the football program would cripple the university. Thousands of jobs lost, huge impact of the state budget, lost opportunities for kids. A whole litany of unintended bad consequences would ensue. So, while it may sound like an obvious solution to just shut it down, I don't think it's that simple or prudent in the long run.


Agreed. I think many just want the criminal activity to end. Would a sacrificial lamb send a message to the rest to speak up or suffer the same consequences?
I don't think..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/6/2016 9:54 am : link
it is a sacrificial lamb to punish a program that knowingly kept a sex offender on staff and allowed him access to children. This isn't accepting bribes or paying players. This isn't even a point shaving scandal. This is something that literally has impacted kids for the rest of their lives.

Not sure how those trangressions can't end up with the death penalty, but paying players with fake jobs can.
The cult surrounding the program is what allowed Sandusky's evil to  
Greg from LI : 5/6/2016 9:57 am : link
thrive for so long. Football and Paterno uber alles. If it meant sweeping child abuse under the rug to protect the program then, by god, that's what they would do.

Putting the program in a deep freeze for five years might have taught those sick bastards some perspective.
I just realized..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/6/2016 10:02 am : link
McAdoo went to Penn State, didn't he?
no, Indiana University of Pennsylvania  
Greg from LI : 5/6/2016 10:04 am : link
.
Which is..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/6/2016 10:06 am : link
a State University of Pennsylvania school

The system will survive if PSU was given the death penalty is what I was fishing for!
RE: I don't think..  
Giants2012 : 5/6/2016 10:07 am : link
In comment 12947846 FatMan in Charlotte said:
Quote:
it is a sacrificial lamb to punish a program that knowingly kept a sex offender on staff and allowed him access to children. This isn't accepting bribes or paying players. This isn't even a point shaving scandal. This is something that literally has impacted kids for the rest of their lives.

Not sure how those trangressions can't end up with the death penalty, but paying players with fake jobs can.


I know, if the answer was that easy we could have abolished this type of activity long ago. I'm amazed how broad the problem is. Heck, i try to stay in shape just for my kids. I have family but mortified if my kids ever went to an orphanage, etc. i have keep an eye on their video games and the internet b/c i don't know who is lurking.



Scratch that..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/6/2016 10:09 am : link
I'm wrong. The Penn State schools are Commonwealth ones and cover the campuses for Agriculture, Business, etc.

Man I'm wrong a lot lately. I must be getting into BB'56 and dorgan territory.....
Please Crispino  
joeinpa : 5/6/2016 10:09 am : link
stop making sense, from the tone of these posts, no one is interested in common sense.

Unlike the mob, I do not know what or when Joe Paterno knew what. I do know, that for those so inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, some evidence was put forward to put at least some doubt on his involvement.

However, when good people, who happened to be Penn State grads, of which I am not, were not in a rush to judge him, presented some of these arguments, people like those on this thread, screamed "cult" and shouted them down.

I would suggest if anyone is acting unreasonably, it is those who would not even allow defenders of Paterno to raise these doubts, but would immediately accept that an insurance company coming up with support showing Paterno did know about the abuse, in an attempt to save 60 million dollars is a fact............. are acting people who would destroy innocent people in the name of justice.

They are carpet bombers.

Now I will sit back and watch as they will scream me down, call me names......and show their ignorance in the process.
Yes, the good old days  
RB^2 : 5/6/2016 10:20 am : link
of the 50s, 60s and 70s when people didn't "use the F word". Nothing this terrible could have ever happened then. Sure, there was institutional discrimination against black people, gay people, women, etc. but men committing crimes they've been committing for thousands of years? No, never.

I think I prefer today's potty-mouthed, girls gone wild, twitterific, etc. world. If that's the price of the transparency that helped to expose and subsequently bury much of the bullshit that passed for self-evident in the past, then it's well worth it.
RE: I'm gonna probably get roasted for this  
shabu : 5/6/2016 10:28 am : link
In comment 12947394 grizz299 said:
Quote:
But I know several people who knew Joe. I am 75 and he was older. I suspect this is hard for many of you to understand, but in the world that we grew up in the illusion was that this didn't happen. This was a world where the F word wasn't spoken. If we heard about things like that it was in another world and it's hard to imagine a football type doing anything so hideous. Maybe the Nazi's but not a red blooded American.
Mock me all you want but Joe was a good ten years older and I think he just couldn't believe it. And I think if he had he would have done something. The demonizing that's going on here and the assumption that any decent man wouldn't have done something seems excessive.
If it can be proved that he know and did nothing to protect his program then I'll light the torches, but until then I simply choose not to believe.


I believe this. I am from Connecticut and brought up Roman Catholic my greater family ( cousins etc ) were always tight with the Church and 2 of my cousins were messed around with by Priests...

Talking to my parents and a couple other relatives about it, they all said the same thing...

It was so hard to believe it was true... no one in the family would believe it.
I'm all for not jumping to conclusions  
RB^2 : 5/6/2016 10:31 am : link
and letting things play out but I think suggesting that the insurance company committed perjury is a far bigger reach than suggesting Paterno knew longer than previously though given everything we know to date.

It's borderline tinfoil-hattish in its own right. $60 million (less whatever reinsurance or other risk mitigation they have in place) is a lot to pay out but it's nowhere near as damaging as committing perjury - a criminal act - would be. If they put that forward, you can bet it's legit.
The cultists...  
Dunedin81 : 5/6/2016 10:33 am : link
and even the non-malignant ones who argue "we can't impose the death penalty because it would impact jobs" ignore the central point of this whole tragedy, which is that it was swept under the rug for precisely this reason, because football was too big, too important, too economically significant to prioritize what should have been prioritized. It's an educational institution and football is a game.

Now if JoePa knew this in '76 it goes way beyond sparing the football program embarrassment. Even firing him without explaining why, just seven or so years into his time with the University, would not have crippled either the program or the football team. It might have allowed this to keep going on, at another college or a high school or wherever he could have gotten a job, but to provide him a quarter-century or more of opportunity to molest kids is something else entirely.
Don't have  
ryanmkeane : 5/6/2016 10:35 am : link
anything for or against Penn State - but if this "news" was really the reason that finally got people to realize that Paterno knew, you really have to be kidding yourself. The guy ran that city for 50 years. He knew everything.

So while it's nice to "think of the old days" and say things like "it was a different time back then..." it's complete and utter bullshit. The guy knew about a sexual predator preying on young boys for 30+ years, and didn't utter a peep about it. What else is there to say?
I grew up in the Catholic Church, too  
RB^2 : 5/6/2016 10:37 am : link
And I never directly experienced, saw or heard of anything related to sexual abuse. In Catholic school, I and my peers used to spend a lot of time alone with our priests and there was never anything inappropriate, none of my fellow altar boys ever seemed weird or anything like that. It was overall a pretty positive experience.

It was a massive shock to me, too, when all the revelations came out. It still is but you have to go where the evidence leads you.
RE: Please Crispino  
ryanmkeane : 5/6/2016 10:39 am : link
In comment 12947889 joeinpa said:
Quote:
stop making sense, from the tone of these posts, no one is interested in common sense.

Unlike the mob, I do not know what or when Joe Paterno knew what.

Haha. "Look, maybe he did know, maybe he didn't...we'll never know..."

Please, spare us.
Paterno was a scumbag  
Go Terps : 5/6/2016 10:39 am : link
This is not the kind of situation where you say, "That kind of thing doesn't happen here" and keep it under wraps. Those kids needed someone to stand for them and this supposed leader of young men was more concerned with his legacy.

Fuck Joe Paterno and his family.
we all know paterno knew  
YorkAveGiant : 5/6/2016 10:41 am : link
and helped orchestrate the cover up and the cover up of the cover up. now the time frame gets pushed back even further.

color me not surprised.

paterno's seat in hell just got lower and warmer, but who really cares?? wish he was still alive so we could do something about it...
It's all great and stuff  
ryanmkeane : 5/6/2016 10:41 am : link
that Paterno is a legend there. But, as it turns out he covered up a massive child rapist. Not sure what else needs to be said.
RE: no, Indiana University of Pennsylvania  
Big Blue '56 : 5/6/2016 10:41 am : link
In comment 12947873 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
.


Never, ever heard of that school..Is that like New York University in Texas?
McQueary is a piece of shit too  
Greg from LI : 5/6/2016 10:43 am : link
How can you see that happening with your own eyes, and just turn and walk away? And then, instead of calling the police, you go talk it over with your dad and then Joe Paterno?
Joeinpa  
ryanmkeane : 5/6/2016 10:43 am : link
you have every right to your opinion but those that continue to defend or "wait until all the facts come out" are going to look even dumber, when more facts actually start coming out. I'd start to pump the brakes a little bit.
Let's deal in facts and give Joe Paterno  
Rob in CT/NYC : 5/6/2016 10:45 am : link
the benefit of the doubt.

Let's believe that he knew nothing of the 1998 investigation (Sandusky retired in 1999, and let's assume that was a happy coincidence).

Let's assume that he doesn't hear of the 2000 incident involving the custodian catching Sandusky with a young boy.

Without question, he is made aware in 2002 by McQueary. No report is made to the state police or any child protective agency. Sandusky loses his keys to the PSU facilities. Sandusky's charity is informed.

The investigation into Sandusky begins in '09 and charges filed in '11.

Also note that Paterno was business partners with several board members of the Second Mile charity, engaging in real estate development projects between '02 and '09.

At a minimum, starting in 2002, Joe Paterno displayed one or more of the following:

1. Mind-numbing ignorance
2. Indifference to a predator
3. Greed
4. Conspiracy

Bottom line, there is no good outcome for Joe Paterno who even admitted as he was dying from cancer that he wished he had done more.





It's commonly referred to as IUP  
Greg from LI : 5/6/2016 10:45 am : link
Name comes from being located in Indiana County, PA.

There is also a California University of Pennsylvania
The best is when  
ryanmkeane : 5/6/2016 10:47 am : link
PSU fans or grads from PSU actually get mad when people talk bad about Paterno. As Andy Dufresne once famously said, can you be any more obtuse?
ryann  
joeinpa : 5/6/2016 11:02 am : link
I don't have an opinion, as stated I don't know what he knew or didn't know, or when.

If you are correct, and more and more evidence comes out that he knew of the atrocities of Sandusky, and did nothing......you will never again here me offer any suggestion in defense of him.

As to the older poster who shared that at that age the thought of what Sandusky did was inconceivable: My dad was 87 years old when he died, Italian like Paterno.....I know there is some truth in what the poster suggested, at least where my dad was concerned.,

The act of raping a child, of the same sex, did not compute. Anyone can mock this idea all they want, but this was a great generation, my dad's life is an incredible story, from poverty, WWII, to huge success in his life....they saw the world differently, some things were taboo to even speak of. It's just the way it was.

Ryann I don't know if your post was sincere or condescending, I am a grown man, successful in my own life. I am educated, deal with many people, and am well respected in my community and in my profession. It is not lightly that I make statements about sensitive issues such as the Penn State Scandal.

But in my world people do not speak with the crassness and ignorance that you see so often on BBI. I believe my point wasn't so much in defense of Paterno as it was a condemnation of the mob mentality often seen on this site.

But thanks for your words of caution.
, I think.
See, this statement right here  
B in ALB : 5/6/2016 11:12 am : link
epitomizes the complete lack of clarity that runs rampant throughout the Penn State cult:

"Unlike the mob, I do not know what or when Joe Paterno knew what. I do know, that for those so inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, some evidence was put forward to put at least some doubt on his involvement."

Bullshit. He knew and did nothing about it. Nothing. How long he knew - and if the latest reports are true - is the question and it could have been DECADES.

Instead of "giving him the benefit of the doubt" - which is completely ridiculous considering that all of this happened on his watch and he had knowledge of Sandusky's actions - you should be pissed off that your hero basically allowed this to happen ruining the lives of dozens of young people and families.

Shame on you for deciding to wear blinders where you see fit as long as it benefits your beloved Penn State. Shame on you.
joeinpa  
Rob in CT/NYC : 5/6/2016 11:16 am : link
At best, and by his own words, Paterno knew in 2002.

He knew, did the minimum, never followed up and never asked a question and for 7 years boys lives were destroyed.

That is the absolute best case you make for Joe Paterno.
RE: ryann  
ryanmkeane : 5/6/2016 11:21 am : link
In comment 12948010 joeinpa said:
Quote:
I don't have an opinion, as stated I don't know what he knew or didn't know, or when.

If you are correct, and more and more evidence comes out that he knew of the atrocities of Sandusky, and did nothing......you will never again here me offer any suggestion in defense of him.

As to the older poster who shared that at that age the thought of what Sandusky did was inconceivable: My dad was 87 years old when he died, Italian like Paterno.....I know there is some truth in what the poster suggested, at least where my dad was concerned.,

The act of raping a child, of the same sex, did not compute. Anyone can mock this idea all they want, but this was a great generation, my dad's life is an incredible story, from poverty, WWII, to huge success in his life....they saw the world differently, some things were taboo to even speak of. It's just the way it was.

Ryann I don't know if your post was sincere or condescending, I am a grown man, successful in my own life. I am educated, deal with many people, and am well respected in my community and in my profession. It is not lightly that I make statements about sensitive issues such as the Penn State Scandal.

But in my world people do not speak with the crassness and ignorance that you see so often on BBI. I believe my point wasn't so much in defense of Paterno as it was a condemnation of the mob mentality often seen on this site.

But thanks for your words of caution.
, I think.

Joe I apppreciate your post, I understand your position.

But you being a nice guy, educated, and by all means well respected in your community, has absolutely zero to do with the fact that Joe Paterno protected a child rapist for many many years. While I appreciate your words and I'm not sure how they are relevant.

My post wasn't meant to be condescending. If me saying that people are basically too embarrassed or blind or stupid to realize the situation at hand is condescending to you, then so be it. I understand that.
Yeah it's shocking that there's no consensus  
bceagle05 : 5/6/2016 11:23 am : link
on what a scumbag Paterno turned out to be. How much evidence do you need? It's indisputable that he knew enough to notify his "superiors" and never follow up on it, while allowing a predator to roam free on his campus. He also squelched the administration's plan to notify the Department of Welfare and the head of Sandusky's charity - actions that would've blown the lid off the whole thing. All to protect a college football program at the expense of innocent kids.
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