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Should Dorothy Sandusky Be Charged With a Crime?

Should Dorothy Sandusky Be Charged With a Crime?

  • Total voters
    13
misterman said:
Wow. So if you're being stabbed to death and someone walks right by, you're okay with that?
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They are not inclined to help me, as I am not them. Morally speaking they should, but we are not talking about that.
 
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Did you not notice the two guys at Penn State who were charged with exactly that crime, of not reporting it? Yes, it clearly is a legal requirement in PA.
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The difference (and it is a big difference) is that the school officials are mandatory reporters, required to report crimes of abuse and neglect under penalty of criminal punishment should they not do so. I am a mandatory reporter in my state because of my job, but not everyone is subject to those same criminal penalties. Additionally, these school officials were less than candid with the grand jury (according to their original presentment) and were charged in accusation of this violation of the mandatory reporting law. And at least one of the two admitted to having received the reports of abuse- which is almost a self-indictment.

An entirely different issue than trying to determine what Ms. Sandusky knew or did not know about her husband's activities.
 
Henrin said:
She didn't help facilitate anything here. She wasn't involved in the crime. She didn't hold them down, she didn't join in, or really anything else that could qualify. She just didn't report the crime. I do not really believe in laws about abetting unless they are actively taking part in rights of another being violated. A driver doesn't really do that.
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she's slime, however. there is no way she didn't know what her husband was about. she will be ostracized by her community and rightly so.
 
Henrin said:
So what you are saying is you are OK with punishing inaction. The government can want me to do something all they want but I'm not inclined to do anything. It is a clear violation of my rights and liberty and I will not obey it.
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Oh, stop. You don't have a right to do nothing. That's like saying you have a right not to move out of the way in your car when a police car with sirens blaring comes your way. Or not pay your taxes. Sorry, but the law says you must do certain things as well as saying you must not.
 
Henrin said:
They are not inclined to help me, as I am not them. Morally speaking they should, but we are not talking about that.
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As long as we understand what we're talking about.
 
misterman said:
Oh, stop. You don't have a right to do nothing.
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I have the right to do nothing. I can sit here all day long, and for the rest of my life and do nothing. I will die since,well, I am not getting up to eat, but all in all, I have the right to do nothing.

That's like saying you have a right not to move out of the way in your car when a police car with sirens blaring comes your way.
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I do.

Or not pay your taxes. Sorry, but the law says you must do certain things as well as saying you must not.
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I find them coming to my door and saying to me in plain English that they have a right to my property and spend it in ways I disagree with a violation of liberty. They should offer me a service in exchange for my taxes, or get lost. I will agree with a whole line of things to accomplish this, but taxes as it stands is unjust.
 
Henrin said:
I have the right to do nothing. I can sit here all day long, and for the rest of my life and do nothing. I will die since,well, I am not getting up to eat, but all in all, I have the right to do nothing.
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False.

Good luck in court though. Bet the IRS will be the first ones who challenge your right to do nothing.

I do.
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:lol: Give it up, dude.
 
kamikaze483 said:
In most states, certain people in certain professions are mandated reporters of abuse. The collegiate staff was legally bound to make the reports under PA law. But Ms. Sandusky is not, which would almost certainly clear her of any criminal wrongdoing, unless of course it can be shown (with evidence, not with speculation) that she participated in or materially supported Sandusky as he (allegedly) committed felony crimes. There is not provision in the laws of my state to criminally prosecute a person for passive knowledge of the commission of a crime without having reported it. There are, however, civil penalties which could be brought by the victims. Civil law is different because the burden of proof by a "preponderence of the evidence," rather than "beyond a reasonable doubt.

Even then, the plaintiff would have to prove that she heard the screaming, which I doubt they can do. The argument that "it seems unlikely that she didn't hear him" would not hold up in any court. It would have to be demonstrated that either she DID hear him, by witness testimony or her own admission, or that it would be impossible for her NOT to have heard him, which could be demonstrated by physical evidence.
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I agree with this. There would/should still be the legitimate burden of proof.


Henrin said:
So what you are saying is you are OK with punishing inaction. The government can want me to do something all they want but I'm not inclined to do anything. It is a clear violation of my rights and liberty and I will not obey it.
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That's where we differ. If it happens in her house, while she is there, with her knowledge, then there is no "inaction" at all. It may be a passive action, but it is an action nonetheless. She made a conscious choice (read: action) to at least allow it to happen in a place that is as much within her control as well as it is his.
 
liblady said:
she's slime, however. there is no way she didn't know what her husband was about. she will be ostracized by her community and rightly so.
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You might know more than I do here, but how are you so certain she knew? We hear news stories all the time regarding spouses who are surprised to find out that their partner has a weird perversion, a double life, a deep dark secret. We have one victim who says he shouted for help when she was in the home. We can only assume she heard him unless other information is released to show differently.

As I said before, if they can find evidence to show she knew/witnessed/was told and failed to do anything about it then I fully support any legal action that the DA takes. If they can't, however, without any other information it's very possible she never knew until the news broke on this whole thing.
 
misterman said:
False.

Good luck in court though. Bet the IRS will be the first ones who challenge your right to do nothing.
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I never said it was protected.



:lol: Give it up, dude.
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Again, I never said it was protected.
 
tessaesque said:
You might know more than I do here, but how are you so certain she knew? We hear news stories all the time regarding spouses who are surprised to find out that their partner has a weird perversion, a double life, a deep dark secret. We have one victim who says he shouted for help when she was in the home. We can only assume she heard him unless other information is released to show differently.

As I said before, if they can find evidence to show she knew/witnessed/was told and failed to do anything about it then I fully support any legal action that the DA takes. If they can't, however, without any other information it's very possible she never knew until the news broke on this whole thing.
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Yeah, I'm not really understanding the certainty people have about this. It's often the case with people who commit such heinous crimes that they lead a double life that their loved one's are unaware of, particularly since most of us cannot even imagine that our loved ones would do something as horrific as what Sandusky did (allegedly as I guess I should say), so it's not hard to imagine that she wouldn't have known.

As to the specific situation - her hearing a kid calling for help - there are certainly places in my house where someone could scream and I wouldn't hear. I think people are just so horrified by this entire situation that they're just starting to assume every possible horror they believe is true.

Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, not even the accuser said that Mrs. Sandusky heard him. He just said she was in the house.
 
Henrin said:
I never said it was protected.
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But you'd say it should be in court, wouldn't you?

Again, I never said it was protected.
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You do not have a moral or human right not to get out of the way of the cops either. There.
 
misterman said:
But you'd say it should be in court, wouldn't you?
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Why would I say such a thing?

You do not have a moral or human right not to get out of the way of the cops either. There.
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I do. If someone wants me to move and I say no, that is my right. They have the right to ask and I have the right to say no, but neither of us has a right to force an action on the other.
 
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earthworm said:
Well, I'm glad you straightened this out...
And would you have this woman fry in hell ?? for her inaction ...
CrossCheck, you are much younger than I...
I remember when these abuses whhere commonplace ,yet not reported...due to ignorance and fear.
Most of us have improved over the years, other are slow to catch on.
This includes Paterno and Sandusky's wife....and all of us !
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Oh my goodness no, not fry in hell. Heck, they should have her and Jerry be the grand marshalls in the Rose Bowl Parade.

She protected him then and is still out there trying to protect him saying all these kids and the assistant coach are making this up.

It just amazes me how all these people whom many are unknown to each other have gotten together to bring this plan to burn Sandusky.

She won't be indicted and I think she will be punished enough living with the fact that lived with a man who has injured many young lives.
 
Maybe.

Marital Privelege applies here, so nothing she says against him or he says against her can be used as evidence.

I suspect she is not innocent. One does not live for decades with a man who molests children in one's own home without a clue as to what has been happening. However, there has to be significant evidence found outside the Sandusky's themselves to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew what was happening, failed to stop what was happening, and failed to report what was happening.

As a legal standard, that's a steep hill to climb... BUT it's not insurmountable. If the evidence is there, she should be arrested and charged.
 
Kali said:
She is speaking out and of course claiming innocence and denying the basement thing. As if she would admit it:roll:

U.S. News - Sandusky's wife: 'I continue to believe in Jerry's innocence'

From part of her statement:
I have been shocked and dismayed by the allegations made against Jerry, particularly the most recent one that a now young man has said he was kept in our basement during visits and screamed for help as Jerry assaulted him while I was in our home and didn’t respond to his cries for help.

As the mother of six children, I have been devastated by these accusations. I am also angry about these false accusations that such a terrible incident ever occurred in my home. No child who ever visited our home was ever forced to stay in our basement and fed there. All the kids who visited us ate with us and our kids and other guests when they were at our home. Our children, our extended family and friends know how much Jerry and I love kids and have always tried to help and care for them. We would never do anything to hurt them. I am so sad anyone would make such a terrible accusation which is absolutely untrue. We don’t know why these young men have made these false accusations, but we want everyone to know they are untrue.
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There is, or was, a thing in America:
Innocent until proved guilty
These accusers had best have concrete evidence.
Medical evidence, or perhaps the sheer number of accusers.
This must be done very carefully.
 
I would think ,prior to charging the wife with a crime, the activities of the husband have to be proven as criminal...

if his action are found to be legal, then she committed no crime, obviously.
 
nota bene said:
Maybe the basement was soundproofed?
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As lame as lame can be !
Lest we forget, the slaves screamed just 150 years ago; man simply does not change that fast!
And what good will it do to crucify Mrs Sandusky ?
 
Crosscheck said:
Oh my goodness no, not fry in hell. Heck, they should have her and Jerry be the grand marshalls in the Rose Bowl Parade.

She protected him then and is still out there trying to protect him saying all these kids and the assistant coach are making this up.

It just amazes me how all these people whom many are unknown to each other have gotten together to bring this plan to burn Sandusky.

She won't be indicted and I think she will be punished enough living with the fact that lived with a man who has injured many young lives.
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Sir, I suspect that you misunderstand my stance.
I feel that being a hard-arse on criminals works NOT....Being tough on crime, this may be effective...
Those, once injured young men - how do they feel about things ?
Given a face to face with the Sanduskys, what would happen ?
This would be most interesting......
Would love or hate ensue ?
If me ?
pity
Incarceration improves the criminal - makes him a better criminal, so this is out.
If, in fact, these people did commit crimes, and I think that they did, the problem is to convince them that they did..
This seems to be impossible...
Fine and shame the hell out of them ?
maybe ...
 
Henrin said:
Why would I say such a thing?
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You, say, get arrested for not moving out of the way of a cop car with sirens on.

I do. If someone wants me to move and I say no, that is my right. They have the right to ask and I have the right to say no, but neither of us has a right to force an action on the other.
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Nope. Try it and see.
 
Kali said:
Do you feel that Jerry Sandusky's wife should be charged with a crime? More and more is coming out and in this latest arrest the victim says she was home and his screams for help went unanswered. It is pretty clear she overlooked a lot of things.
:(

U.S. News - Sandusky rearrested in Pennsylvania
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I do NOT understand women who stand by while their husbands abuse others.

Not saying that happened here, just making a general statement.
 
Of course. People are equally responsible for what they don't do. Mrs. Sandusky was aware that her husband was victimizing children, over an extended period of time, and did absolutely nothing to intervene. By her inaction, she became an accomplice.
 
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