• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Joe Paterno influenced Penn State officials to keep quiet about Jerry Sandusky, ...

Somerville

DP Veteran
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
17,822
Reaction score
8,296
Location
On an island. Not that one!
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Socialist
Apparently the widely-revered coach cared more about his personal record and the potential fiscal losses than the abuse of children by one of his assistants

Joe Paterno influenced Penn State officials to keep quiet about Jerry Sandusky, emails reveal

Newly uncovered emails in the Jerry Sandusky case show that Penn State officials were on the verge of blowing the whistle on him -- but changed their minds after talking to coach Joe Paterno.

The missives, obtained by CNN, seemingly contradict the late Paterno's claim that he alerted higher-ups to a report of Sandusky showering with a boy and had nothing to do with the matter after that.

USAToday
In one e-mail, (Penn State President Graham) Spanier allegedly acknowledges Penn State could be "vulnerable" for not reporting the incident. "The only downside for us is if the message (to Sandusky) isn't 'heard' and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it," Spanier allegedly writes.

FoxNews.com
The emails show athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz intended to report the allegation, then reconsidered. Spanier responded that he was "supportive" of their plan, but he worried they might "become vulnerable for not having reported it."

The timing of their change in plans -- coming after Curley's discussion with Paterno -- raises questions about whether the coach was more involved than he said in the decision.

An Atlantic magazine article published last October sums up the reasons why Penn State kept silent about the abuses inflicted by one of its coaches
“I’m not hiding,” Sonny Vaccaro told a closed hearing at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 2001. “We want to put our materials on the bodies of your athletes, and the best way to do that is buy your school. Or buy your coach.”

“Why,” asked Bryce Jordan, the president emeritus of Penn State, “should a university be an advertising medium for your industry?”

Vaccaro did not blink. “They shouldn’t, sir,” he replied. “You sold your souls, and you’re going to continue selling them. You can be very moral and righteous in asking me that question, sir,” Vaccaro added with irrepressible good cheer, “but there’s not one of you in this room that’s going to turn down any of our money. You’re going to take it. I can only offer it.”
 
Re: Joe Paterno influenced Penn State officials to keep quiet about Jerry Sandusky, .

anyone, ANYONE, who tried to keep these child-abuse allegations from the police, or didn't report something that they saw involving child sex-abuse, commited a crime. A horrible one.
 
Re: Joe Paterno influenced Penn State officials to keep quiet about Jerry Sandusky, .

Same thing as the Catholic church, protect the institution at all cost, very sad.


and as a consequence, once the information gets out, those who thought they were protecting their institution will have done far worse damage than those who tried to tell the story in the first place.
 
Re: Joe Paterno influenced Penn State officials to keep quiet about Jerry Sandusky, .

The whole thing is really sad and keeps getting worse. Those emails are yet another smoking gun and completely implicate the higher ups. They'll probably be sued to oblivion, though their defense will be along the lines of "I was following orders." The mere fact that Paterno was above the college admins is enough to shut down their football program in my view. They need to get the insane amount of $ out of college athletics and put an age limit on coaching so they don't become demigods. Yeah, it's identical to the catholic church even up to blaming the kids, because football is their religion and Paterno is their deity.

That statue is still there and they want to name the stadium after the child rape enabler? WTF is wrong with them?? From what I hear basically the whole state of PA is convinced Paterno was the victim, not that it's saying much since the whole stadium completely fawned over Sandusky in his last game. We need to stop elevating living humans to some mythical status, based on public personas that very often bears little in common with their private lives. Paterno personally shielded his players from prosecution for years, bullying the DA into submission. He acted like a mob boss even apart from this tragic saga, and who knows what happened to the DA that went missing.

It went way beyond a cover up when they allowed this monster to keep the locker room keys and bring his victims to road trips at the team hotel, get them autographs etc. That makes Paterno et al complicit. Sandusky was even recruiting defensive players for them recently. Honestly as alum of a B10 school I'm quite embarrassed that they're still in the conference. There's been a lot of pressure to remove them. Won't be buying tickets when they're on the schedule, nor watch that game on TV. I'm hoping Sandusky gets 409 years as way of "honoring" his protector.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom