When it comes to child abuse there are specific laws to be followed. In the case McQueery saw, police can only respond to eyewitness(McCueery) or proper reporting authority(Penn State police or admin). What Paterno had was 2nd hand info and not complete. By law he had to go through proper channels which he did. Even if Paterno went to the police there's no guaranty anything would have been done since Paterno wasn't the proper reporting authority. Plus you have the '98 incident which the DA dropped which doesn't say much for local officials.
As they say, hindsight is 20/20. I'm sure Paterno wished he did more, that's a completely natural feeling. But that doesn't mean he knew what was going on.
All the NCAA sanctions are based on stuff that happened after Sandusky left Penn State and before the legal process could play out. Why the big hurry?
Also, IIRC Sandusky was aquited of the McQueery incident. Not that he should have been but but the only incident remotely involving Paterno resulted in aquital which makes the sanctions BS in my book.
And so...let's put this on your ethical shoulders. Let's say you're a powerful boss somewhere.
An employee underling reports to you that he saw a former employee sexually assault a boy in the corporate showers.
What would you do?
Would you, as Paterno did over the long run, ensure that the still-silent witness got key promotions (to first one position, and then to a key coveted second spot)???
Companies and universities try to set up 'required' reporting channels as a CYA mechanism and to handle the PR battle. Those private attempts to protect the company or university have nothing whatsoever to do with actual reporting rights and obligations.
Nothing in Pennsylvania law requires a party to go through a chain of reporting. Nothing in Pennsylvania law prohibits a party from reporting any knowledge they have of child abuse. Police will listen to anyone who has credible information about child abuse.
By law he had to go through proper channels . . .
Absolute, complete, 100%, total, unadulterated hogwash.
Yeah...and now you're going to lecture all of us about all those college players who are temporarily removed from games or teams for dui s or other crim actions, eh?
BYU had two players involved in a restaurant fracus this year. Not only were they off the team in two days, but off the campus as well!!!
Where's your sanctimonious defense of those players...being booted off the team & even off-campus "before the legal process played out"???
The problem is that JoePa apologists like yourself NEVER go to bat for any of these college dui criminals (& assaulters)
Yes, ironically he was acquitted of that charge.
Perhaps someday one of the Paterno-hating mice around here will be seen hugging their grandson and get reported to the cops and accused of being a homosexual pedophile. Then, after the mouse gets cleared the accuser can just shrug and say, "Oops. Sorry about that, heh heh." Those scumbags think it's so easy to point a finger at another man and accuse him of being a homosexual child predator? Okay.
OBVIOUSLY, with 20/20 hindsight and with knowledge of the grand jury testimony against Sandusky, Paterno "wishes he had done more." Freaking duh...
Anyway, I'm done with this thread. Some posters are thoughtful and some are just simple, puffed up, wanna-be avengers with 20/20 hindsight who would think nothing of accusing another man of a heinous crime without themselves witnessing the abuse, and without even a single victim stepping forward during the course of the decade from 1998 until 2008.
FRegards, and good luck arguing with the simple mice!
LH