Most disturbing is how Mike McQueary, at the time a 28 year old asst on the football program, walked into a shower, witnessed Sandusky anally raping a 10 year old boy; yet took no action. He left the shower, called his father, and the next day they BOTH went to tell Paterno what they had seen.
Like many, I couldn't understand how he could fail to intervene, to remove the child, and to keep from smashing Sandusky's head into the tile. McQueary has already well demonstrated his courage. He single-handedly broke up a KNIFE fight between two players in the athletic dorm. That takes guts...to get between two football players with knives...how many of us would do that?
Then I went back, and REREAD twice the grand jury report, and several things surprised me.
He described hearing "rhythmic, slapping sounds." He believed those to be of sexual activity. He saw the boy, with his hands up against the wall, being subject to anal intercourse.
"Rhythmic, slapping sounds..." note that phrase.."hands up against the wall." I assume that all those reading this are aquainted with the sex act, in its many positions and permutations, yet I suspect that none of us would use those terms to describe it.
To me, as a lay person, it sounds almost like a flashback, PTSD. And if so, it totally explains what McQueary did right after that, how he acted.
So let's examine the possibility that McQueary was sexually abused by Sandusky as a child. McQueary grew up almost next door to the Sandusky house. He played with Sandusky's sons as a kid. He went to the same schools as several of them. As a young QB, in youth leagues, he no doubt had many interactions with Sandusky, who was active in the community.
So, the time line AND the physical proximity fits, to allow us to posit that he was abused by Sandusky as a child.
So when his dad found out, what would he do? The elder McQueary has had an exemplary career, including working with Special Forces troops years ago. So one might assume that he wanted to go and beat the hell out of Sandusky.
However, if he did that, the fact that his son had been sexually molested would come out. No way it could be kept quiet. And back then, they didn't quite yet understand the trauma that these events caused the victims. The incliniation is to bury it, to forget it, to just move on.
So the elder McQueary goes to see coach Paterno. Tells him what happened. And maybe, just maybe, Paterno tries to rein in Sandusky. To protect the child, and yes, of course, to protect Penn State and the football program. Maybe Sandusky swears it's the only time. Maybe Paterno believes him. Maybe JoePa isn't really awaree of how sexual predators actually behave.
So, a bargain is struck. And, as we have all learned from Watergate and other scandals, it's always the coverup that gets you in the end. Especially so in this case, because Sandusky now owns Paterno. If he goes down, Paterno also goes down, and the story about McQueary comes out. Paterno's stuck.
So, Sandusky continues abusing kids. Paterno helps to bury the charges. He forces Sandusky to retire, yet Sandusky still has access to the campus, the football facilites. Sandusky found this charity, "Second Mile"..maybe telling Paterno that he wants to atone for his past sins. Maybe Paterno believes it, maybe he doesn't.
NOTE: I've been trying to find lists of the Second Mile board members. All those I've seen posted do NOT have Paterno listed. Which in and of itself is telling. Paterno knew what Sandusky was, and couldn't put his name on the organization..
So McQueary sees the rape, is horrified, and calls his father, the ONE person who knows of his abuse. His dad tells him to go home, and to go see Paterno the next day. But, what is largely overlooked..McQueary AND his father BOTH go to see Paterno. To me, this is key. There is NO reason for the father to go UNLESS he's somehow already involved in this..that he knew what went on. And maybe he's still trying to figure out how to keep the story of his son's sexual abuse from coming out..becoming known. To a jock like McQueary, in the high testosterone world of college football, having it publicly known that he was a victim of sexual abuse would seem a fate worse than death. Remember, he was the recruiting coordinator for Penn State. Couldsn't keep on doing that. So, the cover-up is extended for another decade, until other victims surface, and the game's over.
Some will say this is implausible because McQueary worked around Sandusky for years. Actually, this almost supports the theory.
Many victims of abuse, unless they undergo extensive therapy, are often convinced that they are somehow responsible. We don't know what treatment McQueary received. He's married, hopefully a happy one, and has a child.
But over the years, Paterno has attempted to keep an eye on McQueary..a scholarship, then coaching positions, and he's obviously Paterno's favorite, always next to him on the sidelines. So maybe Sandusky apologized to the McQuearys, and they chose to let it drop, to get on with their lives. And Paterno continued to try and protect his protege.
This is all reasoned speculation, but it fits...
It completely explains McQueary's behavior..it was PTSD.
It does not exonerate Paterno, nor should it, for it's obvious that his multiple failures permitted Sandusky to keep molesting childen for many more years, but it does allow a possible explanation as to how a good man like Paterno could get so ensnaed in such a horrid situation.
And it also could explain why he he didn't want to retire..as long as Sandusky was around the program, Paterno had to be there to continue the cover-up,a nd also, maybe, to try and control Sandusky as much as possible.
I don’t believe the McQueary was molested by Sandusky. I do think that Sandusky’s position as a defensive coach on a team that Mike quarterbacked, he was the father of a friend, small community that Mike grew up at...etc caused Mike M to not know how to deal with it. He went to JoePa, the most authoritative person in the entire world in his eyes. People want to hang McQueary for not doing enough, but he was a local HS quarterback that had a dream fulfilled playing for the Lions. This was all family to him and he went to the one person that he felt would make everything right and that would magically transfer the responsibility of what he had witnessed.
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I wondered that myself.
http://bwi.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=36&tid=149609103&mid=149609103&sid=890&style=2
OMG.....what a thought.
Were did you get this from? The grand jury report, top of page 7, does NOT say that both McQueary and his father went to Paterno's house to talk with Paterno.
"The graduate assistant went to his office and called his father, reporting what he had seen. His father told the graduate assistant to leave the building and come to his home. The graduate assistant and his father decided that the graduate assistant had to promptly report what he had seen to Coach Joe Paterno ("Paterno"), head football coach of Penn State. The next morning, a Saturday, the graduate assistant telephoned Paterno and went to Paterno's home, where he reported what he had seen."
I’m leaning towards McQueary was the steroid candy-man as an alternative theory.
Check out this interview with Jon Ritchie on his own reaction to McQueary’s shock. He pretty much says he would have bolted too and explains why.