It smells for sure. The grad student incident occurred after Sandusky retired. That and the ‘98 investigation were stifled. Why? The DA is now missing and declared dead. More questions than answers and Paterno not much more than a distraction.
Synopsis of the grand jury report from another thread:
‘The victims are in reverse order, i.e., Victim #1 is most recent, Victim #8 oldest.
#1 - Everything was witnessed off campus at a high school by a wrestling and football coach around 2007, complaint filed by mother.
#2 - Witnessed by the grad student in 2002, AFTER Sandusky was retired and was named professor emeritus with full on campus privileges.
#3, #4, #5, and #7 - had no witnesses to sexual conduct. #4 did testify that in May 1999 Sandusky came home distraught that Paterno would not make him head coach. These were all between 1994 and 2000.
#6 - Was reported by the mother and investigation was launched that ended in June 1998 with no charges filed.
#8 - Was witnessed by two janitors one directly and one indirectly, The one who saw it directly was very shaken and reported it to his boss, who told him who to report it to up the chain. The janitor never went any farther with it and now has dementia.
The only part that questions Joe Pa was #6 and the investigation. Not sure what Joe Pa was supposed to do if the police wouldn’t file charges. What he did do is having him out the door within a year after that.
He immediately reported the incident with the grad student but that was AFTER Sundusky retired. Paterno had no authority over him and no authority to deny him access to the campus. Again, that investigation was also stifled.
So there is nothing here about Paterno covering anything up. The most damning was the year it took to get rid of Sandusky and letting him retire instead getting fired. What could you fire him for? The authorities said there was nothing there.
In fact there was no threat of retaliation - when Paterno was approached by the grad student with his story, he took him to the authorities. He basically gave the higher ups implicit authority to boot the guy off campus for good. No cover up due to intimidation by Paterno. This thing lies with Shultz, Curley, the campus police, the in-house attorney, and the DA. Paterno is fairly incidental.’
On March 1, 2002, a Penn State graduate assistant ("graduate assistant") who was then 28 years old, entered the locker room at the Lasch Football Building on the University Park Campus on a Friday night before the beginning of Spring Break. The graduate assistant, who was familiar with Sandusky, was going to put some newly purchased sneakers in his locker and get some recruiting tapes to watch. It was about 9:30 p.m. As the graduate assistant entered the locker room doors, he was surprised to find the lights and showers on. He then heard slapping sounds. He believed the sounds to be those of sexual activity. As the graduate assistant put the sneakers in his locker, he looked into the shower. He saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky.If anyone is confused about what to do when you see a 10 year old being raped - CALL THE POLICE! And feel free to shoot if you have a gun handy...[...]
Joseph V. Paterno testified to receiving the graduate assistant's report at his home on a Saturday morning. Paterno testified that the graduate assistant was very upset. Paterno called Tim Curley ("Curley"), Penn State Athletic Director and Paterno's immediate superior, to his home the very next day, a Sunday, and reported to him that the graduate assistant had seen Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.