IIRC, according to Paterno’s own testimony to the grand jury he stated that he reported what McCreary told him to his boss Curely and then had no further involvement. He testified that he assumed his superiors had properly addressed the situation.
However according to these email exchanges, after Paterno made them aware of the allegations, it appears that Curley and Spanier discussed and were leaning toward reporting it to the authorities however after a conversation they had with Paterno, Curley says he no longer wants to contact child welfare authorities just yet - "After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps."
The e-mails suggest that the officials decided that Sandusky could be dealt with by barring him from taking children onto the campus, “encouraging” him to seek professional help and telling no one but officials at the Second Mile Charity, who also apparently did nothing until TSHTF.
Not reporting the accusation to the authorities, the men determined, was the more “humane” way to deal with Sandusky, according to the e-mails.
So what did Paterno say to Curley and Spanier to change their minds about the “next steps”? Why did Paterno lie to the grand jury stating that after he reported to Curley, that he had no further involvement when these emails indicate otherwise?
I’m sorry, but death does not exonerate the deceased from wrong doing.
I had been a Paterno defender before but depending on how this actually shakes out, he may be guilty. I really have no idea at this point. It does bother me that he isn’t around to give his side of the story, but that’s life.
It is interesting that even in court McQueary’s testimony was uncertain and they could never decide who he told and what he told them. That was the extent of Paterno’s involvement (or at least we thought it was). Now, these e-mails don’t really give us much information. There is a lot of speculation as to who the word “we” refers to, what Paterno said, and what all the people knew about 1998. We don’t know. We could ask Curley, but as far as Paterno’s legacy that doesn’t matter. He’s dead and his legacy is of no legal consequence.
It would be really nice to have the whole story.