Why do you seem to excuse Paterno? From what I read he did not go to the police, he went to the Athletic Director.
He went to the AD and the guy who oversees campus police, who would have jurisdiction for an on-campus incident.
As he admitted, in hindsight he did not do enough. The question is whether he looked the other way and was in on the cover-up or whether he was duped by those perpetuating the cover-up.