Not to judge you but this is not a new concept. Perhaps it is something discussed more openly. Perhaps we do read about it more. It definitely is on television more. However, child predators have always existed. Joe Paterno didn’t live in a bubble. He lived during modern times and I don’t believe for one second that he didn’t know such atrocities could happen. Could he have possibly thought that they were more rare than they are? Yes. I will give you that but not that he was completely unaware.
We all know what we know. Some of us know more about some topics than others; and some apparently think they know more about what others know than these others know themselves. When I was a child, even at age ten, the whole idea of normal sexual activity was very alien to me. ("Why would anyone want to do THAT"!) To say that it's on television more misses the point. It wasn't on television AT ALL in the 50s. We had the Donna Reed Show and Father Knows Best. Now even the teasers for TV shows are disgusting and undoubtedly influential upon society. Maybe my parents were stupid too? I learned to trust adults. It came in handy sometimes when I was allowed to tour cities, and not just nearby NYC, by myself starting from about age ten.
I'm not Catholic, and I hope Catholics will not be offended by my bringing this up. I always thought a Priest was someone you could always trust. Somewhere along the way that perception changed. I think the same is true of all men. Color me naive, if you want to.
ML/NJ