Not the way it looks now. Paterno's direct superior, Athletic Director Tim Curley, had decided to address the matter with Sandusky and to report Child Welfare and The Second Mile. According to one of the emails, Curley says that after meeting with Paterno, he decided to address the matter with Sandusky only.
And you really have to drop this bit about Paterno reporting this to his superiors, plural, unless you're saying Paterno was a liar. In Paterno's GJ testimony he makes it perfectly clear that after thinking for a day, he contacted only Athletic Director Tim Curley and nobody else. He says he never addressed the matter with anyone except Tim Curley.
Q: To whom or with whom did you share the information that McQueary had given you?
Mr. Paterno: I talked to my immediate boss, our athletic director.
Q: What is that person’s name?
Mr. Paterno: Tim Curley.
Q: How did you contact Mr. Curley?
Mr. Paterno: I believe I did it by phone. As I recall, I called him and I said, hey, we got a problem, and I explained the problem to him.
...
Q: You indicated that your report was made directly to Tim Curley. Do you know of that report being made to anyone else that was a university official?
Mr. Paterno: No, because I figured that Tim would handle it appropriately. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Mr. Curley and I thought he would look into it and handle it appropriately.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. Paterno told his immediate superior. His immediate superior told the President. And then the immediate superior and the President decided to cover it up.
It’s possible to argue that Paterno should have done more. But he did what he should—reported it to his boss. And his boss reported it to the President, who was subsequently forced to resign.
Once it reached those high levels, it was up to them to do something about it. As Harry Truman once said, “The buck stops here.”
Even if Paterno later argued that they should give Sandusky a break, we have no evidence for that, and his superiors certainly were not required to take that advice. Who says that Paterno said that? Apparently, Tim Curley said it, if this summary is accurate. Paterno is no longer around to deny it. But even if true, it’s no excuse for the guys at the top.