There is a difference between a mother and the head coach of a football program and what the consequences of being “guilty” are. Paterno was fired for not adequately supervising what was going on in his program. He was not executed or put in jail. Firing is appropriate in a situation like this. A mother may be guilty of not picking up on signs that her child is being molested but unless that rises to the level of criminal neglect, no one is going to take away the child.
Forget about the mother. No ONE picked up on this, not even the experts. Over and over again he fooled them. Got away with adopting and fostering many, many kids, and passed with flying colors EVERY TIME. Yet you repeat the mantra - Joe should have known. Think man.