3 ex-Penn State officials sent to jail in Sandusky scandal
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Penn State's former president and two other ex-administrators were sentenced Friday to at least two months in jail for failing to report a child sexual abuse allegation against Jerry Sandusky a decade before his arrest engulfed the university in scandal and brought down football coach Joe Paterno.
"They ignored the opportunity to put an end to his crimes when they had a chance to do so," Judge John Boccabella said as he lambasted the three defendants and the Hall of Fame coach over a delay that prosecutors say enabled Sandusky to molest four more boys.
Boccabella said he was "appalled that the common sense to make a phone call did not occur," a transgression that "sort of robs my faith of who we are as adults and where we are going."
...
Both the judge and prosecutors Friday thrust blame onto Paterno himself. Paterno was fired but never charged with a crime; he died of lung cancer at age 85 two months after Sandusky's arrest.
Paterno "could have made that phone call without so much as getting his hands dirty," Boccabella said. "Why he didn't is beyond me."
Prosecutor Patrick Schulte said Curley at one point had drawn up a plan to report Sandusky to state authorities, but "something changed after talking to coach Paterno."
But hey, they won football games, so all will likely be forgiven in State College.
Comments
Knowing that VTGM can't moderate as much, I'm just going to...
Dont know what there is to moderate yet.....and personally i agree with the judges decision ecxept for the fact that the sentences should have been more severe.
Seems to me that every PSU-related thread we've had to date has devolved into a shit show at some point. Child abuse is a serious issue and (rightly) touches a nerve with a lot of people. There are obviously differing opinions on how the situation was handled by the NCAA and legally, and in the end it affects a lot of people in a lot of ways.
If I never saw another update on TKP about PSU, HB2 in NC, or Liberty University, I'd be pretty happy. While there are elements of each that are relevant to our normal discussions, these are all just minefields...
Obligatory reminder to keep discussion civil.
So Liberty and Penn state walk into a bathroom in North Carolina....
Hold my beer, I got this one.
Something something Baylor...
A triumph, Nerd, a triumph!
Fair enough, GuitarMan, i was just pointing out that nobody had actually done anything yet that needed your wise and just moderation.
On a separate tangent, am i the only one who during this SLOW off-season is just itching for someone to cross the line and get what might be Guitarman's 'walk off' Banhammer as our resident Mod?
via GIPHY
I read that wallowing with an "S"
Terrible!
I'm glad these administrators are being held responsible for their actions.
For all the crap we give UNC for their violations, they got nothing on Penn ST. That article is just disgusting...
Severity:
1) PSU
2) Baylor
3) ...
4) SMU
5) ...
6) UNC
SMU really deserves to be that high? Essentially, Miami did the same thing (looking at you, Nevin Shapiro), and I'd be willing to bet half the SEC (looking at you, Lil Nicky) is currently engaged the the sort of under the table changing hands of funds that killed SMU. Sure, it significantly tarnished the program's image and shredded the credibility of their recruiting efforts, but the same thing would result in some forfeited wins and ~maybe~ a three season bowl ban today. The times have changed, and the "death penalty" is dead.
If PSU or Baylor haven't gotten it for their atrocities, which would most definitely be well deserved, it'll never be handed out again.
To me, Miami is significantly worse than SMU for three reasons:
1. Miami's infractions included an abortion as an improper benefit.
2. Miami football helped make 2 Live Crew a thing. This is the more unforgivable of these two.
3. These two things took place decades apart from each other, and there are assuredly many more infractions. Miami broke rules, and kept breaking them, with reckless abandon. And got away with it for 30 years and counting.
This is a good point, ya. I added the ellipses a few times to indicate that there is a wide chasm between the most severe scandals that I've heard of in college sports (1 & 2, and 2 has both 2a and 2b) and the most egregious violations of NCAA amateurism rules (4) and ignoring the scholastic component of NCAA participation (6, but there are surely so, so many of those).
I think Shapiro was a one-man scheme, which is why I didn't include it along with a clearly organized process at SMU from the highest levels of the university.
They really shouldn't be on a single list. Maybe a venn diagram, if that.
One one side: NCAA violations, on the other side: criminal offenses. Only one in the middle: Baylor
Didn't Baylor also ignore sexual assault? I think they had that scandal where they killed that basketball player like a decade ago, too, no? Dennehy, I think?
That's why, in a Venn diagram, Baylor would be in the middle section, encompassing both criminal activity and NCAA violations.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_University_basketball_scandal
Dennehy was killed by a teammate. The actions of the coach, Dave Bliss, during the investigation were particularly awful.
2 months is nothing. I strongly disagree with the sentence.
Thank you for inviting me but I have a dentist appointment to get to.
People here in State College are pretty much taking it with a grain of salt. Was on page 5 of the local newspaper behind stories about the special olympics, indecent bridges and dipping mustard
Kind of surprised they didn't try and use it to prove their saint Jo Pa was framed.
You're in State College? I'm in State College.