Paterno's statue removed, Penn State sanctions announced

[WestCoastJoe]

Earlier in this thread I speculated about the assistant who witnessed and reported the assault to Paterno.

I wondered how he could continue to work at the school, knowing what he saw, and seeing that there was no followup, and that Sandusky was still allowed around the school.

Apparently he has been threatened, and will not attend the game this weekend.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/10/justice/p ... ?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- A Penn State assistant football coach who reportedly told Joe Paterno in 2002 he witnessed a young boy being sexually assaulted in a shower won't be at Saturday's Nebraska game because of "multiple threats," the university athletics website said Thursday night.

A graduate assistant at the time, Mike McQueary told a grand jury he had witnessed former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, now 67, assaulting the boy at the campus football complex.

Questions over how university officials responded to reports of alleged abuse cost coaching legend Paterno and university President Graham Spanier their jobs. McQueary has been criticized for not calling police, but he has not faced any legal charges.

This story just gets weirder and weirder. It just looks like a coverup. People knew.

[Sir Purrcival]

I find it amazing that people are rioting over this dismissal. As it stands right, now this man failed to report a case of child sexual assault to the proper authorities and make no mistake, Joe Paterno although only the "coach" is the real chief around there in regards to football. Why on earth would people riot in defense of that? Are they tacitly approving child molestation? Do they even care that this man has enjoyed a life unlike most others and yet under his watch had children lose theirs? People are very perplexing to me. Now the guy who initially reported it is getting death threats. Just how sick has the world become?

[KnowItAll]

there is an element among mankind that will always use any excuse to riot and kill.

while we here in NA consider ourselves to be more civilized, we have among us many who would be as the terrorists of the world if their personal circumstances were different.

we think we are superior here in good ole NA, but we are not even close.

[TheLionKing]

Please someone tell that this "Jerry Sandusky" pervert, is in no way related to the slotback ex-lion/eskimo Jim Sandusky of the early-to-late 1980's?

Someone please???

Not related in any way. The only similarity is the surname.

[TheLionKing]

You know, what strikes me is that he founds that organization for kids "at risk." And then he takes those kids at risk and violates them. He is a predator. A wolf in sheep's clothing.

That's how these sexual deviants get their victims. Volunteer for organizations working with kids.

[TheLionKing]

I find it amazing that people are rioting over this dismissal. As it stands right, now this man failed to report a case of child sexual assault to the proper authorities and make no mistake, Joe Paterno although only the "coach" is the real chief around there in regards to football. Why on earth would people riot in defense of that? Are they tacitly approving child molestation? Do they even care that this man has enjoyed a life unlike most others and yet under his watch had children lose theirs? People are very perplexing to me. Now the guy who initially reported it is getting death threats. Just how sick has the world become?

I guess football trumps morality at Penn State.

[WestCoastJoe]

I naively first thought the assistant (MacQueary) was getting threats because he did not follow up on what he saw. Threats from child protection advocates. Now I am thinking that some of those threats are probably from fanatic football fans who feel he has damaged their team, and destroyed the career of their beloved coach..

This story is not going to go away, possibly ever. It is the world we live in.

I wonder how John Hufnagel is dealing with it. He played at Penn State.

[Toppy Vann]

Paterno is an icon in US college football. The university trustees did the right thing in terminating Paterno effective immediately rather than let him finish the season.

While I have admired Joe Paterno from afar for many years this really is a horrible situation.

The clip of Joe on Charlie Rose from years back saying how everyday he came to work to do what was right for the Penn players and team - seems to have been just that. He protected the brand rather than stop something so horrific from continuing.

Avoid bad publicity where your crackerjack DC who won you championships over the years would be arrested and likely convicted by keeping silent or doing the least you could to make sure it came to the attention of the police. We all know enough about this these days to know that these guys will always have far more victims than get identified and we all know they don't stop doing it like some kid who stopped stealing candy bars.

It seems to me to that knowing about Sandusky to Paterno is like an accountant fraudulently taking money all the while knowing at some level they'll eventually be caught. I don't get it here as it had to come to light someday - how and when were likely the only questions facing Paterno and the Univ.

I thought Paterno the coach and the man was better than that. These victims must realize now - he isn't.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2011/11/10 ... ?hpt=hp_t1

This horrifying story just gets crazier and crazier ...

It turns out the District Attorney who decided not to pursue the original complaint from 1998 has gone missing, since 2005. His computer and hard drive were found at the bottom of a river, unreadable.

Missing DA investigated Sandusky case

By Jean Casarez, November 10, 2011

Missing prosecutor didn't charge Sandusky after 1998 report

•DA Ray Gricar went for a drive in 2005 and was never seen again

•Gricar's state computer was found in river, too damaged to read

Editor's note: Jean Casarez is a correspondent for In Session on truTv.

I spoke with Detective Matthew Rickard, who has been leading the investigation into the 2005 disappearance of the elected District Attorney of Center County Pennsylvania, Ray Gricar.

In 1998, Gricar decided not to pursue charges after the mother of a young man reported to Penn State Police that her son had been inappropriately touched by Jerry Sandusky as they showered together in the Penn State locker room.

Rickard tells me he is currently working to see if there could be any possible link between Gricar’s disappearance and the currently charged activity against Penn State athletic officials, but says there has been nothing to suggest Gricar -- who is still missing -- had knowledge of any of the other alleged activities.

Read: Shocking details from the Penn State grand jury report

Although the conspiracy theories are being pushed forward, Rickard tells me, from knowing Gricar himself, and the type of prosecutor he was, there must not have been the evidence to prosecute Sandusky back in 1998. Rickard admits that is speculation on his part, and is in the midst of finding out more information on Gricar’s investigation of Sandusky back in 1998.

In April, 2005 Gricar disappeared from the District Attorney’s office never to be seen again. He called his girlfriend and said he was going to take a leisurely drive that afternoon. His abandoned car was found near an antiques store in Lewisberg, Pennsylvania. His computer was found later in the Susquehanna River, but the hard drive had been taken out. Months later when the river banks receded, the hard drive was found about 100 yards from where the computer had been located. It was determined by investigators that the hard drive had been intentionally removed from the computer and repeated tests, including one done by the FBI, could not retrieve any data. The hard drive was too damaged.

One thing I am gathering from this case is the danger of the sanctity given sports in our society. I can't help but think that too much respect for Penn State and its football program halted any further legal action going back to 1998. And it caused "blind eyes" to be turned away from what people saw, heard and suspected.

[Robbie]

Please someone tell that this "Jerry Sandusky" pervert, is in no way related to the slotback ex-lion/eskimo Jim Sandusky of the early-to-late 1980's?

Someone please???

Not related in any way. The only similarity is the surname.

Unfortunately Sandusky is not a common surname in America so others with that name naturally get questioned. If his name was Jerry Smith, there's no way every other Smith would be questioned. At least three others have been asked as to whether they are related to him - an Alex Sundusky, another Jim Sandusky, and a Gerry Sundusky.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-1 ... y-sandusky

[Robbie]

Were you surprised that Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 out of 48 charges?

With all the acquitals of high profile sexual cases, this is one of the rare cases in which a guity charge was found. Pending any appeals, Sandusky will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

[WestCoastJoe]

Overwhelming evidence from credible witnesses.

Jurors, many with connections to Penn State, probably angry that their beloved institution was dragged down into the mud by a monster, able to disguise himself within the hallowed organization.
........

So not a surprise. But one never knows for sure about a jury.
........

People with suspicions, facing damage to Penn State, chose denial. Then even his wife lived in denial.

The monster used that to his advantage.

I can't even stand the look of the monster. Gives me the creeps.

[TheLionKing]

From Penn State to State Pen

[sj-roc]

NCAA comes down hard on PSU in the wake of the Freeh report, hard to argue against any of the sanctions. I wonder how many of those people who protested Paterno's firing last fall are still on the wrong side of this.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/f ... index.html

Excerpt:

NCAA fines Penn State $60M, vacates wins from 1998-2011

Story Highlights
The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties
Sanctions include a $60 million fine and the loss of all victories from 1998-2011
Other sanctions include four-year ban on bowl games, loss of 20 scholarships

Posted: Monday July 23, 2012 9:31AM ; Updated: Monday July 23, 2012 11:53AM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Penn State football was all but leveled Monday by an NCAA ruling that wiped away 14 years of coach Joe Paterno's victories and imposed a mountain of fines and penalties, crippling a program whose pedophile assistant coach spent uncounted years molesting children, sometimes on university property.

The sanctions by the governing body of college sports, which capped eight months of turmoil on the central Pennsylvania campus, stopped short of delivering the "death penalty" of shutting down the sport. But the NCAA hit Penn State with $60 million in fines, ordered it out of the postseason for four years, and will cap scholarships at 20 below the normal limit for four years. The school also will be on probation for five years.

Any current or incoming football players are free to immediately transfer and compete at another school.

"Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people," NCAA President Mark Emmert said as he announced the penalties at a news conference in Indianapolis.

The sanctions all stem from the case of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted last month of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years. An investigation commissioned by the school and released July 12 found that Paterno, who died in January, and several other top officials at Penn State stayed quiet about accusations against Sandusky in 1998 and 2001.

The NCAA ruling holds the entire school community accountable for failing to protect children.

[TheLionKing]

Harsh penalty but deserved