Former Penn State DC indicted on sex crime charges

Submitted by FrankMurphy on

Shocking and tragic:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/former_penn_state_co…

When he was DC, Sandusky's stature among Penn State fans was second only to JoePa himself. These are pretty shocking allegations. 

As an aside, I came across this after seeing Ramzy Nasrallah's tweet: "I can take pleasure in a rival's DC using stuffed animals. I can't take pleasure in a rival's DC committing sex crimes. Sorry - no jokes." Given the GERG reference, I thought he was referring to someone on our staff. I ran some very bizarre-sounding Google searches involving Greg Mattison before realizing that wasn't the case. 

Tater

November 4th, 2011 at 6:39 PM ^

My first hope is that they get it right either way.  My second hope is that it isn't true.  The forty charges make it look like he was incredibly prolific.  However, it could also be a situation where someone is really out to get him or at least bury him in so much paperwork that he will plea it down and they will get a "guilty" to justify their charges.

I think I am going to suspend judgment on this one until more information comes out.

SFBayAreaBlue

November 5th, 2011 at 4:24 AM ^

it does seem like all 40 charges stem from one boy who claims some locker room showering (he was 12 at the time) and then the police tried to get Sandusky to make incriminating statements about himself.  It sounds like a weak case to me, but what do I know.  

Also, NEVER talk to police

bluewave720

November 4th, 2011 at 6:39 PM ^

about inappropriate contact with an underaged girl followed by references to his children's charity. . . (grits teeth and slowly sighs)

Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but there is a special place in non-dominational hell for fuckers who are guilty of stuff like that.  

(still gritting teeth)

Bando Calrissian

November 5th, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^

If the AD and other people in the Athletic Department are now implicated in staying silent on this over the years, is it inevitable Joe Paterno could be as well?  Could JoePa's career end like -this-?

Bando Calrissian

November 5th, 2011 at 11:52 AM ^

He knew.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/37574/penn-state-ad-curley-cha…

Yet he won't be charged.  When instead of reporting to the authorities a witnessed case of child sexual abuse in your football facility, you instead tell the perp he just can't bring kids into the facility anymore...  As much as I hate to say it, Joe Paterno probably should be fired for this.  But he won't.

justingoblue

November 5th, 2011 at 1:36 PM ^

This is what I'm thinking as well. And, sadly, it hurts. Paterno didn't do what he should have done to protect children from this guy, and that is a tough pill to swallow. JoePa needs to answer for his actions, I want to hear why he went to the AD instead of the police, especially since, once he said something, no charges were filed.

If he doesn't have a good answer, he needs to be fired and indicted. That absolutely sucks to write. Like, maybe more than anything I've written here, ever. Including the Hawthorne story last night, which was awful.

Bando Calrissian

November 5th, 2011 at 1:44 PM ^

The key is if Sandusky's access to the facilities didn't end after JoePa went to the AD.  If JoePa is in the football building with Sandusky, knowing what he knew about the allegations, that's completely messed up.  

The thing with this, it's not an isolated allegation or two.  It's a lot.  Over a sustained period of time.  There's no way you have someone on your staff doing that kind of thing for such a long time without knowing or seeing something.  And I find it highly improbable these allegations are all of the issues out there.  This appears to be a case of sustained, habitual abuse of a number of children.  A clear pattern of behavior.  That doesn't appear out of nowhere.

Hannibal.

November 5th, 2011 at 4:19 PM ^

I disagree that he wouldn't be fired or forced to resign.  This is a massive scandal that would make a lot of people disgusted and where a lot of people appear to have gotten hurt.  Plus, a lot of the Penn State nation has been ready to see JoePa go for a long time. 

Standard "innocent until proven guilty" disclaimer applies.





 

WolverineHistorian

November 5th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^

I remember Jerry Sandusky.  His last game at Beaver Stadium was against us (the Tom Brady 10 point comeback in the 4th quarter).  Every time Brady made a big play, the camera would zoom in on Sandusky on the sideline looking like he wanted to shoot himself. 

That's the only memory I have of him.  He was apparently a very beloved coach at Penn State.  I don't like PSU but I hope these charges are not true. 

Darth Tressel

November 5th, 2011 at 3:33 PM ^

Hey at least we didn't cover up a sex scandal with little kids....Hey Gene..we didn't cover up a sex scandal did we?

No Gene, step away from the mic...WHO THE HELL KEEPS GIVING THIS MAN MICROPHONES?!

thethirdcoast

November 5th, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^

I found an expanded AP story at Rivals, it is fairly graphic, so I'd recommend avoiding it if you have a weak stomach:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-pennstateex-coach-al…

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP)—A former defensive coordinator who was integral for decades to Penn State's success in football was accused Saturday of sexually abusing eight boys, and the school’s athletic director and an administrator were charged with perjury and failing to report what they knew about the allegations in a case that prosecutors said uncovered a years-long trail of a predator and those who protected him.

The worst part is that others at PSU seemed to have been aware of this for years and they tried to cover for Sandusky rather than removing him from the program and turning him over to the appropriate authorities.

UMgradMSUdad

November 5th, 2011 at 5:19 PM ^

JoePa will be allowed to finish the season and retire a hero. Nobody's going to go after a senile old man.

The others, though, are in it deep.  In most jurisdictions it is a crime to not immediately notify police or other authoriites  when aware of allegations of sexual abuse of minors.  There are plenty of cases where allegations are made, the sexual predator gets found not guilty for lack of evidence, but someone else who was told about but did not report allegations to authorities is found guilty.  And being 99.9% or even 100% sure the allegations are false is no defense, either. So whether the DC is found guilty or not, anyone who was told about the allegations and didn't promptly report them is in trrouble.

Bocheezu

November 6th, 2011 at 8:21 AM ^

Here's the link to the PDF of the whole thing; be warned that it's very graphic and very detailed, and just awful in every respect.

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf

So the AD and the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance both covered it up; neither one reported it to police and both lied under oath to the grand jury.  These guys are hosed.

The graduate assistant that reported the assult in the Larsh showers to JoePa, the AD, and the VP for Business -- personally, if I hadn't been interviewed by police after a month or so, I would call them and figure out what the hell was going on.  Maybe the guy was naive and just didn't know any better.  Either way, I don't think you can really blame him for much.

The janitor that told his boss, and did nothing after his boss told him to report it; I don't know how he did nothing after it shocked him so much.  Maybe he thought he would lose his job.

Janitor's boss; you could have called the cops, too, you know.  Maybe he also thought he was going to lose his job.

Just so horrible on so many levels with so many people involved that either covered it up or didn't report it to authorities.