Not exacty Jerry's kids

The continuing sad saga at the University of Pennsylvania surrounding former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky has taken a turn for the worse.

Say it ain’t so, you say?

The papers recently provided yet another instance in which Sandusky is alleged to have sexually abused a teen, making the total now 11:  the original eight victims, two more reportedly out of his own home, and now this one, which dates so far back that the case isn’t even being considered for the upcoming trial. Nope, this is one that Jerry won’t be getting jail time for; instead, this is the first of the cases for which Jerry, The Second Mile, and quite possibly Penn State, may end up forking out big bucks.  This is the first of what I am certain will be a long line of civil suits seeking monetary compensation for the victims.

When this first broke, I felt it was just the tip of the iceberg. These kinds of allegations are rarely made up.  To have so many of them surface telling essentially the same exact story is an indication of modis operandi, and not some great right wing conspiracy.  It is beyond belief that people can still think that all of these allegations were dreamed up, or in some way, all of these victims got together to destroy one man’s life.

At the time, I felt there would be a lot more bad news coming out of this, and sure enough three more victims have stepped forward. My feeling now is that we have only just begun.  This scandal is going to be far worse than it is already, and if and when it is all hashed out, we will be wondering how on earth such a thing could happen right in the midst of, arguably, one of the better universities in the country.

But just as this is coming out now about Mr. Sandusky (expletives deleted), there is much more going to come out all around the US.  This scandal relates directly to the incident at The Citadel and the one coming out of Syracuse. Anyone want to take bets on whether any more such cases will be coming out of the woodwork in the next year or two?

Not me.

I expect there to be a huge jump in sexual abuse cases coming out of colleges and universities.  Why? Because the lawyers will be looking for the next in the long line of big pay days.

What do I mean, The Lawyers?  I mean, Big Tobacco has pretty much settled down now for big money lawsuits and the Catholic Church child sex abuse cases are on the wane. So the lawyers are back in their roosts, looking for the next piece of road kill to fatten themselves up on. It’s amazing to me that we continue to find ways to feed them.

OK, so that rant may be a bit over the top, but it is essentially true. And, I am not saying that someone shouldn’t come to the aid of these victims, and that the people who perpetrate these crimes should not be tried, jailed, and then sued for all they have.

When these kinds of allegations come forward, there are always those who choose not to believe them, like Coach Jim Boeheim at Syracuse.  He stepped forward adamantly, and to some extent foolishly and perhaps naively, in support of his long time assistant, Bernie Fine.  He knew that there had been allegations against Fine in the past, and that he had been “cleared” of those allegations.  That doesn’t mean they were investigated properly, and it also doesn’t mean there weren’t more victims.  I think, ultimately, the tape recording of Fine’s spouse likely made Boeheim rethink his initial comments.

Why is it so hard for these people in authority to believe that people like Fine and Sandusky exist right in their own back yards, or front yards for that matter?  In the case of Sandusky, I am convinced that at least Joe Paterno was aware of issues with Sandusky. Why else would he have gone from favored child to retirement virtually overnight?

So we have two examples now on what not to do when such a scandal comes to your door. The proper thing to do is to step out of the way, do not make any brash statements, and allow the investigation to proceed.  When the investigation is over, then you can make statements, such as “We never doubted Bernie Fine’s integrity, but we had to let the legal system run its course” or, “We are horrified at these allegations, and feel for his victims, their families, and anyone affected by his alleged crimes.”