Call it implausible deniability. According to a CNN story, while talking to a group of alumni in Philadelphia last week Penn State University President Rodney Erickson tried to distance the school from the child sexual abuse scandal that rocked the campus late last year.
“It grieves me very much when I hear people say 'the Penn State scandal.' This is not Penn State. This is the (Jerry) Sandusky scandal,” Erickson said.
Oh come now, Mr. President, how can that be? While it certainly is Jerry’s comeuppance, there’s no way that PU (sic) can distance itself from the reek of this stench. Sure, Sandusky was the active part, but there’s enough room for finger pointing to use up both hands. If there wasn’t any shame, at the very least, to go with this, then why the big shake up at PU? Why, in fact, are you now the president?
I guess it’s just one of those, not on my watch kind of deals. Well, that didn’t happen when I was president; it’s all George Bush’s fault, right?
Well, sorry Erickson, but you’re wrong. You’re very wrong. While Mr. Sandusky is the main culprit, Penn State certainly is smeared by this, and may in fact be held liable. Now that the 1998 sex abuse complaint was found in the Penn State Police Department’s files, it’s gonna be real hard to distance the school from complicity or liability in this case.
For starters, what do you suppose was the driving force behind Joe Paterno telling Jerry he was no longer the golden child that would take over the Penn State football program? Mmmm, let me think, wasn’t that around 1998? Does it take a rocket scientist to put this little conundrum together? Sandusky’s fall from grace started there, and, IMHO, the coach and everyone at Penn State knew about Mr. Sandusky’s penchant for little boys at that time.
So what did they do? They covered up the report, and allowed Jerry to retire. But his retirement didn’t stop his access to school property, heck they even gave him an office as professor emeritus. Perhaps that was due to his work in trying to help children through his charity, the Second Mile, which was basically a grooming service for a pedophile, specifically for Jerry. God hope he wasn’t grooming young boys for others at the school or elsewhere.
Whether the school knew or should have known about this is interesting. There certainly is circumstantial evidence that would indicate someone had some kind of knowledge. Heads rolled faster in this scandal than they did during the French Revolution. Isn’t there a presumption of innocence in the United States, or was that just a bit of over reaction by the Penn State powers? Why such a harsh step so quickly?
Now comes the act of trying to distance the school from the act. No, Penn State is not guilty of molesting young boys, but there certainly is a good argument that they allowed the molestation to continue. Why did they bury the 1998 report?
It will be interesting to see just how much the Second Mile and Penn State were in bed with each other. Some of the preliminary information coming out shows a close relationship between the two groups. Many people serving on the board for the Second Mile are related to high-level Penn State officials.
Let’s face it, we’re not talking about football players serving Rohypnol, Ketamine, or GHB to some unsuspecting under graduates. This is a retired football coach, a person whose leadership at the school should not be underestimated, taking full advantage of access to kids that the Second Mile provided, and enhancing their experience through Penn State. Whether that enhancement was in going to a football practice, “working out” with a coach, or attending a bowl game. If in fact Penn State was aware of any potential shenanigans being pulled by Sandusky, they had a categorical imperative to put a stop to it. Putting a stop to it isn’t forcing Sandusky to retire. It’s kicking his butt off campus; it’s allowing the 1998 investigation to go through the normal legal process.
Ultimately, we are talking about one man’s exploitation of several kids here. The kids need to have someone act on their behalf in such instances, and it appears that in almost every instance they were not considered at all. In fact, it appears more likely that the interest of the school in keeping its lily white reputation intact was more important than actually doing the right thing.
Trying to claim that this incident has nothing to do with Penn State is just another abuse of the children Jerry got his hands on.
At this point, owning up to what happened and making a clean sweep of things is the only way that Penn State can hope to put this incident behind them. Besides, Erickson sounds like a clown when he makes that kind of statement, and perhaps people hoping to attend such a fine institution should keep that in mind.
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