Jill Barton ’12
Jerry Sandusky, previously an assistant football coach at Penn State University, has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a fifteen year period. While Sandusky and his lawyer maintain that Sandusky only “horsed around” with the boys, Penn State has fired not only Sandusky, but also head football coach Joe Paterno and Penn State President Graham Spanier. In addition, Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley, have been accused of failure to report possible child abuse and perjury, leading both men to step down from their positions at Penn State. As the investigation continues, nearly ten other young men have additionally alleged that Sandusky abused them, according to a report in The New York Times.
Reports of Sandusky’s sexual abuse date back to 1994, when a young boy met Sandusky through his charity, The Second Mile. Sandusky established this charity “as a group foster home devoted to helping troubled boys,” but has since been seen as a way for Sandusky to find victims for his abuse. The young boy, identified as Victim 7 in the grand jury reports, reported that he spent Friday nights at Sandusky’s house and attended football games with him the next day. During their time together, Victim 7 says that Sandusky touched him in uncomfortable ways, including when they showered after a workout.
Sandusky had previously been under investigation due to sexual abuse claims that began with the alleged inappropriate relations Sandusky had with an 11 year old boy, identified as Victim 6, in 1996. Victim 6’s mother contacted the University police, and the investigation culminated in Sandusky’s promise to never shower with children again.
Since this first investigation, two colleagues of Sandusky, Jim Calhoun, a janitor, and Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant, reported instances of Sandusky sexually abusing boys in the shower, but no definitive action was taken. Calhoun didn’t take the matter any further because he was afraid that action would cause him to lose his job. McQueary informed Paterno, Schultz, and Curley of Sandusky’s actions, but no report was made to the police or any child protection agency, which prosecutors consider to be a breach of state law.
Curley told McQueary two weeks after the report of the abuse that Sandusky’s keys to the locker room had been taken away and that the incident was reported to The Second Mile. Sandusky was also banned from bringing children onto the Penn State Campus, a decision that was reviewed and approved by Spanier. Curley, in defense of his actions, said that McQueary only reported “inappropriate” rather than “sexual” conduct. He maintains that Sandusky was just “horsing around.”
Hours before being fired, Joe Paterno said “This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”