(I’m sure Chas will have something to say on this matter also but I wanted to get this up while events are unfolding.)

The news that broke in the middle of Pennsylvania this week should have shocked no one.  The child abuse issues with Jerry Sandusky had been reported as early as 1998, with subsequent reporting on the convening of a PA State Grand Jury almost two years ago.

We pretty much all knew that some sort of charges would be leveled. What was surprising was the extent and boldness of Sandusky’s crimes and the blatant misdirection and covering of facts by the Penn State athletic department, campus police chain of command and the university’s administration, up to and including President Spanier.

For those of us who have been living under a rock for the past week here is a reference page from the Pgh Post-Gazette that has links to articles covering this story.

For those of you who have the stomach for it here is a copy of the aforementioned Grand Jury Report.  I really mean it about the warning – what you will read in there can literally make you sick to your stomach.  Not just the physical actions conducted by Sandusky, but the decision making by everyone involved with this at PSU.

From a janitor who witnessed Sandusky in action, to Mike McQueary, who saw the most heinous of crimes against humanity play out in a locker room shower, through Coach Paterno, Tim Curley the AD, Gary Schultz who is a university Vice-President and oversaw the campus police and on to the University’s President, there was a turning of a blind eye to what is the most basic responsibility of an adult… the protection of our children.

Not one person either stopped the crime being committed or reported the incidents to the local civic authorities.  That is unbelievable, truly unbelievable, for the rest of America to understand.

Their moral compasses pointed directly to Penn State University and never once wavered. 

With this they that allowed these crimes by Sandusky to repeat themselves over and over.  Forty criminal charges and eight known victims as of today are only the beginning.  It will get worse as it always does in these cases.  Adult and young adult men just do not report these types of crimes on their own unless someone else has done it first.  Now the floodgates are open.

Penn State could have stopped it dead in its tracks a decade ago but chose not to.  In a very real sense they conspired to keep this situation out of the public eye where it would be scrutinized and publicized. In doing so they enabled Sandusky to continue his actions and thus abdicated the University’s responsibility as a leading community influence.

There is so much blame to go around here that it’s hard to decide where to direct the strongest anger.  Sandusky is, of course, a criminal and a sick individual who used charity work to feed his desires.  Can anything be viler than that? One can almost understand, not condone, but understand his actions as we have read about what drives pedophiles and have seen it happen so many times before.  His case is cut and dried.  He holds our strongest societal contempt, that is clear and he must pay dearly for his crimes.

But it is the actions of those in positions of authority and responsibility to ensure these types of crimes cannot and do not happen under their watches which are the most disturbing.  The incident that bothers me the most, and there is a laundry list of those, is the behavior of Joe Paterno once a concrete report of child rape was presented to him.

McQueary told Paterno what he saw and was specific in describing his witnessing Sandusky raping a ten year old boy.   However, when Paterno decided to tell the AD (instead of the police, covering his own ass right off the bat) what was reported to him he stated ‘that Sandusky was fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy”.

Folks,  that description is a far cry from the rape of a child which was clearly stated to him as reported in the Grand Jury findings.  It can’t be forgiven to minimize it like Paterno did; it can’t be reasoned away because of his friendships or in his acting to protect his reputation either.  It has to be looked at as a deliberate attempt to direct PSU’s ‘investigation’ in a certain direction.

If it wasn’t strictly a legal crime it was certainly the actions of a man who felt his power was such that he could change and influence facts.  There were moral and ethical codes and mores disregarded and broken all through this situation from 1998 onward.  But, to me, that action by Paterno speaks volumes about what he has become – or perhaps what he always was.

It was, in essence, a clarion call at the loudest… “We are – Penn State, and you people are not!”

I don’t revel in this happening to Penn State.  I’ve always held a healthy respect for both the University and for the football program.  I’ve been around a few blocks in my 56 years, both personally and professionally, so I certainly never bought into the hype that PSU and its fans have worked so hard to create.  I’ve also worked in law enforcement and have seen many instances of lying and deception although nothing of this magnitude.

But now? Now I look at the University exactly how it must be looked at by the criminal justice system of the state of Pennsylvania.  As an entity where heinous crimes were committed and where lying, deceit and abuse of authority has run rampant.  The State must forget about reputations, past good works and loss of revenue and do the right thing. Prosecute to the highest extent of the law. To not do so sends a message that there are institutions more powerful that the State itself and that the power they wield can twist the fabric of our basic right of protection against deliberate harm by others.

The purge at PSU should be swift and decisive, that much is blatantly obvious.  But that should not affect the State’s position one bit.  These crimes must be addressed on their own and for what they are… crimes against persons and crimes against the very society which we all live in.