Penn State Sandusky scandal: AD arrested, Paterno fired, dies; cover-up charged #9

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wfgodot

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Please continue discussion here on the Penn State/Sandusky/Second Mile case.

Earlier threads:

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153837"]Thread #1[/ame]

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154517"]Thread #2[/ame]

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154869"]Thread #3[/ame]

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155320"]Thread #4[/ame]

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155937"]Thread #5[/ame]

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156985"]Thread #6[/ame]

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157889"]Thread #7[/ame]

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162477"]Thread #8[/ame]
 
I'll start by once again congratulating Sara Ganim for her great reporting. That Pulitzer? Well-deserved.
 
Penn State pays Paterno family under his contract

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ws_id=18906425&src=most_popular_viewed&page=1

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Penn State has agreed to provide millions in payments and benefits to Joe Paterno's estate and family members under the late football coach's employment contract, although a family lawyer says the Paternos did not sign away their right to sue.

The school turned over four checks Thursday worth more than $3 million for bonuses that covered the season, bowl game and entire career, according to a university spokeswoman.

A breakdown provided by Penn State included the use by Paterno's family of a Beaver Stadium suite for 25 years and $900,000 from television and radio revenue from last season. Half the broadcast revenues were paid in February, and the rest will be paid later this year, the school said.

Paterno family lawyer Wick Sollers issued a statement Thursday saying there has been no settlement but rather "a straightforward payment of moneys indisputably owed to the Paterno estate. The university had requested that the family agree to a full release in return for the payments under the contract. That request was declined and no release was signed."

Without a release, Paterno's estate could still sue under the contract or some other reason, if it wishes.
------

While the school said in a news release that the total value of the package was "over $5.5 million," added together the various elements are worth about $6.7 million. The stadium suite was valued at $1.5 million.


More at link....
 
From StellarsJay on the last thread:


Lauro met with Sandusky? Either I've missed it or this is the only mention of anyone meeting with Sandusky other than listening to his conversations with the kid's mother. That's one of the wierd things- he didn't ever seem to be questioned by campus police in 1998.

Added- My mistake, I found the citation for JS telling Lauro he wouldn't shower with kids again- but still no mention that the police ever spoke to Sandusky. OK- I see JJ's note- I missed that.

That information was in one of the original articles S. Ganim wrote on the JS scandal...it's posted way back....will see if I can find it again...here it is:

According to the presentment, Lauro testified that he and Schreffler interviewed Sandusky. Sandusky admitted hugging the boy in the shower and admitted it was wrong, Lauro testified.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/who_knew_what_about_jerry_sand.html
 
Maybe Sherburne kept documents that admin hoped had been destroyed?

Perhaps, but if he had information administration wanted to keep quiet, it would be more likely they would want to keep him in the fold. Now you have a disgruntled former employee that can testify to your attempts at a cover-up.

There were commenters on the Patriot-News site that claimed that Sherburne was the first one directed to fire Paterno and refused. No idea if this is true or not, but if there is anything to it, Dr. Joyner (current acting AD) probably didn't trust Sherburne to be a team player.
 
Just finished reading the Kindle version of Game Over and don't see where the Paterno family has much ground to complain. About 30% of the book is Paterno's career at Penn State in great lauditory detail, and maybe 4% says that it seems likely that he knew about 1988, was a bit cool to Sandusky, and faults him for never following up on the 2002 report. Speculated that his short Grand Jury testimony tried not to implicate Penn Sate admin.

However the book uses Paterno, and not Sandusky, as its central unifying theme, symbolic of Penn State as a whole, from cover picture to the first and final chapters.
It has bits that I have never heard, such as that the boys assaulted included African-Amerian kids. Quite a bit on the coverup, it makes clear how much coverup there was at Second Mile.

Outdated already, (or maybe prescient?) the authors predict that Sandusky's trial won't proceed until 2013.
 
Just finished reading the Kindle version of Game Over and don't see where the Paterno family has much ground to complain. About 30% of the book is Paterno's career at Penn State in great lauditory detail, and maybe 4% says that it seems likely that he knew about 1988, was a bit cool to Sandusky, and faults him for never following up on the 2002 report. Speculated that his short Grand Jury testimony tried not to implicate Penn Sate admin.

I think a lot of what the family complained about is that they repeated the public statements from others that Paterno "had" to know about 1998. I have not seen any actual evidence of that (and Sandusky retired more than a year later). The thing is that it was handled by the DA's Office, off campus, so I could see how Paterno wouldn't know.
 
I just finished reading "Game Over" and I have to agree with StellarsJay: not much there for the Paternos to complain about. All discussion of what Paterno knew in 98 takes up no more than 2 pages. It includes a quote from a former graduate assistant, Matt Paknis, that's been in the public domain for a while now:

He (Paterno) knew everything that was going on at that campus. For him to state he didn't know, or that he was not aware, it's total denial. That whole community was in denial. If this would have come out in 1998, Joe would've been out, or his name would have been tarnished. They tried to push it under the rug as long as possible. Joe is the dean, the master. How could he not have know? A fish rots from the head first. The image was more important than the health and well-being of kids.

There is also a quote from former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer. Again, nothing new:

Having been in the profession a long time and knowing how close coaching staffs are, I knew that this was a secret that was kept secret. Everyone on that staff had to have known.

The only information I haven't seen elsewhere is a quote from a Pennyslvania state trooper with knowledge of the Sandusky investigation:

It's a no-brainer. He knew what the light bill was in that place.

IMO, Paknis is correct that if sexual abuse allegations had been made public in 98, Paterno was done. The need for a coverup explains why Gricar didn't press charges in 98. It explains why Sandusky "retired" in 99. Joe's image had to be protected at all costs. They (the Paterno family, some members of the Penn State community) are STILL obsessed with protecting his image.

Note in the last paragraph I said nothing about what Paterno did or what he knew. That's not the issue for me. The issue is to what extent people will go to protect the myth of JoePa, and the consequences for those who are perceived as having tarnished that myth (see "One-Term Tommy").
 
IMO, Paknis is correct that if sexual abuse allegations had been made public in 98, Paterno was done. The need for a coverup explains why Gricar didn't press charges in 98. It explains why Sandusky "retired" in 99. Joe's image had to be protected at all costs. They (the Paterno family, some members of the Penn State community) are STILL obsessed with protecting his image.

Note in the last paragraph I said nothing about what Paterno did or what he knew. That's not the issue for me. The issue is to what extent people will go to protect the myth of JoePa, and the consequences for those who are perceived as having tarnished that myth (see "One-Term Tommy").

I think Paterno could have easily survived 1998, if the case was prosecuted. It didn't involve Paterno directly. He could have just said, "I didn't know and the cops handled it."

The whole Central Pennsylvania Gothic part is the idea of a cover-up. Had 1998 been prosecuted, there would have been no suggestion of a cover-up.
 
Gary Sinderson was quiet for awhile but he has another brief article. Snipping here; quote follows his reporting about Sherburne's dismissal. He says that a source close to that situation said:

"...new information obtained could be "devastating" to the court cases..." of Curley and Schultz.

http://www.wjactv.com/news/news/recently-fired-psu-official-connected-perjury-case/nMgQg/

I think Schultz almost as good as convicted now. I'm wondering if it might have been messages about what McQueary reported.
 
This is the fullest timeline I've seen. http://citizensvoice.com/news/timel...te-an-alleged-monster-1.1234866#axzz1sYNIlucT

Here's an excerpt over 1998-9 when Jerry decides to quit.

** May 13, 1998: Detectives listen in as the mother of Victim 6 confronts Sandusky about showering with her son and the effect it had on her son. She asks Sandusky if he had sexual feelings when he hugged her naked son. Sandusky admits showering with other boys as well, but refuses to promise that he never to shower with a boy again. The mother of Victim 6 asks Sandusky if his "private parts" touched Victim 6 when he hugged him. Sandusky says, "I don't think so ... maybe."

** May 15, 1998: Sandusky speaks at State College Area High School commencement ceremonies at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus.

** May 19, 1998: Sandusky meets again with the mother of Victim 6, who says he cannot see the boy anymore. Sandusky, overheard by two detectives who are listening in, says: "I understand. I was wrong. I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won't get it from you. I wish I were dead."


** June 1, 1998: Sandusky admits to Jerry Lauro, an investigator with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, that he showered naked with Victim 6 and hugged the boy while in the shower. He concedes that his behavior is wrong and promises not to shower with any child again.

June 19, 1998: Sandusky hosts the annual Second Mile golf outing.

** Jan. 1, 1999: Sandusky coaches in Penn State's 26-14 win over Kentucky in the Outback Bowl. Victim 4 tells investigators he traveled to the bowl game with Sandusky's family party. The same boy said he often stayed with Sandusky and the team at the Toftrees resort near the Penn State campus the night before home games and accompanied Sandusky to charity outings.

** May 1999: Paterno tells Sandusky that he would not be the next coach. Victim 4 later tells investigators he remembered Sandusky being upset after seeing Paterno. Sandusky told the victim not to tell anyone about the meeting.

July 1, 1999: Athletic director Tim Curley issues a press release announcing Sandusky's decision to retire following the 1999 season. The release says Sandusky planned to devote himself full-time to his charity, The Second Mile. In his 2000 autobiography, "Touched," Sandusky says he decided to leave after he "came to the realization I was not destined to become the head football coach at Penn State." Curley calls Sandusky "an integral part of Penn State" and "an inspiration to everyone inside and outside the program." His achievement as a human being, Curley says, "is splendidly demonstrated by the thousands of youngsters he touches annually through The Second Mile."

Speculation: If campus police came so close in 1998 with victim 6, were they and others watching Sandusky's treatment of victim 4 and finding it creepy if not criminal? Did Jerry get pushed because of something else he did at that time?
Whatever happened when he quit happened fast.
 
Speculation: If campus police came so close in 1998 with victim 6, were they and others watching Sandusky's treatment of victim 4 and finding it creepy if not criminal? Did Jerry get pushed because of something else he did at that time?
Whatever happened when he quit happened fast.

I think that one of the problems with this (or perhaps the only problem) is the time lapse.

The University Police, and Gary Schultz, knew about Victim 6 by June 2, 1998. Sandusky didn't make his announcement until July 1999 and was still coaching until December. That's an 18 month gap.

I would add that, at the start of the 1998 Season, Jay Paterno was promoted.
 
That statment by Curley -- "His achievement as a human being is splendidly demonstrated by the thousands of youngsters he touches annually through The Second Mile -- is about as creepy as it gets. I assume Curley is an intelligent man. It's hard to believe he could have known about the investigation in 98 and used that language.
 
I think that one of the problems with this (or perhaps the only problem) is the time lapse.

The University Police, and Gary Schultz, knew about Victim 6 by June 2, 1998. Sandusky didn't make his announcement until July 1999 and was still coaching until December. That's an 18 month gap.

I would add that, at the start of the 1998 Season, Jay Paterno was promoted.

But there is only 5 months in between victim 4 attending the Outback Bowl with Sandusky and Paterno telling Sandusky that he would not be Penn State's next head football coach.

The progression reminds me very much of an addict whose addictive behavior gets steadily worse over time. He barely avoids prosecution in June 1998 and promises it won't happen again. Of course, he doesn't stop. He can't stop. In fact, his behavior becomes more egregious, forcing his enablers to break through their denial. He is forced to retire. But the addiction is not addressed. It's not going to stop. It's not going to go away. He back in trouble in 2002. As a result, he's not allowed to bring children on campus. Once again, the addictive behavior is not address. He continues to molest children. Eventually he winds up driving to Clinton County to groom a child. A long way from the time he was able to "wine and dine" children at bowl games as a member of Penn State's coaching staff. He's finally hit his bottom. He's arrested. He, we pray, will never molest children again.

The above scenario is played out within families over and over. The family attempts to coverup one of the family member's addictive behavior and the behavior only escalates. But the addict will hit bottom, sooner or later. JMO.
 
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