Former Penn State Coach Arrested

[33girl]

He didn't witness it. That's my point. He was told about it by another person. What that person's motives are he does not know. He's Joe Paterno, not Carnac.

I mean, as far as the janitor who saw it and walked on by, there isn't lava hot enough to dump him in. That's a whole different matter.

[amIblue?]

I'm not talking specifically about Paterno. The portion of the article that you quoted said that those who contact authorities are taking the law into their own hands. That's the part that is asinine.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

I'm not talking specifically about Paterno. The portion of the article that you quoted said that those who contact authorities are taking the law into their own hands. That's the part that is asinine.

Again, the line is, "If everyone who SUSPECTED child abuse..."

And yes, if everyone who suspects a crime has taken place called the police, the police would never be able to do their jobs.. They'd go crazy. That's why you see Judge Judy laugh people right off their high horse.. Because they walk into court THINKING that a person had damaged their property, but there's no one there with them to verify that they actually saw the person hitting their car with a golf club.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

I'm not talking specifically about Paterno. The portion of the article that you quoted said that those who contact authorities are taking the law into their own hands. That's the part that is asinine.

In an institutional setting. Institutional setting =/= everyday life.

I could say I "suspect" my history professor of child abuse and go straight the police. Never mind I have never seen my history prof in the presence of a child and am just pissed about the D I got on my paper.

[AOII Angel]

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefoot...scandal-110711

Police say Paterno didn't do enough.

[Kevin]

Again, I know nothing about Pennsylvania law, but reporting is a legal requirement for absolutely everyone with knowledge of abuse in Oklahoma. That would have included Paterno in this hypothetical.

And even that legal requirement doesn't result in the deluge of reports to DHS that you'd think occur. I've made many reports when clients came in and informed me of ongoing child abuse. It's not a big deal. It first goes to a caseworker who then checks to see whether the child is okay. They get to interview the child and make sure their living situation is minimally satisfactory and then they either move on, recommend services like a safety plan or ask for a pickup order to take the child into protective custody.

In 33's situation where she "suspects" her prof of being a child abuser, she could go to the police with any facts she has, but just thinking someone is the sort of person who'd abuse kids isn't going to be enough to make it criminal for her not to. Clearly, the folks up at Penn State had more than mere suspicion.

[Greek_or_Geek?]

If I walk in on a man raping a little boy, the chain of command starts at my fists.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Randomly catching a coach in the locker room shower with a boy is reportable. It is not a matter of your eyes playing tricks on you or a possible misunderstanding.

If you are the person who did the random catching.

Again, that WASN'T Paterno.

[33girl]

On a slightly different matter...

Game days are usually "white out" for the stadium. Some people are proposing a "blue out" or "black out."

Do you think this is an effective way of supporting the school and helping the victims to begin to heal?

Also, I just want to say that the townies are pissing me off. They have been sucking off the Penn State tit for a long time and now they're the first ones building the gallows - when in reality, they were probably more aware of this situation than anyone else. Where else did the victimized children come from?

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Again, that WASN'T Paterno.

I did not know you all were talking about Paterno. My bad.

[AOII Angel]

I can tell you that as a physician, I can't just ignore a report of child abuse. It doesn't matter if I don't see it myself. If someone tells me they witnessed something like this, I have to call child protective services. Your responsibility is to assure that someone checks on the child.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I can tell you that as a physician, I can't just ignore a report of child abuse. It doesn't matter if I don't see it myself. If someone tells me they witnessed something like this, I have to call child protective services. Your responsibility is to assure that someone checks on the child.

That gets into being a mandatory reporter. I had the same responsibility when I was a preschool teacher during college.

I do wonder if Paterno, as a state employee at a college, had a similar responsibility. Like Kevin, I don't know enough PA law to say one way or the other.

Either way, you have to think Paterno made a conscious choice to do only what he thought he was required to do. He heard something awful about someone he had known for years, and chose to limit his reporting of the incident.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I did not know you all were talking about Paterno. My bad.

I wasn't talking about Paterno.

[amIblue?]

Yes, the people at Penn State had more than mere suspicion. They had two witnesses to a 10 year old boy being raped.

[psusue]

That's the thing. Paterno didn't see anything. And for all he knew the graduate assistant who reported it to him could have had a longstanding issue with Sandusky. The fact is that Paterno reported it to his superiors the next day. I've heard reports that he did continue to check on it, but child abuse cases do move slowly.

We also need to remember that despite the allegations about Sandusky now, at the time he was very well thought of (creator of a philanthropy for at risk youth, legendary football coach, etc) by those around him. This would mean that it would be hard to believe that he could do a thing like that. However abusers often are people that seem like they have an excellent reputation (to outsiders).

In terms of the grad assistant who witnessed the rape, I can only guess that he was in incredible shock, which is why he didn't intervene. I have no other answer than that. I don't agree with what he did, but I also know that whether he is held legally responsible or not, this will haunt him for the rest of his life.