Okay, I finally hit my boiling point on this. Here is what I sent to Mike Argento (
margento@ydr.com):
Mike,
For over six years I have held my tongue and prayed that journalists would do more fact checking when writing anything regarding the Jerry Sandusky story. Apparently, my wish is never going to come true. In your article you state:
“In that way, what the Catholic church has done is not that much different than how Penn State responded to charges that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had molested and raped numerous children.”
- Penn State received exactly ONE report of “horseplay” in the now infamous 2001 shower incident … not rape and definitely not “numerous”.
- The boy in the 2001 shower incident (Allan Myers) is on record to an investigator stating “nothing inappropriate occurred” and invited Jerry Sandusky to his wedding.
- The three not guilty charges against Sandusky were all from the 2001 incident.
- The only place where rape is tied to the 2001 shower incident is in the Grand Jury Presentment and Mike McQueary is on record as saying he never used that word.
- Charges of conspiracy were dropped against Penn State administrators since there was no evidence of a cover up.
- Penn State administrators reported the 2001 shower incident to the CEO of The Second Mile (Jack Raykovitz) which was Sandusky’s charity. Jack is a licensed child psychologist and a mandatory reporter, but somehow he and TSM have avoided investigation. Now THERE is a story for you.
You later go on to state:
“Both cases have an element of authority. Parishioners have absolute faith and trust in the leadership of the church, just as Penn State football fans had absolute loyalty and trust in Joe Paterno and the university’s leadership.”
- When informed about the horseplay in 2001, Joe Paterno referenced the university policy and reported it to his boss (Tim Curley) and the head of the University Police (Gary Schultz). He followed the policy to the letter and even followed up with Mike McQueary to make sure he was satisfied with the University’s handling of the situation (which he was).
- The lead investigator (Frank Fina) in 2013 stated that he found no evidence that Joe Paterno participated in any cover up.
- Joe Paterno is the only person who did not want to give Sandusky access to campus facilities as part of his 1999 retirement package, but he was overruled. So much for being the most powerful person at Penn State!
- In 2011 the NCAA did not have a policy on how to handle this type of situation, so around 2013 the NCAA developed and adopted a new policy for this type of case. It was, surprise, basically tailored around exactly how Joe Paterno handled it back in 2001.
So in summary, Joe Paterno did everything that was required from him and there was no evidence that Penn State administrators tried to cover up any part of the Jerry Sandusky shower incident of 2001. Here is a serious question for you … why would you use Penn State with one case and no cover up as your simile to the Catholic Church scandal and not Michigan State where there were over 100 cases and clearly a cover up/protection for Larry Nassar? I think I know the answer but would prefer to hear it from you.
Thanks,
xxxx xxxxxxxx
I will let you know if I get a reply.