look, Joe Paterno is a good man and a fantastic coah. He didnt do anythig wrong, expect pick the defensive coordinater. If anything, Jerry Sandusky should be the one being tarnished for doing it, while always having an unclean record. Oh ya, Joe has always had a clean record, but the only thing bad on his record is a loss every once and a while for Penn, thats it guys! Joe can fix this, and he is, but Jerry CANT! so theres a definate no on this question. Hope you guys agreed.
Matt - 12 years ago
Joe Paterno's reputation is forever tarnished. He cared more about Penn St. and it's football program than lives of these young boys. This just goes to show how warped some people can get. He doesn't need to go to jail, because his legacy is ruined, and his legacy is all JoePa cared about. Obviously, or this situation would have been resolved fifteen years ago.
Marie - 12 years ago
And I'm just a little more than curious about the prosecutor that didn't prosecute in....1998 (!!!) that disappeared and has now been declared dead.
What was on that computer? And what happened to him?
Marie - 12 years ago
You know what is BS about this story?
That he was banned from bringing LITTLE BOYS to the Penn State locker room....how many years ago? TEN! Ten years ago.
And yet Paterno and that bunch are SHOCKED? Uh, yeah.
They need to be jailed, and Penn State will be lucky not to go into bankruptcy over this.
mark - 12 years ago
after reading the grand jury report i was sickened but, since when is one man ever in control/responsible for another mans alleged maliciousness? If one sees or witnesses such maliciousness YES then one should take action and call 911 and the police. Isn't it ironic that hind sight is always 20/2o. I just don't understand how we have become so malicious with our thought process in our country. We are innocent in our country until proven guilty. how many more innocent people have to be destroyed before everyone if "happy" let us let the justice system take place before we all come to judgement in this matter . My thoughts and prayers are with all involved, MAY WE ALL DO THE RIGHT THING AND NOT BE SO MALICIOUS !
jeff - 12 years ago
The justice system IS based on Innocent until proven guilty. Our opinions are not! And my opinion is that if Joe Pa or anyone else knew about this sicko raping little boys in the showers, they should all be fired and whatever criminal charges that pertain to it, be brought upon them to the fullest extent of the law!!! Unbelievable! Child Rape???
Laura - 12 years ago
As an educator, I am a mandated reporter if I suspect child abuse. I am to report to Children Services. Isn't Joe a mandated reporter? As an alumni, I am so sadden.
Gary - 12 years ago
Why don't we wait to hear all the facts, not just the allegations, before we make our rush to judgement in this case? Joe Paterno passed along the second hand information he knew. If he was trying to cover for Mr Sandusky he would not have bothered to do that.
tcollier - 12 years ago
Paterno did the correct thing in reporting the crime. Should he have blown the whistle on his superiors' failure to act? Probably, but that's a judgement call, not a crime.
Sam Mills - 12 years ago
I married a gal whose father was a pedophile. Got over 100 children-babies in his years. Now is rotting in hell. All victims are in denial---post tramatic stress. This coach was probably abused in his childhood. He really believes he is innocent and can be o so convincing. Joe is guilty as hell and deserves prison for failure to report a crime any school teacher would do. This crime is real and will not be forgiven by God or any other.
Sue - 12 years ago
As usual, let the liberal press vilify the outstanding and generous long-time coach, rather than the scum that has allegedly committed an untoward act. Make it a POINT to tarnish the reputation of a man who has given everything to PSU and the students he has taught. So the Graduate Assistant was cool to report up the ranks and NOT go further, but a respected man like Joe Paterno is RESPONSIBLE. Smacks of the nonsense we suffered under the insipid late Miles Brand.
Joe Pa - 12 years ago
The liberal media is so quick to put the blame on rich white men such as Mike Leach and myself.
David - 12 years ago
Joe should go to prison because he should know how it feels to be like a 10 year old child that can not defend themself.
phil - 12 years ago
Joe Paterno did not commit the alleged abuse. Coach Sandusky was not on Joe's staff at the time these alleged events were coming to light. Joe P. reported the situation up the chain of command as required so all those calling for Joe P. to step down are probably working off of a different agenda concerning Coach Paterno. Are these alleged incidents with Coach Sandusky stunning, yes. However to reflexively include Joe. P. in the mix is irresponsible. Now if Coach Paterno was involved in abusing children or if Coach Sandusky was still on the Penn State staff when this came to light, then that is a different story but that is NOT the story we are dealing with here.
Bob - 12 years ago
First of all, we don't know exactly what the graduate assistant told Joe. He talked to his father first, then the next day, he talked to Joe. It's possible he left out a lot of the details. In fact, in Joe's statement, he said he wasn't aware of the details of the 2002 event that the graduate assistant saw. Secondly, Joe reported the incident up his chain of command, as he was supposed to do. It's quite possible that Paterno tried to find out the status of the investigation. At which point, he would have been told something like "it is being investigated" or "it was investigated." This has happened in the past when the university investigated potential illegal activity of a football player and Joe was asked the status of the player by the press. His answer was always that he was not privy to a university investigation.
TimB - 12 years ago
The grad assistant eyewitness should have called the police himself right away in 2002 when he saw a crime being committed rather than waiting until the next day to tell Paterno. He deserves much more blame than Paterno.
After almost 10 years, it is hard to know what Paterno was told at the time given how memories fade or change with time. The grad assistant has just as much motive to lie now as Paterno, if not more, because the grad assistant should have called the police himself.
Jay - 12 years ago
Paterno has enormous power and he chose not to use it. If he would have pressed the issue an investigation would have occurred in 2002. He was worried about his program, his friend and colleague but not the innocent children that were being abused. A grown man does not take showers with a boy and then call it "horsing around". Disgusting.
Rubiconss - 12 years ago
As usual, people with opinions without a command of the "Facts". Despite the fact that this is fairly recent news nationally, the investigation is not new information. Paterno did exactly what he was supposed to do immediately upon being notified on a Sunday at his home - He reported it up the chain of command, a concept foreign to many civilians. Everybody has a boss and that is who you report to when a problem surfaces. Sandusky was NOT under Paternos management at the time of the report. Sandusky was operating within the purvue of his charity and using University facilities at (I'm sure) the request and approval through the atletic directors office.
Does anybody really believe for a moment that Sandusky was doing this with the knowlege of Paterno or anybody else for that matter? IF Sandusky is found to be guilty of what he has been charged with then there isn't a deep enough hole in Happy Valley to throw him into BUT last I checked we had a system of justice in this country and the accused is presumed innocent until guilt is proven.
How about we let the system work as designed and not try and convict here on the StupidNet.
But hey, who's to say that someones reputation of 40 or 50 years isn't worth an extension of common fairness like Due Process? I wonder if those ready to convict would want to be treated with the same lynchmob mentality if it was them that had been accused?
LynchMobs are effecient though, aren't they?
Dave - 12 years ago
Paterno carried out his repsonsibilities and reported the incident to his boss the AD who in turn reported it to the President of the university. In my opinion the president should fry along with the AD but that Paterno can. OT be held responsible for their non-action.
Skip Riva - 12 years ago
I am a Penn State graduate, and am totally disgusted with Sandusky and the penn state officials.
Maybe Paterno was legally correct in reporting this incident to the AD, but he and all other officials did not go beyond their own campus.
That is so wrong it that if it is not criminal , it should be.
Ohio State fired their coach over not reporting a tattoo incident.Penn. State should fire Paterno, the president of the University and all others who hid their heads in the sand.
Alan Woodward - 12 years ago
It's amazing how people become experts based on the sensationalized information that the news stations have aired. There's definitely a scandal going on in not-so-Happy Valley, but to so quickly condemn Joe Paterno is ludicrous. I thought our justice system was based on the premise, "innocent until proven guilty" and not "guilty by association".
Mark - 12 years ago
How is Joe Paterno "shocked" by this news and by these charges when an hysterical assistant told him in 2002 he saw this monster in the Penn State showers molesting a naked 10 year old boy? Joe should have taken a leadership position in all this, right from the get go, and blown the cover off.
jim - 12 years ago
The troubling issue about joe paterno -- and it must be on a lot of people's minds -- is why he didn't follow up with the AD and the university, choosing instead to allow a former associate who was described to him as a sexual predator and at the time of the report to paterno in 2002 had full use of the football and university facilities. So it amounts to having turned a blind eye on the fact that a serious sexual predator was on the loose a number of years thereafter . Why didn't joe follow up? That definitely reflects on him. It's also said by pennsylvania media that sandusky was investigated sometime in the late 90s by the police on just such a charge, but not enough evidence was found; at that time joe gave him the cold shoulder and sandusky "retired" from penn state. So it wasn't as if joe was blindsided in 2002 by the (by then) eyewitness account from the grad assistant. In joe's case it's a tragic case of a sin of omission.
I am amazed that there are any "no" votes here! Great coach, living legend and all that aside.....He knew and did NOTHING. He needs to go along with anyone else who was in the know. Those legally liable need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Tim Milliron - 12 years ago
The grad assistant and father told Joe exactly what he saw when Sandusky was raping a 10 year old, Joe was trying to protect the football program.......get rid of them all-Joe included. Lucky if all do not go to prison.
look, Joe Paterno is a good man and a fantastic coah. He didnt do anythig wrong, expect pick the defensive coordinater. If anything, Jerry Sandusky should be the one being tarnished for doing it, while always having an unclean record. Oh ya, Joe has always had a clean record, but the only thing bad on his record is a loss every once and a while for Penn, thats it guys! Joe can fix this, and he is, but Jerry CANT! so theres a definate no on this question. Hope you guys agreed.
Joe Paterno's reputation is forever tarnished. He cared more about Penn St. and it's football program than lives of these young boys. This just goes to show how warped some people can get. He doesn't need to go to jail, because his legacy is ruined, and his legacy is all JoePa cared about. Obviously, or this situation would have been resolved fifteen years ago.
And I'm just a little more than curious about the prosecutor that didn't prosecute in....1998 (!!!) that disappeared and has now been declared dead.
What was on that computer? And what happened to him?
You know what is BS about this story?
That he was banned from bringing LITTLE BOYS to the Penn State locker room....how many years ago? TEN! Ten years ago.
And yet Paterno and that bunch are SHOCKED? Uh, yeah.
They need to be jailed, and Penn State will be lucky not to go into bankruptcy over this.
after reading the grand jury report i was sickened but, since when is one man ever in control/responsible for another mans alleged maliciousness? If one sees or witnesses such maliciousness YES then one should take action and call 911 and the police. Isn't it ironic that hind sight is always 20/2o. I just don't understand how we have become so malicious with our thought process in our country. We are innocent in our country until proven guilty. how many more innocent people have to be destroyed before everyone if "happy" let us let the justice system take place before we all come to judgement in this matter . My thoughts and prayers are with all involved, MAY WE ALL DO THE RIGHT THING AND NOT BE SO MALICIOUS !
The justice system IS based on Innocent until proven guilty. Our opinions are not! And my opinion is that if Joe Pa or anyone else knew about this sicko raping little boys in the showers, they should all be fired and whatever criminal charges that pertain to it, be brought upon them to the fullest extent of the law!!! Unbelievable! Child Rape???
As an educator, I am a mandated reporter if I suspect child abuse. I am to report to Children Services. Isn't Joe a mandated reporter? As an alumni, I am so sadden.
Why don't we wait to hear all the facts, not just the allegations, before we make our rush to judgement in this case? Joe Paterno passed along the second hand information he knew. If he was trying to cover for Mr Sandusky he would not have bothered to do that.
Paterno did the correct thing in reporting the crime. Should he have blown the whistle on his superiors' failure to act? Probably, but that's a judgement call, not a crime.
I married a gal whose father was a pedophile. Got over 100 children-babies in his years. Now is rotting in hell. All victims are in denial---post tramatic stress. This coach was probably abused in his childhood. He really believes he is innocent and can be o so convincing. Joe is guilty as hell and deserves prison for failure to report a crime any school teacher would do. This crime is real and will not be forgiven by God or any other.
As usual, let the liberal press vilify the outstanding and generous long-time coach, rather than the scum that has allegedly committed an untoward act. Make it a POINT to tarnish the reputation of a man who has given everything to PSU and the students he has taught. So the Graduate Assistant was cool to report up the ranks and NOT go further, but a respected man like Joe Paterno is RESPONSIBLE. Smacks of the nonsense we suffered under the insipid late Miles Brand.
The liberal media is so quick to put the blame on rich white men such as Mike Leach and myself.
Joe should go to prison because he should know how it feels to be like a 10 year old child that can not defend themself.
Joe Paterno did not commit the alleged abuse. Coach Sandusky was not on Joe's staff at the time these alleged events were coming to light. Joe P. reported the situation up the chain of command as required so all those calling for Joe P. to step down are probably working off of a different agenda concerning Coach Paterno. Are these alleged incidents with Coach Sandusky stunning, yes. However to reflexively include Joe. P. in the mix is irresponsible. Now if Coach Paterno was involved in abusing children or if Coach Sandusky was still on the Penn State staff when this came to light, then that is a different story but that is NOT the story we are dealing with here.
First of all, we don't know exactly what the graduate assistant told Joe. He talked to his father first, then the next day, he talked to Joe. It's possible he left out a lot of the details. In fact, in Joe's statement, he said he wasn't aware of the details of the 2002 event that the graduate assistant saw. Secondly, Joe reported the incident up his chain of command, as he was supposed to do. It's quite possible that Paterno tried to find out the status of the investigation. At which point, he would have been told something like "it is being investigated" or "it was investigated." This has happened in the past when the university investigated potential illegal activity of a football player and Joe was asked the status of the player by the press. His answer was always that he was not privy to a university investigation.
The grad assistant eyewitness should have called the police himself right away in 2002 when he saw a crime being committed rather than waiting until the next day to tell Paterno. He deserves much more blame than Paterno.
After almost 10 years, it is hard to know what Paterno was told at the time given how memories fade or change with time. The grad assistant has just as much motive to lie now as Paterno, if not more, because the grad assistant should have called the police himself.
Paterno has enormous power and he chose not to use it. If he would have pressed the issue an investigation would have occurred in 2002. He was worried about his program, his friend and colleague but not the innocent children that were being abused. A grown man does not take showers with a boy and then call it "horsing around". Disgusting.
As usual, people with opinions without a command of the "Facts". Despite the fact that this is fairly recent news nationally, the investigation is not new information. Paterno did exactly what he was supposed to do immediately upon being notified on a Sunday at his home - He reported it up the chain of command, a concept foreign to many civilians. Everybody has a boss and that is who you report to when a problem surfaces. Sandusky was NOT under Paternos management at the time of the report. Sandusky was operating within the purvue of his charity and using University facilities at (I'm sure) the request and approval through the atletic directors office.
Does anybody really believe for a moment that Sandusky was doing this with the knowlege of Paterno or anybody else for that matter? IF Sandusky is found to be guilty of what he has been charged with then there isn't a deep enough hole in Happy Valley to throw him into BUT last I checked we had a system of justice in this country and the accused is presumed innocent until guilt is proven.
How about we let the system work as designed and not try and convict here on the StupidNet.
But hey, who's to say that someones reputation of 40 or 50 years isn't worth an extension of common fairness like Due Process? I wonder if those ready to convict would want to be treated with the same lynchmob mentality if it was them that had been accused?
LynchMobs are effecient though, aren't they?
Paterno carried out his repsonsibilities and reported the incident to his boss the AD who in turn reported it to the President of the university. In my opinion the president should fry along with the AD but that Paterno can. OT be held responsible for their non-action.
I am a Penn State graduate, and am totally disgusted with Sandusky and the penn state officials.
Maybe Paterno was legally correct in reporting this incident to the AD, but he and all other officials did not go beyond their own campus.
That is so wrong it that if it is not criminal , it should be.
Ohio State fired their coach over not reporting a tattoo incident.Penn. State should fire Paterno, the president of the University and all others who hid their heads in the sand.
It's amazing how people become experts based on the sensationalized information that the news stations have aired. There's definitely a scandal going on in not-so-Happy Valley, but to so quickly condemn Joe Paterno is ludicrous. I thought our justice system was based on the premise, "innocent until proven guilty" and not "guilty by association".
How is Joe Paterno "shocked" by this news and by these charges when an hysterical assistant told him in 2002 he saw this monster in the Penn State showers molesting a naked 10 year old boy? Joe should have taken a leadership position in all this, right from the get go, and blown the cover off.
The troubling issue about joe paterno -- and it must be on a lot of people's minds -- is why he didn't follow up with the AD and the university, choosing instead to allow a former associate who was described to him as a sexual predator and at the time of the report to paterno in 2002 had full use of the football and university facilities. So it amounts to having turned a blind eye on the fact that a serious sexual predator was on the loose a number of years thereafter . Why didn't joe follow up? That definitely reflects on him. It's also said by pennsylvania media that sandusky was investigated sometime in the late 90s by the police on just such a charge, but not enough evidence was found; at that time joe gave him the cold shoulder and sandusky "retired" from penn state. So it wasn't as if joe was blindsided in 2002 by the (by then) eyewitness account from the grad assistant. In joe's case it's a tragic case of a sin of omission.
I am amazed that there are any "no" votes here! Great coach, living legend and all that aside.....He knew and did NOTHING. He needs to go along with anyone else who was in the know. Those legally liable need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The grad assistant and father told Joe exactly what he saw when Sandusky was raping a 10 year old, Joe was trying to protect the football program.......get rid of them all-Joe included. Lucky if all do not go to prison.