The Penn State Sexual Abuse Scandal

The more that comes out about the sexual abuse allegations against former Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky, and the inaction of several high profile men at Penn State, the more disgusting this is becoming. Not only the act of preying on innocent young boys whom Sandusky met through his foundation, The Second Mile, is disgusting, but the fact that there appears to be a cover up is almost as appalling. There are many questions that need to be answered both legally and morally. I'm not going to get into the details of the acts itself, but the questions remain as how this was allowed to continue and why Sandusky had full access to all Penn State facilities up to this day?

While I'm not, in anyway ignoring the victims in this case, but another question has to be asked, what should happen to Head Coach Joe Paterno? Paterno, who seemingly has run a clean program through his entire 46 year run, and has recently become the all-time winnigest coach in FBS history, has come under fire as well. Basically it comes down to, how much did he know and when did he know it. He reported an incident that he was made aware of to his boss, then Athletic Director Tim Curley (who stepped down early Monday morning). What exactly did Paterno know? Did he know details about the incident or did he just hear of something, and not knowing much about it, reported it to his boss, as he should. Did he know more? Should he have followed up with his AD and asked him what was being done about this? Thse are all tough questions that need to be answered. If you hear of sex abuse allegations against a child, wouldn't you go to the authorities? We can all say we would, but it comes down to, how much did he know and when did he know it.

I'm not defending Paterno, or anyone else involved in the Penn State program. I have thought a lot about whether Paterno should step down or not and I think he should. Not only should he resign, but anyone that knew about these allegations against Sandusky and anyone who continued to allow him to be involved with the Penn State program and allowing him on campus should also resign. There are a lot of people to blame in allowing the abuse of these children to go on. It's absolutely disgusting to me that someone didn't do the right thing. If the Athletic Director was told about this, if the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance was told about this and did not investigate further or turn this over to the police, shame on them. Both AD Curley and Senior VP of Business and Finance, Gary Schultz, have bothe been arraigned on charges of lying to a grand jury and failing to properly report alleged child sexual abuse.

Paterno will hold his regular, weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon at 12:30pm. Reporters have been told to only ask questions about their upcoming game against Nebraska this weekend. I highly doubt any good reporter there will heed those instructions. Questions have to be asked. What did Paterno know...How much did he know...When did he know it...Did he do everything in his power to stop this? Those are just a few of the questions that Paterno needs to answer.