Disturbing allegations involving former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky have put head coach Joe Paterno squarely in the center of controversy.
Sandusky was arrested on Saturday and charged with 40 counts of molesting eight underage boys over a 15-year period that allegedly took place while he was on Paterno’s coaching staff.
In addition to Sandusky’s arrest, Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and university vice president Gary Schultz have been charged with perjury in their grand jury testimony in the case.
Curley and Schultz have also been charged with failing to report what they knew about Sandusky’s alleged activities to law enforcement.
According to a statement by Pennsylvania attorney general Linda Kelly, Paterno was made aware of an incident that took place in the showers at the Lasch Football Building on Penn State’s campus in March 2002.
Kelly’s statement said that then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, a former Nittany Lions quarterback who is now a fulltime assistant, witnessed Sandusky sexually assaulting an underage boy in the showers.
According to Kelly, the graduate assistant went to Paterno’s home “to explain what he had seen.” But in his statement responding to the news of Sandusky’s arrest, Paterno said that McQueary had not been specific with him.
Paterno reported the incident to Curley the next day, but the Nittany Lions’ coach has been criticized for not contacting police himself.
Paterno said the reason he didn’t contact police after McQueary told him about the Sandusky incident was because he didn’t want to engage in hearsay.
But that argument is flawed based on Paterno’s stature within the Penn State community.
Moreover, since Curley and Schultz have been charged with failing to contact police about the alleged incidents, it appears that Paterno is getting a pass.
Chances are, Paterno knows the chief of police in State College and could have easily arranged for a private meeting to convey what he was told.
Had someone other than Paterno told police about an incident involving child molestation, perhaps those allegations wouldn’t have carried the same weight.
But when that information is provided by an iconic figure like Paterno, you can bet the police would have acted.
Considering the incident involved a minor, Paterno should have erred on the side of caution and quietly informed police, regardless if the information was hearsay.
Paterno unwittingly opened himself to accusations that he was more concerned about protecting the image of Penn State rather than protecting a child.
It was a fatal error the Nittany Lions coach may not be able to overcome.
Should he decide to step down as coach, or if he’s asked to resign amid the allegations, it will be a sad end to an otherwise magnificent career.
