Penn State Scandal

A huge scandal has happened on the campus of Penn State University.  Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky has been accused of molesting young boys at the university and other places.  Head coach Joe Paterno was fired, assistant coach Mike McQueary has been put on administrative leave, and Graham Sprainer, university president, resigned.  Tim Curley, athletic director, and Gary Schultz, vice president for finance and business, have been “charged with perjury and failure to report abusive allegations.” (Wogenrich, 2011, The Morning Call)  Molesting of young people is unpardonable and those involved should be punished by law, but people are innocent until proven guilty.  People’s reputations and jobs shouldn’t be taken away over speculation.

There seems to be a lot of unanswered questions and people are losing their jobs and reputations over speculation rather than fact at this point. Some people’s stories are starting to change on a daily basis. For instance, McQueary claims to have been an eye witness to one of the instances of molestation at the university.  In a handwritten statement to the police, he didn’t say that he had reported the incident.  Then in an email he sent he said that he stopped the molesting and reported it to the police.  Police later said that they cannot find a police report of the incident. 

To be perfectly clear on my stance, the rape of young people is inexcusable.  Anyone who knew about it and didn’t say anything to prevent or stop the molesting should be held accountable and be punished to the fullest extent of the law. I am just concerned for the reputations and jobs of some people involved that may have not had a part of the crime at all.  I hope that people’s reputations aren’t permanently damaged and more people don’t lose their jobs over the case until all the facts have been presented.

Sources:

Armas, G. (November 11, 2011). PSU: McQueary put on administrative leave. KSL. Retrieved from http://www.ksl.com/?nid=283&sid=18038476
CBS News. (November 15, 2011) McQueary email: I did go to the police. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57325469/mcqueary-email-i-did-go-to-the-police/

Ganim, S. (November 16, 2011). Mike McQueary’s statement to the police doesn’t say he stopped attack or notified police about Sandusky allegations. Pennlive.com. Retrieved from http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/mcquearys_statement_in_line_wi.html

Smith, R. (November 19, 2011). NCAA launches investigation of Penn St. ESPN. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7251458/penn-state-nittany-lions-ncaa-launching-investigation-wake-scandal

Wogenrich, M. & McGill, A. (November 15, 2011). McQuery: ‘I did stop it’. The Morning Call. Retrieved from http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-penn-state-scandal-mcqueary-20111115,0,1687969.story