Penn State and Pittsburgh Steeler legend Franco Harris has launched a crusade to rehabilitate his former coach Joe Paterno, who was left stained by the Jerry Sandusky scandal, along with the school itself.
He is the front for a group of 15,000 PSU alumni called Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship who say the guilty party is not Penn State but Sandusky’s charity, The Second Mile; State College police; Centre County Children and Youth Services; and the state Department of Public Welfare.
Well, the group has a point. It is about time that someone started making noise about the lack of an investigation by the appropriate authorities — including missing D.A. Ray Gricar — into the 1998 report of a molestation by Sandusky. And while JoePa was certainly no hero, he is not a villain either, and it is quite inappropriate to make him the face of the tragedy. Why would one be upset about an aging football coach’s failure to investigate when those charged to do investigations failed to investigate, especially considering that Paterno did pass on the report of the crime?
Penn State’s institutional role, however, can’t be ignored. School administrators all the way up to former President Graham Spanier covered up Sandusky’s crimes and the The Second Mile was certainly well-connected with PSU.
Even more damningly Spainer appears to have pointedly ignored at least one other accusation of child molestation involving a school celebrity — namely special education teacher John T. Neisworth.
Still, we are glad Franco’s group is stirring the pot and shining the light on the ignored heart of the scandal. Something really stinks in Happy Valley.
The Attempt To Rehabilitate Penn State
So all the Administrators are guilty? They are about to go on trial, maybe you should accord them a presumption of innocence as well. If you are making such a charged accusation you should provide the evidence or better yet wait until the trial is over. I applaud your defense of Joe Paterno but don’t do the same thing to Graham Spanier et al.
Spanier may or may not be acquitted of the crime with which he is charged but exonerating him would be akin to exonerating Cardinal Law — who has not been charged with any crime — for what occurred in the Archdiocese of Boston.
Penn State and the Catholic Church are both good institutions and neither should be destroyed but to deny that there were administrative weakness and failure at both is a grave mistake.
Nobody is yet in a position to speak authoritatively about Spanier or other administrators because they have not gone to trial. But may I suggest http://notpsu.blogspot.com/ — which has become the definitive site on the Sandusky scandal.
Appreciate the support but with regard to the administrators who you’ve already tried and convicted, there is a BIG difference between human failures and poor judgment and covering up the criminal behavior of a pedophile. It is WAY too soon to say that any of these men are guilty of a cover up. Should they have seen the red flags? Perhaps. But the same flags were waiving in the face of Jack Raykovitz at The Second Mile (he was aware of all allegations) and he was a TRAINED AND LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST who was ultimately responsible for the safety of these kids. He was told what happened. No fire alarms went off. Pedophiles hide in plain sight.
Sigh. “Cover Up”…Raykovitz was informed of 2001 & promptly blew it off. Sandusky was an Agent of the County by virtue of his Foster Parent status and position in Second Mile.
Folks need to realize that in PA our Attorney Generals Office is the Mandatory Regulator of non-profits. Hence Corbett had oversight of The Second Mile.
This is about access to and abuse of minors at a State Licensed Charity by a County Agent. This is the Cover Up no one is talking about.