Saturday, November 5, 2011

Former PSU Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky Facing Felony Sex Crime Charges.

Penn State has a long standing reputation of being a moral compass in college athletics.  Head coach Joe Paterno has always focused on trying to recruit kids who will go to class and get an education on top of being pretty good athletes. 

It's what has made Penn State stand out over quite a few other noteworthy programs during his 46 year tenure.

I imagine I'm not the only Penn State alumni who is completely shocked to hear the news that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was indicted on felony sex crime charges. 

According to the Patriot-News, Sandusky is facing 40 counts of various crimes.  A two year grand jury investigation resulted in the indictment.  The alleged charges range from 1996-2005.  Makes you wonder if Sandusky's autobiography, "Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story", had more of a hidden meaning to the title. 

The actually name of Sandusky's autobiography.
You can't make this up...
Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1998, so going off the charges listed, some of this allegedly took place during his Penn State tenure.

Sandusky is the founder of The Second Mile, a statewide non-profit organization that plans, organizes, and offers activities and programs for children - and adults who work with them - to promote self-confidence as well as physical, academic, and personal success.

I am always in the camp of "innocent until proven guilty" but it's hard to look at all these charges that took over two years to be filed, and not think SOMETHING happened. 

The big thing one has to know, is who knew what and when in the Penn State administration.  Joe Paterno and athletic director Tim Curley both testified before the grand jury during their investigation.

Sandusky was often rumored to be the next head coach at Penn State after Paterno retired, and yet at the age of 55 he suddenly retired and disappeared from the limelight.  Makes you wonder doesn't it?

Several media entities around Pittsburgh (Chris Mueller and Mark Madden) are asking the same questions I am. 

What if Paterno and Penn State knew about this and covered it up?

How did no one in the Central Pennsylvania media hear about this before now?

What happens if we find out PSU DID know about all of this?  Surely some heads would roll.

It remains alleged of course, so I will wait and see what happens in the trial. Regardless, the whole situation disgusts me and I am sure many of you out there as well.

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