Happy Valley Essay When you hear the words Penn State or State College spoken, people 's minds don’t immediately think of the history of sports in Happy Valley or Nittanyville, which what most students of Penn State still call Paternoville. They think of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual assault case. Jerry Sandusky served as the assistant coach under Joe Paterno during 1969 to 1999. He retired, but still maintained an office and worked with the Second-Mile at Penn State up until 2011.
In February 2001 the football assistant Mike McQueary reported to Coach Paterno that he witnessed a sexual encounter between Sandusky and a 10 year old boy in the showers of the Lasch Building. Paterno met with Curley, Schultz and Spanier and they agreed to confront Sandusky. March 5 they met with Sandusky to inform him that they were uncomfortable with his behavior and he could not bring young boys to the facilities anymore. Curley reported the incident to the executive director of The Second Mile, which concluded it was a “non-incident” and took no action.
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky, former defensive coordinator for Penn State, was accused of sexually abusing eight children during his time at Penn State. More news followed saying that officials at Penn State knew about the incidents, but failed to report any of it to law enforcement. Jerry Sandusky was with Penn State for a total of 32 years. In that time, his actions outside of football didn’t go completely unnoticed. In 1998, an 11-year-old boy told his mother that Sandusky showered with him and may have engaged in some inappropriate contact.
The Freeh report showed several officials of the university knew about the allegations of Sandusky’s behavior as early as 1998. The report indicated president Spanier, vice president Schultz, athletic director Curley and head football coach Paterno knew of Sandusky’s actions and failed to report them to the proper authorities. Even though Paterno reported the allegations to the president, Paterno failed to move past the president and report to the Pennsylvania police or the Board of Trustees. Freeh declared most senior leaders at Penn State showed a disregard for the welfare of Sandusky’s child victims for at least 14 years empowered Jerry Sandusky to continue his sexual child abuse (Gessler,
In 1998, a mother reported that Sandusky had showered with her son in one of the buildings on campus, which was quietly swept under the rug (Crandall, et al., 2014). In 2001, a football assistant, Mike McQueary witnessed a sexual encounter between Sandusky and a 10 year old boy and reported it to Coach Paterno (Crandall, et al., 2014). Paterno went to the group of four men who were made aware of the situation in 1998 and together, they confronted Paterno (Crandall, et al., 2014). Instead of reporting him to authorities, they told him to refrain from bringing young men to the facilities and informed the director of Sandusky’s charitable organization as well (Crandall, et al., 2014). When President Spanier next met with the board of trustees, he intentionally withheld the information regarding Sandusky’s actions (Crandall, et al.,
They used this through Sandusky’s son Matt talking, the Penn State student Tyler, Joe Paterno and the General Attorney of the town. Matt Sandusky got interviewed and told us about the back history of how he got to know Jerry. Matt stated “I went to the mid-summer camp. That’s where I first saw and met him”. (Happy Valley 08:20) and how Jerry really helped him in his time of need but also how he felt about the case.
Jerry Sandusky is a sexual predator that used his influence in the community of State College to protect himself as he sexually assaulted ten boys over fifteen years(O'Neill, 2012). Most of the new information revealed is about the case as it went through the different stages of the criminal trial. The trial took place at the Centre County Courthouse and is seen as a necessary part of healing and moving forward for the victims of the sexual predator(O'Neill, 2012). Sandusky was successful at manipulating his victims, friends, and the circumstances which allowed him to take advantage of troubled youth that were partaking in programs offered by the The Second Mile(O'Neill, 2012). Sandusky met most of his victims through The Second Mile nonprofit organization and was able to manipulate time with his victims while appearing to be a father figure to disadvantaged children(Hobson & Boren, 2016).Throughout all of my research it amazes me how bold Jerry Sandusky became with his victims and coworkers while plotting his attack on his victims.
There are many influential items that were brought up during the trial that the judge used to impose his sentence. After a jury found him guilty of over 45 separate charges the sentencing process began, the judge made a statement regarding Jerry Sandusky's status in the community and the fact that he was able to become a predator without anyone knowing and was able to keep it covered up for so long (Bohm & Haley, 2014). The judge continued by also making sure that Sandusky knew the sentencing was being based on the facts brought up in court and that they are true beyond a reasonable doubt (Daily News, 2012). He also must consider the fact the way Sandusky not only committed these crimes but the way it occurred, such as how he abused the trust of the victims who at first had trusted him. These crimes that were committed were not committed against strangers and the judge makes a comment that just that fact makes this a whole lot worse than if it were actually being committed against a stranger (Daily News, 2012).
Collectively, they publicly sought to deny the existence of a crisis looming at Penn State concerning various allegations levied against Jerry Sandusky. While their true motives for denying allegations in the decade leading up to the crisis may never be known, it is apparent their strategy and actions played a crucial role in what now is unequivocally regarded as a ‘cover-up’ by Penn State University officials. Employment of this strategy was evident in the manner in which Paterno, Spainer, Curley and Schultz ultimately addressed allegations of Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy on Penn State property in early 2002 – nearly a decade before the crisis erupted in the national
The Jerry Sandusky trial began in 2012 and was held in Centre County, Pennsylvania. Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in jail (Curry, 2015). The details of the case are horrific in nature, and worse is five men were made aware of the incidents and no action was taken to alert authorities. During the trial the victims were led through questions that all pointed toward the trust they had in Sandusky. The university is located in a small town setting where people work hard and have little; Sandusky reaching out to someone was considered a big deal.
Penn State restored their 112 football wins that had been stripped from Sandusky and Paterno although NCAA hit Penn State with a $60 million fine to fund child abuse-prevention programs. The University must reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period. Sandusky was an assistant coach to Paterno for many years and he was greatly looked upon. After this scandal I think that Penn state being punished for their actions were more than okay, the athletic office of Penn state covering up and hiding what Sandusky had been doing is morally not okay. Everyone is taught right from wrong, when you lie about something there will be consequences, Penn State coved up this scandal for too long and got hit hard.
The scandal at Penn State revolves around Jerry Sandusky who was eventually brought to public light for being a child rapist (Crandall, Parnell, & Spillan, 2014). In 1999, Sandusky was a retired emeritus professor and coach on the university’s football team ran by the legendary head coach, Joseph Paterno. Sandusky also created a charity called “The Second Mile” to help children who were underprivileged (Crandall, Parnell, & Spillan, 2014). This resume provided Sandusky the ability to maintain direct access to the athletic facilities, which is where he sexually assaulted children (Crandall, Parnell, & Spillan, 2014). There is an old saying, “the cover-up is worse than the scandal itself”.
Jerry Sandusky's son arrested, charged with child sexual abuse https://t.co/J94E77EbBZ — USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 13, 2017 The official said that this investigation started back in November. The minor's father contacted authorities about the alleged abuse. He stated that Sandusky had been allegedly sending his son text messages asking him for naked pictures of him. At the time, Jerry Sandusky's son was allegedly dating the mother
There is on average less than one story a week on the children sexual abuse topic and cases are not covered in depth. Statistic on U.S. newspaper stories on child sexual abuse and pedophilia from 2007 to 2009 shows that only 2% of all stories were written involving celebrities names and the majority of articles were involving general information about criminal justice. As a result, when child sexual abuse cases are exposed, it is shown only through a criminal justice lens. (Bmsgorg, May 1, 2011) The crowns that we put on celebrities heads let them escape the law.
Doubt: Innocent priest or child molesting predator? Doubt is a play created by the author John Patrick Shanley in which Father Flynn, a priest, is accused of molesting the young boys at the school in which he is a priest at. In the school there is two teachers who have different opinions on if he is guilty or not. In the play there is many points that lead to believing that Father Flynn is guilty. Father Flynn is guilty because the little boys attending the school are afraid to be alone with him and The mother of a student, Donald Muller; her knowledge on his sexuality.
