Tag Archives: Jerry Sandusky

A big domino falls in Nassar sex scandal … more to come?

Lou Anna Simon has quit her day job. It wasn’t just any job, either.

She was president of Michigan State University, the school that employed a doctor who this week was sentenced to as many as 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young female athletes.

Larry Nassar is now heading for prison for the rest of his life. He heard from scores of his victims during the sentencing phase of his trial. He said he is sorry, but the judge, Rosemarie Aquilini, didn’t believe him, declaring it was her “honor and privilege” to hand out the maximum sentence.

Then there’s the responsibility for the long-standing scandal that has rocked the sporting world far beyond the East Lansing, Mich., university.

Simon quit because this despicable conduct happened on her watch.

The question now must be asked: Did others know of this conduct but failed to act?

This hideous scandal does bring to my mind another one at another school, involving individuals charged with caring for youngsters. Do the names of Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno ring a bell?

Sandusky served as an assistant football coach at Penn State University. Then he was convicted of sexually abusing boys. Meanwhile, the legendary head coach — aka “Jo Pa” — got caught up in the scandal by allegedly looking the other way while he knew of the abuse that was occurring.

Penn State fired Paterno, who later died of cancer. Sandusky is serving a lengthy prison sentence.

We are learning from the Nassar scandal — as well as from the Sandusky scandal — that these events don’t occur in a vacuum. The men who do these things so very often do so with the implied — if not the outright — endorsement of their employers.

The implication surfaces when those in charge do nothing to stop this kind of hideous behavior as it is occurring.

Therefore, I am betting that Larry Nassar’s downfall will bring others with him.

JoePa's wins restored at Penn State

How does one react to the news that the late Joe Paterno once again is the winningest coach in NCAA football history?

Man, this leaves me with incredibly mixed feelings.

The NCAA and Penn State University have reached a settlement that removes a sanction imposed on PSU because of the hideous conduct of one of its assistant football coaches and the assertion that Coach Paterno — at one time the living, breathing example of moral rectitude in college football — looked the other way while incidents of child abuse were occurring.

http://news.psu.edu/story/341060/2015/01/16/board-trustees/board-trustees-approves-terms-proposed-ncaa-lawsuit?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=psu%20official

The Penn State board of trustees has agreed unanimously to pay $60 million toward child abuse prevention programs and to aid children who fall victims to ghastly abuse. The sanctions are lifted, Paterno’s record gets 112 wins restored, and assistant coach Jerry Sandusky — who was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse of children — will remain in prison, where he belongs.

Paterno’s reputation has been destroyed, even with the restoration of the victories. His standing as the football coach with more wins than anyone else will include the proverbial asterisk.

This hideous scandal really wasn’t about what happened on the football field. It was about the monstrous abuse delivered to children by a sexual predator. One has nothing to do with the other.

I guess my reaction, therefore, to this outcome is to be glad that the record has been restored. It’s not so much for “JoPa,” but for the young student-athletes who participated in attaining those victories in the first place.