Mike McQueary, the graduate assistant who testified to seeing Jerry Sandusky rape a 10 year old in the shower was supposed to coach the sidelines for the Penn State/Nebraska game on Saturday. That has all changed. First McQueary was told he wasn’t to coach on Saturday because of death threats. As of Friday night, he was placed on indefinite leave.
The press originally described McQueary as a graduate student. The picture painted of him made one think of some little nerd who just happened to trip over this horrible scene in the shower rooms. That picture was rather disingenuous. Mike McQueary was the starting quarterback for Penn State during the 1997 season. In 2000, he joined the staff as a graduate assistant receivers coach. He never worked for Sandusky, who had retired before McQueary came on board as an employee.
McQueary makes no sense to me. Why didn’t he rescue the kid? Why didn’t he call the cops? What was he afraid of? I can’t imagine any adult not rescuing the kid, if not by direct intervention, at least by calling for help or the police. Furthermore, I can’t imagine any 28 year old adult man telling other men he didn’t stop the rape of a child. Yet McQueary testified in court to exactly that, during the grand jury inquiry.
McQueary should go the way of Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz. He witnessed a crime and he told his bosses rather than those in the position to do something about the crime. Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz, on the other hand, did not witness a crime. They heard about it second hand. The Washington Post reports:
According to the grand jury report, McQueary “reported what he had seen” to Paterno the next day, and Paterno then spoke to Curley.
McQueary was also called to a separate meeting with Curley and Schultz. Schultz, in turn, notified university president Graham Spanier.
Curley and Schultz — as well as Paterno — testified they were told that Sandusky behaved inappropriately in that 2002 incident, but not to the extent of McQueary’s graphic account to the grand jury.
Sandusky was arrested and charged last Saturday. His lawyer maintains his client is innocent.
Could they have done more? Absolutely. And they should have. However, one has to question why McQueary is being protected. He must be receiving whistle-blower protection:
Gerald J. Williams, a partner at a Philadelphia law firm, said Pennsylvania law is broad in protecting a person who reports wrongdoing, as long as that person is part of a governmental or quasi-governmental institution, such as Penn State.
“There are certain provisions out there for whistleblowers. (It) doesn’t matter if it’s frustrating or not,” Gov. Tom Corbett said Friday in State College, where he attended a Penn State trustees meeting.
“Assuming, and the grand jury doesn’t say it, but assuming that certain people are witnesses … they are witnesses, so you have to take that into consideration.”
According to Williams, such whistleblower protections could include any kind of adverse employment action — such as being fired, demoted, ostracized or punished — although a court, ultimately, would determine whether the person is protected if they bring a claim.
I can’t imagine he would want to stay on at Penn State after all this.
What happened at Penn State isn’t unique to Penn State or to a football program. Child sex abuse exists everywhere, unfortunately. Predators are sneaky and manipulative. They exist in some families, in schools, in churches, in scouting and in youth sports teams, just to name a few places. The first line of defense has to be parents. Parents need to trust their instincts if someone gives them the creeps. No adult should be showering a child with attention or buying them gifts. That should send up red flags. Parents shouldn’t let their children go places with adults where other kids aren’t involved.
Institutions need to all have plans of reporting that are mandated and hopefully tied in to law. Young people need to be taught the day they enter school that there can be no code of silence and that people who want you to keep secrets are not good people. They need to be told to tell their parents or other trusted adults.
What are other measures can be taken that prevent this type of horrible tragedy from happening?
——————————————————————————————————————————————
The last Nittany Lion home game of the season begins at noon and can be seen on ESPN. It is the first game since 1949 that hasn’t had Joe Paterno involved as a coach. He was there before Bruce Springsteen was born. UFB.
McQueary’s ass should have been sent packing right behind Sandusky. This whole mess at Penn State is absolutley sickening.
I haven’t figured out what set the recent ball in motion. The Grand Jury convened in 2010.
It appears that the Board of Trustees shot-gunned the problem rather than systematically analyzing the problem. What they got was a media blitz and student riots and really no solution towards preventing anything like this from ever happening again.
There is now so much outrage over firing Paterno that the focus is off the systemic problem at the school, namely Jerry Sandusky has been overshadowed. Much of what is wrong at Penn State is wrong everywhere. Perhaps child molestation is so repugnant to us that we don’t have a process in place to handle it. It there is a process and people follow the process, then at what point have we done not only what is legally correct but also morally correct?
It appears that the athletic dept at Penn State kicked the problem upstairs but it got caught in a revolving door.
Disgusting but unfortunately, the norm rather than the exception. That is what must change. Firing all those people really solves nothing other than paying lip service. The media is giving lots of atta boys. BFD. The problem does not start nor stop at Penn State.
Answer to my own question: Apparently the date in the Grand Jury Report is misleading.
Friom Wiki:
Wikipedia under Jerry Sandusky.
Interesting. He was being considered for head coach at University of Maryland in 1991 according to wiki.
ugh. That’s a little too close for comfort.
Schools(all levels/public/private) have a serious problem of sweeping their “dirty little secrets” under the rug. This problem does nothing but feed the problem they have swept under the rug. Schools are supposed to be a safe haven for kids. As long as scandals like this, small or large are not brought to the public’s attention the problem(s) will continue.
Why the hell didn’t McQueary just cold cock Sandusky when he saw the shower incident? I have a serious problem with school employees just reporting something to their boss, because that’s all they are required to do.
Read this report, Laf. It alludes to some of the pitfalls of situation.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7199068/penn-state-nittany-lions-bar-accused-ex-coach-jerry-sandusky-campus
You have conflicting laws vs. having to catch someone in the act also. You can’t do much about someone, regardless of how creepy, only on hearsay. If you don’t have cold, hard facts about someone, you are just opening yourself up to a lawsuit.
I don’t know if it is sweeping dirty secrets under the rug as much as it is simply not having a vehicle to deal with the problem. At least in public schools I don’t think it is protection of brand as much as it is that the person hasn’t gotten caught at anything. I know in PWC, the minute something even hinting at impropriety is reported or suspected, the safety and security tornado comes in and first off, seizes the main computer used by that person and the person is put on leave. Who knows what happens after that. Shudder.
These pervs are sneaky, incidious and manipulative. They surround themselves with good deeds and good reputation. The most egregious one I ever worked with was Mr. Wonderful to his bosses and those he served. I wouldn’t have allowed my son around him alone for 2 seconds. What do you do?
Anyway, read that one article. It sheds some light on laws and also expectations of those who don’t work with children as part of their jobs.
Boy scouts, youth clubs, and youth athletics are suppose to be safe for kids also. Are they always? I wish I had the answer. I don’t. The closest I can come up with is to never let your kid out of your sight. That isn’t practical either.
I’m going to repost my comment from the earlier thread here, since this is most likely where the current discussion is going to take place:
Mandated reporter laws do exist in Pennsylvania:
http://www.rainn.org/pdf-files-and-other-documents/Public-Policy/Legal-resources/2009-Mandatory-Report/Pennsylvania09C.pdf
After taking a look around (there is some more detailed information under Indiana, PA and other county mandated reporter info), I feel that all adults involved in this situation counted as mandated reporters. If your job means that you come in contact with minors at some time, or you are staff of a school…I think, even higher ed, you are a mandated reporter.
Now, in some places, it does say that a mandated reporter can report suspected abuse to an administrator in a position of higher authority, and that administrator will take over responsibility. It also says that the administrator has a duty to let the person who told him/her how things went. If things are not reported, there is nothing stopping the first mandated reporter from contacting ChildLine or other authorities directly.
My thoughts…
As a counselor, If a staff member, parent, etc. came to me and told me that they saw someone raping a child, I would not get their story and then report it to my superior, then hope that he/she reports. My protocol would be to call CPS, or more likely in a situation like that, the police, immediately with the reporting person standing by to talk to authorities. My role would be to facilitate the reporting person getting the information to police/authorities directly.
You could and should involve and inform your superior that a report is going to happen, but you do not need to leave it up to your superior. The point is for authorities to get direct information (not second or third hand) as soon as possible. It should never be about, “Well, I did my job by letting my boss know.” It should be about, “I am going to let my boss know that this is what I have to do…ethically speaking.”
Hi DG, thanks for your input. I think part of the problem also was, and I am reading the Grand Jury report for the 2nd time, that the 4 men weren’t real clear on what constitutes child sexual abuse. Maybe that is something we assume everyone is clear on? I don’t know. I am assuming that because they don’t deal with children directly, they just aren’t familiar with laws that might or might not pertain to them.
I think we can all agree that no one went far enough, especially since some of them KNEW that Sandusky had problems in this department.
I just don’t think a mass firing solves the problem. The guilty party is Sandusky. Had Paterno been allowed to finish out the season and retire, the Campus and alumni would have been on his side and more willing to problem solve. The way things stand now, the situation is polarized.
Good for the student affairs office that somehow turned student rioting into a candle light vigil with fund raising for victims in a matter of 24 hours. That was one talented person that managed to pull that one off.
Thanks, Moon. I’ll check it out in a bit. I have to go to the local “hell hole”. It’s too early for me to spot my neighbors I usually see there. 🙂
Check your email. A nice break from the Penn State pervs.
And it was very funny, Laf.
We need a serious national discussion on child sex abuse and we all better be united on ONE front…to protect and value our children. One of the Penn State articles I read cited these stats: 1 in 7 boys (!) and 1 in 3 (!!!) girls in the US is a victim of sexual abuse…what!!??? Holy $hi^. That is ridiculous! If the stats are that high on sexual abuse, what are the stats on any kind of abuse like neglect, physical or emotional? This is a disgrace. How can those stats be true and this topic not be mission number one for our country?
What a shame. If he had just acted when he saw it….if he had left a bleeding injured pedophile on the ground…..there would not be a hearsay charge. And Penn State, instead of fearing scandal, would have come up smelling like roses as the place that protects children.
Mike McQueary was 6 foot 5 and over 200 pounds and 28 years old.
Even if he was too much of a “candy ass” to stop it he could have called the cops.
The university knew he was doing it for years and just told him to stop (that always works)
As far as Paterno he may have done what was legally required by telling the university administration,
But it certainly wasn’t the moral thing to do
Of all the great things he’s done in the last 40+ years, he’ll always be remembered as the guy who knew and did nothing
No class = Mike London, UVA head coach, being approached to take the Penn State job before Paterno was fired by the board of trustees. London said NO.
@Bear
Bear, I think the reality is, in PA and specifically on Penn State campus, he will always be remembered as the man just under God who got screwed at the end of his career by the Board of Trustees. On campus, he is deified even more.
I say that the Trustees seriously mishandled a bad situation.
I saw some fan almost devour a reporter who simply asked a question on TV yesterday.
Unlike some jerk like Bobby Knight who lived in a mansion in Bloomington, Paterno lived in a modest, middle class house, near campus, and was approachable. If you came to his house, the Paternos asked you in. 61 years buys you some forgiveness when you are JoePa.
Speculating on this topic gets graphic, but here goes …
I’m not willing yet to tar and feather McQueary. As to why he didn’t jump in and physically seperate the two, I don’t think that’s the typical reaction. If you walked in on your boss and they were having sex with an underage child, and the child let’s say didn’t appear to be in pain, would you physically seperate them? Or move away in revulsion and try to figure out who to tell and what to do. For most people, the latter. McQueary said he heard a rhythmic slapping – not cries of pain.
It seems likely to me that Paterno just didn’t believe that McQueary really saw what he thinks he saw. He probably thinks what was going on was dry humping. And maybe it was. Or maybe not. Either way Paterno is a villian to me for sweeping this under the rug. McQueary, who was not in a position of leadership, less so.
Should Penn State keep McQueary as a coach next year? Certainly not. But I don’t wish the guy any bad luck. The only reason this story is here is because McQueary has told this story consistently and continues to. The chuild in question has not even been identified.