The date is January 12th, 2011, 11:06 a.m. The questions were asked by Ms. Jonelle Eshbach, Witness, Joseph V. Paterno.
Q: Would you please introduce yourself to the Grand Jury?
Mr. Paterno: My name is Joseph V. Paterno.
Q: I’m sure everyone in the room knows, but just in case there’s anyone that doesn’t, how are you employed?
Mr. Paterno: I’m a football coach at the Pennsylvania State University.
Q: As that football coach at the Pennsylvania State University, did you have as employed under you an individual by the name of Jerry Sandusky?
Mr. Paterno: I did for a while, yes.
Q: Do you currently have employed for you since sometime in the early 2000s an assistant coach named Michael McQueary?
Mr. Paterno: Yes.
Q: I’d like to direct your attention to what I believe would be a spring break of 2002, around that time. Do you recall Michael McQueary calling you and asking to have a discussion with you about something that he observed?
Mr. Paterno: I’m not sure of the date, but he did call me on a Saturday morning. He said he had something that he wanted to discuss. I said, come on over to the house.
He came over to the house.
And as I said, I’m not sure what year it was, but I know it was a Saturday morning and we discussed something he had seen.
Q: Without getting into any graphic detail, what did Mr. McQueary tell you he had seen and where?
Mr. Paterno: Well, he had seen a person, an older — not an older, but a mature person who was fondling, whatever you might call it — I’m not sure what the term would be — a young boy.
Q: Did he identify who that older person was?
Mr. Paterno: Yes, a man by the name of Jerry Sandusky who had been one of our coaches, was not at the time.
Q: You’re saying that at the time this incident was reported to you, Sandusky was no longer a coach?
Mr. Paterno: No, he had retired voluntarily. I’m not sure exactly the year, but I think it was either ‘98 or ‘99.
Q: I think you used the term fondling. Is that the term that you used?
Mr. Paterno: Well, I don’t know what you would call it. Obviously, he was doing something with the youngster.
It was a sexual nature. I’m not sure exactly what it was.
I didn’t push Mike to describe exactly what it was because he was very upset. Obviously, I was in a little bit of a dilemma since Mr. Sandusky was not working for me anymore.
So I told — I didn’t go any further than that except I knew Mike was upset and I knew some kind of inappropriate action was being taken by Jerry Sandusky with a youngster.
Q: Did Mike McQueary tell you where he had seen this inappropriate conduct take place?
Mr. Paterno: In the shower.
Q: Where was the shower?
Mr. Paterno: In the Lasch Building.
Q: Is that on the campus of Penn State University?
Mr. Paterno: It’s right on the campus.
Q: Did you tell Mike McQueary at that time what you were going to do with that information that he had provided to you?
Mr. Paterno: I don’t know whether I was specific or not. I did tell Mike, Mike, you did what was right; you told me.
Even though Jerry does not work for the football staff any longer, I would refer his concerns to the right people.
Q: You recall this taking place on a Saturday morning, the conversation with Mike?
Mr. Paterno: Yes.
Q: When did you — did you do something with that information?
Mr. Paterno: Well, I can’t be precise.
I ordinarily would have called people right away, but it was a Saturday morning and I didn’t want to interfere with their weekends.
So I don’t know whether I did it Saturday or did it early the next week.
I’m not sure when, but I did it within the week.
Q: To whom or with whom did you share the information that McQueary had given you?
Mr. Paterno: I talked to my immediate boss, our athletic director.
Q: What is that person’s name?
Mr. Paterno: Tim Curley.
Q: How did you contact Mr. Curley?
Mr. Paterno: I believe I did it by phone. As I recall, I called him and I said, hey, we got a problem, and I explained the problem to him.
Q: Was the information that you passed along substantially the same information that Mr. McQueary had given you?
Mr. Paterno: Yes.
Q: Other than the incident that Mike McQueary reported to you, do you know in any way, through rumor, direct knowledge or any other fashion, of any other inappropriate sexual conduct by Jerry Sandusky with young boys?
Mr. Paterno: I do not know of anything else that Jerry would be involved in of that nature, no. I do not know of it.
You did mention — I think you said something about a rumor. It may have been discussed in my presence, something else about somebody.
I don’t know.
I don’t remember, and I could not honestly say I heard a rumor.
Q: You indicated that your report was made directly to Tim Curley. Do you know of that report being made to anyone else that was a university official?
Mr. Paterno: No, because I figured that Tim would handle it appropriately.
I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Mr. Curley and I thought he would look into it and handle it appropriately.
Q: We have no further questions of you.
Testimony concluded at 11:13 a.m. Date, January 12, 2011, 11:20 a.m.
Follow Brooks on Twitter or join him on Facebook for real-time updates
3:13 pm on December 23rd, 2011
So, to reiterate, Mr. Paterno may have or might not of heard a rumor that may or may not be true?
Wow. They grill him for what amounts to like 7 minutes and the other two, Schultz and Curley get grilled for over 20 minutes apiece I believe.
They treated him with kid gloves. I can’t believe he cant remember the year or if he contacted that Saturday or later in the week?
Somebody tells me of a horrific scene they just witnessed with someone you’ve known for the betterment of 35 yrs and you can’t recall the year?
3:48 pm on December 23rd, 2011
When you get to his age if you get to his age I hope you’re able to remember everything exactly from a decade ago!!!
3:48 pm on December 23rd, 2011
We still have not heard recent statements by Mr. Pattern. To me that is the lost blatant sign of handling everything wrong. Man up Paterno and tell your side. I assumed you to be a man of substance as opposed to a player in a litigious society. Give the college football world what we want from you. A truthful, blunt, no nonsense response to these aligations of your part in a cover up. C’mon Joe… We deserve to hear from you on your front lawn. To he’ll with court rooms and God bless the victims of that monster!!!
4:17 pm on December 23rd, 2011
It appears to me that Joe did what he was supposed to do.
I would suggest that all you people ease up till all the facts are known.
4:47 pm on December 23rd, 2011
I think, you are all responsible for the horrible truth not to come out sooner, because you were to cowardly to go against a complete “Monster” sexually abusing young boys, who could not protect themselves from a sick piece of trash. I hope when you look in the mirror you can see what a disappointment you turned out to be to all those children. I hope it comes to bite in the rear end.
5:15 pm on December 23rd, 2011
All the while Paterno waited to tell someone that kid was was being molested over and over. What if that was your kid and Paterno waited to tell (Police Hello???) someone!!!! Paterno should go to jail for not stomping Sandusky’s guts out and calling the Police! Just a moral obligation as coach or as a leader of young men? BOTH!!!!
5:16 pm on December 23rd, 2011
The facts have been told in court!
One more time what if that was a child from your family and Paterno did basically nothing? A leader of young men??? Sandusky has been accused before, red flag???? I used to admire Paterno but he is whale sh*t to me. If that was my kid I’d get Sandusky first and then slap the sh*t out of each person who did nothing.
Bobby Bowden said,” I would have confronted Sandusky and then call the Police but that’s me” this is a true coach!
If I saw that take place I would kick ass and call the police and then an ambulance for Sandusky and that poor raped child!
Some of you people here are pathetic!
5:31 pm on December 23rd, 2011
This is Grand Jury testimony. Not an investigative interrogation. There is no “grilling” in these settings. I don’t think Sandusky is gonna walk and if he did anything improper, which I think he did because of the volume of allegations, they should max out his time. But this seems to make it seem the overreaction seems to have fallen to the biggest name they could do something adverse to right now - Paterno. If I reported it “up the chain” to a person I had confidence in to do his job, the only other thing I could do would be to follow up. If I do much more I could impede or even destroy an ongoing investigation. But I could ask if the information had been given to the next person. If he was trying to cover up he could have called and warned Sandusky that the sharks were circling. BTW, I am not a Penn State fan and I live in the South Central states.
5:42 pm on December 23rd, 2011
Just based on this excerpt alone, I would have to wonder why Sandusky still had unfettered access to the facilities if he was no longer an employee. More importantly, how could anyone in their right mind and a position of authority believe it was more important to not interfere with someone’s weekend than to report a blatant malicious crime? The whole thing stinks of inaction and it’s inexcusable.
5:57 pm on December 23rd, 2011
It is obvious he (paterno) knew something back in 98 when Sandusky retired abruptly. He is lying. He probably knew about this for qiute sometime but kept it buried to avoid any scandal and any chance of ruining his all time win record. Joe is not a good man He is a failure.
6:08 pm on December 23rd, 2011
all the joepa haters wanted to crucify joe and the gutless board ard of trustees went along with the man gy sports writers.im 78 yrs old and i cant remember what i said two weeks ago unless my wife reminds me or one of my seven kids do the same. sandusy was the dispiable villian in this affair. penn state police knew about it in 1998. so joe is at fault. what about the custodian supervisor who was told about the scum bags actions before joepa knew it.
6:31 pm on December 23rd, 2011
always wondered if Sandusky was the retired professor that was harassed by Dan CONNOR who was reprimanded by Paterno.
6:35 pm on December 23rd, 2011
If I witnessed a man slap his wife and/or punch her and he was the local judge and/or pastor, and something bad happened to her, I did not perform the ‘greater moral obligation’
If I know a youngster eats 1 meal a day, and clealry can offer him $20 for a meal or so, and do not do so, I did not perform ‘the greater moral obligation’
If I write about my disdain and scorn Paterno for his action/inaction and do not completely throw myself into helping support organizations that advocate for child abuse victims, have I not performed ‘the greater moral obligation’
Who of the many blowhards who have commented, who feel so strongly on the issue, have already sone something - FEW
If Curley called Spanier and Schultz and they contacted the polic and Sandusky was arrested then, we would have said GREAT JOB Coach! The problem at PSU, from my standpoint ( class of ‘80, class of ‘84) - was what did or did not happen between Curley/Schultz/Spanier- people we seemingly have forgotten! I am not doing anything but pointing out that the judgemental and fingerpointing people have not championed child abuse victims, have not worked in a soup kitchen on thanksgiving or Christmas, have probably not done anything ‘MORE’ but comment- The whole situation is sickening- the allegations are monstrous and the fact that these things allegedly happened on Penn state property and so many others probably ‘knew’ more - and many, many more than those we hear about speak to all of us - that doing ‘more’ is sometimes risky, potentially threatening, not always done, an in retrospect, looks cowardly and makes the situation worse- Just ask the janiotors who saw and or suspected something fishy - If you want to cast stones, your house better be pretty clean- Mine is not and I hope to do ‘more’ but I will not JUDGE - and I really am waiting for all the facts- Coach, Happy Belated Birthday and Merry Christmas and a Healthier, Happier 2012 - I forgive you for being human and telling Mr Curley what was reported to you - Your years of service to PSU are not forgotten
6:42 pm on December 23rd, 2011
Joe Paterno- 409 College football wins as a coach and two national championships at Penn State from 1965-2011.- DIRTBAG
6:54 pm on December 23rd, 2011
Just more evidence that JoePa did the right thing but sadly the haters are too ignorant to see that.
7:03 pm on December 23rd, 2011
Paterno knows much much more than he lets on.Take it back to ‘97,98,99.Sandusky was reported then for child abuse. . but,was not yet 55 years old.Not old enough to retire.He was kept on staff,just until he turned 55,then he abruptly retired.Personally,I believe Paterno allowed him to stay until ‘98,providing he retired . . and,nothing further would be persued.But,this is just my own thinking.Nevertheless,it makes sense to me.The one remaining factor that keeps haunting me for answers,is the Gricar disappearance.I believe this figures in the equation,I sincerely hope this is completely dealt with,to a satisfactory conclusion,that pleases everybody.Leaving any loose ends,or a plea deal,will not suffice.Only complete justice will satisfy,regardless if the people involved.
7:29 pm on December 23rd, 2011
Dirtbag, don’t be so hard on yourself. I’d just go with “Winn”.
7:41 pm on December 23rd, 2011
I am in disbelief that Coach Paterno lost his job and his significant career is lost forever due to that 7 minutes what BULL! He does not desreved to be fired, he did nothing wrong. By the way why are all the lil childrens families coming forward now when their own children were in a program for abused kids? Look at this people, there is more to this story….. Sandusaky is a perv but to include Coach Paterno well they lil chillin are not the only ones who got abuse so did the young men playing for PSU NOW and the coaching staff. Bull shit grow up!
7:56 pm on December 23rd, 2011
If you preach the cloak as a purist in life and a head is turned away at a time of importance in the boys and McClarys life, then Joe you have failed. Joe,since It could have been addressed for years but it sounds like a priest preaching good but yet would allow the sexual contact with a boy and a friend of Joes that had a problem and needed help well before the arrest. A Great human would have done the right thing! Joe, did you do your responsibility? Sorry Joe wholl never make my Hall of Fame. But I do wish him the best as a person in aspects of life.
8:13 pm on December 23rd, 2011
Like they all say ( IF ) If the dog had not stopped to take aa sh_t he would have caught the rabbit.. As for Bobby B., I heard him say ( I hate Monday morning quarterbacks) I agree with Tom
8:23 pm on December 23rd, 2011
what is wrong with all of you defenders of these people especially Joe Pa…..you are supposed to protect those who can not protect themselves….
Joe and the rest should all have been arrested and sitting in jail for not reporting rape and crimes against children…..
anyone who disagrees is delusional
8:48 pm on December 23rd, 2011
clyde, i hope you never have kids so that they dont get in that position and you explain to them, sorry son, joe did what he was supposed to.
i wont ease up on a child abuser or those who tolerated it.
and i sure as hell would remember what a guy had told me had happened when it involves something like that.
“i dont know i cant remember maybe fondling or something…” ok, what did he tell you? not what do you think its called. hes as bad as rumsfeld and gonzalez with i cant remembers.
9:22 pm on December 23rd, 2011
This is why Jesus had to come to us and take on all our sins, past, present, and future..He died for us all including the ones involved in this horrific crime. It is a sin to look on other people who have sinned and judge them, because we too are sinners.
9:36 pm on December 23rd, 2011
What confuses me is that most of you Paterno haters seem to forget that it was Sandysky who (allegedly) did these horrible things. For those who obviously didn’t even bother to read this 7 minutes of testimony… Joe had not even heard rumors of any prior incidents involving Sandusky. Sandusky did NOT work for Paterno when the allegations were brought to him. More importantly, for those with no concept of thinking things through, Paterno is not the person who gives a past employee of the University unfettered access to campus facilities. So you morons want Paterno, a coach in his 70s at the time, to go stomp some guts? how about young McCreary who actually witnessed these events. That spry little ginger had an opportunity while Sandusky was still all lathered up. But no, it’s much easier to go after the old guy and attack him for what he doesnt remember 10 years before. To you blind fools who can’t understand the concept of due process, I hope that someone falsely accuses you of some horrible crime and a torch and pitchfork party awaits you on your front lawn. Don’t call the police for protection. Who has time to get the story right first? Jackwads.
10:03 pm on December 23rd, 2011
Sandusky will work out a plea before a trial and essentially rot in jail for the rest of his life; Curley and Schultz will quickly plead guilty to lesser charges and be put on probation; once all those situations are handled, the university’s ‘internal investigation’ will ‘go away’. And given that the university is one of the very few public institutions in the land allowed to protect its internal communications from the press, the public will never have a chance to know the entire account of who in the university knew what and when.
Nobody is questioning whether Pope Joe legally did the right thing (apparently he did); everybody should be questioning whether the most powerful man on campus (Pope Joe) or even in the state (Pope Joe), did all he could to stop this monster. Unfortunately, the signs point to a disappointing “apparently he did not.”
10:07 pm on December 23rd, 2011
@Anywho–I have never accused or implied JoPa was intimately involved in committing these crimes. My only problem, based on his own testimony, was that he failed to report it IMMEDIATELY. This is not something that waits in favor of allowing his boss to finish the weekend cocktail party (or whatever he was going). JoPa’s lack of urgency is his error and his stature or age are irrelevant. Whether the administration did enough (or anything) after that is another issue entirely…the same administration that should have stripped Sandusky of his facility access priviledges.
10:32 pm on December 23rd, 2011
For those of you who believe Paterno was a feeble old coach, keep in mind that this is the man who, when visited at his house by AD Curley and President Spanier for the purpose of asking him to resign, simply refused. Now, you tell me – if your boss tells you to resign, and you can refuse, who is the boss?? This man was revered – not just locally, but nationally as well. Paterno is primarily responsible for helping to grow the university’s endowment to well over $1.0 billion over the past 15 years. Hmmm…what also has been covered up over the past 15 years?
Paterno absolutely had control over who could and could not use the football facilities. It has been documented that Sandusky was helping on recruiting trips post 2002 for goodness sake! These are all the reasons why anything tied to the football program (which is essentially the entire athletic department as well as the success of the university – understand that Penn State without its beloved, and untouchable football program, is essentially Iowa State) is being placed under scrutiny as a fraud.
11:14 pm on December 23rd, 2011
The true problem here is a societal problem. Paterno did not want to believe the allegations so he tried to minimize them (his delay in reporting due to his wishing the allegations to be false). McQueary was rightfully fearful for his job and his future and did the only thing he thought he could, he told Paterno (remember, Sandusky was McQuery’s coach at one time and that does create a bond). Human society’s have a tendency to overlook that which is unpleasant, which this certainly was. People do the same. The way to prevent what happened at Penn State is to: one, don’t vest too much power in anyone (the athletic department didn’t work to cure, they worked to protect; two, educate, educate, and educate. Paterno didn’t want to believe the allegations and he had no real training on proper response to such a thing so he did as little as possible and hoped the allegations were false. However, Sandusky voluntarily quit under very suspicious circumstances a few years before the shower incident so it is very possible there is more to this story than we know and it is very possible what we have heard about a cover up at Penn State so far is only the tip of the Iceberg. Some journalists have been reporting for some time (well before the grand jury indictment) that things were not right in Happy Valley and let us not forget a DA investigating Penn State disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. What happened, who knows; however, without federal involvement there is no question we will never know the truth nor have any idea on the true number of victims.
6:18 am on December 24th, 2011
Paterno learns of a boy being molested and he waits to tell because “he didn’t want to interfere with anyone’s weekend???” Wow, what kind of messed up thinking is that???
7:29 am on December 24th, 2011
Where were the kids parents, teachers, clergy, friends? Joe Paterno was drummed out of Penn State for something out of his control and not his responsibility. Send the police to question the kids parents. They have 24/7 contact…Quit trying to hang the coach for the actions of a former employee. This is a horribly stupid affair to drop on Penn State. There are many many other persons who could have/should have known or suspected something.
10:56 am on December 24th, 2011
tom, typical alumni response sounds like your still drinking the coolaid just like you did when sandusky ass slapped you
12:24 pm on December 24th, 2011
I wonder if it was Joepa’s grandson in the shower with Sandusky……….. and would he have been so passive in responding to the crisis?
5:58 pm on December 24th, 2011
Until all can acknowledge we have a child rape crisis in our nation, it will continue to happen unabated; the church, at home, and yes, at college campuses. We can count on PSU alumni apologists, and enablers to keep paving the way for acceptance of such behavior. They can’t even bring themselves to assess some blame on their little god JoePa.
Me, if I were a PSU alumni, I would be livid and demand a clean slate on that campus. I would also contribute towards my school becoming world beaters in efforts to educate and end child rape. But don’t expect this from PSU folks. Their comments on this blog are consistent with their sentiments expressed on many other sites: those kid raped themselves.
9:24 pm on December 24th, 2011
Let’s see what can we establish from reading Joe Paterno’s testimony. First, that he was told of a disturbing incident a former member of his staf that he no longer supervises. As McQueary admitted, the word child rape or sodomy was not used. Second, Joe Paterno reported these allegations to his higher ups. As has come out, one of these higher up is in charge of the Campus Police, which has police powers like the NYPD. That is really all we know. We do not know if he followed, because he was never asked in more depth of his actions during the Grand Jury hearings. Yet, people have been out to hang him from day one and why? Because he did not do what everybody is trying to do to him, run out with pitchfork to crucify the guy without giving him his due process. People have thrown out false arguments, such as “what if this was your kid.” Yet they forget the fundamental premise that we are a nation of laws. There is a reason why there is a presumption of innocence, because sometimes the wrong person gets accused. Remember the Duke Lacrosse Players, or how about Richard Jewel? Or what about the McMartin trial? All it takes is the hint of an allegation to destroy a person’s life, whether the person is innocent or guilty. So no, I do not fault Joe Paterno for not rushing off with this lynch mob mentality. He did that what he was supposed to do. He notified his superiors, which by default involved notifying the police. What happened afterwards, we don’t because it was never investigated. His actions or inactions were not part of the investigation. So before condemning him, why don’t you take the time to let the facts come out. The people who are calling for his head have proven exactly why due process is needed in this county. Why don’t you take the time to let the facts come out before resorting to slanderous statements that Joe Paterno or anyone who defends his right to due process tolerates child molesters.
Here is one simple question for those who absolutely believe that Joe Paterno is an odious man. If he was trying to cover up, why did he report the crime to his supervisors, again one of whom was in charge of the campus police? Why did he admit to what happen during the grand jury testimony? If he was truly this all powerful person, then how did this case even see the light of day? Logic suggests that it would have been just been administratively squashed if Joe was all powerful and was just trying to cover up.
2:30 am on December 25th, 2011
@colonel If you honestly believe Joe had control over who uses the facilities, then you need to pass whatever drug you’re taking to everyone. He DOES NOT have that authority!! The only ones who can give” Professor emeritu” status are the schools higher ups. NOT the football coach. As for refusing to resign. He has a CONTRACT. Thats why he refused. He has that right. The AD who visited his house can talk to him til he’s blue in the face & Paterno can refuse. If they fired him like they did, then he has no say. WAKE UP. Blinded by your wish to place blame. If he could hide what was happening, This wouldnt be going on right now. OPEN your eyes. He hasnt hidden anything.
For all these people out there scrutinizing coach Paterno, No one is saying a whole lot about Coach Boeheim. His asst took ballboys on road trips, That doesnt send out any RED Flags?
2:31 am on December 25th, 2011
For crying out loud Bob. What IS driving the discontent against JoPa is ‘not that JoPa should have gone after Sandusky himself for a lynching.’ People are appalled that after the allegations were made and reported, it would seem that he just dropped the matter. If a close friend or associate of mine is accused of such a hideous crime, I as a human being would be compelled to follow up about the issue. Specially since the assistant who made the accusation now works for me.
People are bending themselves like a pretzel to exonarate JoPa of the storm coming. It’s a fascinating thing to see.
Read your own comments and see why the nation is still so anti PSU and anti Bob mentality particularly when you try to veil this under the banner of false accusations. The JoPa apologist have absolved him of any responsibility, moral/ethical or otherwise.
Child naked, man naked in the shower with child, and more chilling details in a grand jury report. We now have his lawyer saying he was teaching the boy hygiene. But that is still not enough to raise a question as to wether JoPa did enough. Instead, we get Duke Lacrosse comparisons.
I doubt the school would risk an illegal or unfair termination lawsuit from JoPa. They got the info and it’s dirty. Back them, my antenna would have said something ain’t right. People want to know where is the trail of JoPa demanding to know why his former coordinator is hanging around the showers with children for Pete’s sake.
College station is heaven and JoPa reigned supreme. Let’s not conveniently diminished his status. I disregard the JoPa haters because they will be haters no matter what. He had a great legacy which is sadly tarnished becaues he dropped the ball.
One thing in support JoPa and McQueary is thatt this is a hard subject, shocking as hell, and decent people can’t wrap their heads around it. They can’t believe what they hear and see nor do they know how to react to it…..McQueary calling his father tells it all. His world changed that night.
2:36 am on December 25th, 2011
The bad thing is people keep JUDGING, like theyre squeaky clean. There are no perfect people. People make decisions all the time, some are better than other, but dont expect more from someone than you are willing to give yourself. Coach Paterno is not the accused, nor is he the law. He is an older coach, who wasnt there & shouldnt have to run around campus trying to figure out what ex employees are doing because a younger coach said they saw something & didnt do anything about it til the next day. He is NOT responsible for every coach,ex coach, player, ex player, friend, ex friend etc. are you?
3:48 am on December 25th, 2011
@SadCollegeFootballFan, you have completely missed the point. As I have said, all we definitively know from the Grand Jury testimony is that Joe Paterno was told of inappropriate conduct conducted by a former asistant. Rather than cover it up, which has been many of the accusations, he did not drop the matter, but as you said, he followed up on it. He reports it to his superiors, one of whom is in charge of the campus police. That is all we know. We don’t know if he ask more questions or followed, as that was not the focus of the investigation. Yet, based upon this short seven minute testimony, the haters, the media and people like you want to lynch the man.
I stand by my previous comments. The comparisons to Duke Lacrosse, the McMartin Trial and Richard Jewel are apted. Whether you like it or not, false accusations do get made. People were absolutely convinced that these folks are guilty just like people are absolutely convinced that Sandusky is guilty and Joe Paterno is some guy who tolerates child molesters. Yet, guess what? Just like people were wrong then, people can be wrong now. This is why we have due process. This is why we have presumption of innocence. We are supposed to be a nation of laws, not one governed by a bunch of holier than thou vigilantes.
Could have Joe Paterno done more? I don’t know, because I don’t know all the facts. Guess what? Neither do you. Yet, a man who has spent his career trying to do the right thing is now being cast aside based on incomple informaton .
1:56 pm on December 25th, 2011
Have no respect for joe pa anymore. He was evasive and minimized his involvement and did not do the right thing. He didn’t want to interfere with someone’s weekend? What about trying to interfere with the access to young boys by a serial pedophile. Disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!You staunch joe pa backer’s place your own child with that monster in a shower and you will feel otherwise about culpability. Any upstanding person would call the police that sat morn with McQuerry right there. Truly disgusting.
Also have a problem with the prosecutor. 7 minutes, are you kidding me. I’ve been through my share of dispositions and investigations and not dealing with criminal activity this serious and It was never 7 minutes even if my involvement was on the periphery. WOW. Was she also an Penn st alumnus.
3:30 pm on December 25th, 2011
So it aint so Joe. Tell us you did more. You asked us to pray for the “poor little victims.” They would not need any prayers if you would have called the police on your old friend Jerry.
3:39 pm on December 25th, 2011
Except that he did when he contacted Schultz who is the head of the Campus Police. Why is that so hard for people to grasp?
4:38 pm on December 25th, 2011
get off paterno already. Keep the focus on the criminally pervert Sandusky where it should be. Paterno reported it to his superior as is the normal procedure. His superiors dropped the ball and they are at fault. Why is it so hard to understand. I hold no responsilbility to Paterno. fault needs to be centered on Sandusky and the president of Penn State for not properly requesting an investigation.
4:47 pm on December 25th, 2011
In an interview with Tom Corbett, the then Attorney General of PA, he stated that he knew about incidents of child abuse in 2003 or before. So why did he not react and call police? Corbett had the authority to send the entire PA state police force to Penn State to arrest Sandusky. It’s amazing how no one ever mentions why he didn’t act.
4:55 pm on December 25th, 2011
No no Bob and others who think a ‘holier than though’ attitude exists if we disagree with those that insists JoPa should be excluded from criticism. I understand about rush judgement and false accusation. I lived in the northwest during the McMartin story. Yes, due process is warranted. In some countries they lynch you in a heartbeat. I am not suggesting this in any way. ALSO, please, we are all talking based on what has been released. None of us were there, we don’t have first hand knowledge, so spare me the ‘you don’t know’ meh meh.
We do however know enough to say, he dropped the ball. I refer to the incident in the shower. Sodomy or not, that was the clincher for me. Open a book on child molestation (men/boys). Like I said before, they didn’t know how to handle this properly which is why new laws will be established to help people make the right decisions. Our common humanity says support JoPa because of his life’s works. I think it’s sad his legacy will include this. I refuse to vilify the man. I will also say ‘he erred’ to a lesser extent than the others. I understand his supporters will be blind to the end. I get it.
5:10 pm on December 25th, 2011
Yes, Bob, he fulfilled all of his legal responsibility. Absolutely. He has not been charged with anything. We all agree. But, tor a man who wanted everyone to believe in his own moral authority, there was simply so much more he could and should have done. Great people act in those times — clearly not Mr. Paterno.
5:58 pm on December 25th, 2011
@Lefty, as we have seen, all we have is seven minutes of testimony where the prosecutor did not probe in depth of what Joe Paterno did or did not do. As much as others hate to hear it, I am going to keep up with the we don’t know the full story. All we know is what has been released, and based on this incomplete information, people are ready to chop off Paterno’s head. We do not know if Joe Paterno checked up on the matter two weeks later or one day later. All we know is what is contain in the Grand Jury testimony, which by its nature was not focused on the man. If anything this shows the dangers of jumping to conclusions just like people jumped to conclusions on the Duke Lacrosse players and Richard Jewel when the public made judgements based on “what has been released.” This is why we have trials and due process.
But my question is what excatly do you expect him to do? Some have said open a child molestation case. Last I checked, Joe Paterno has not been given police authorities with the right to conduct criminal investigations. Rather, as has been acknowledge, he reported the information to those who did have those authorities. Others have said ban him from campus. Last I checked, he is not the head of the univesrity with that level of power. Could he have done to more to follow up? Perhaps, then again, we don’t know until all the facts come out. And it is this rush to judgment against the man that is sickening.
10:15 pm on December 25th, 2011
Irrespective of titles, simply put, Paterno was the most powerful person on campus. To say he was simply the football coach misses the entire point — statues were erected, names were put on buildings, hundreds of millions of dollars were raised, additions were put onto the football stadium. His football program enabled this. No other answer. Simply put, the most powerful man on campus did not do enough to end this. This isn’t a rush to judgment — this is simply the truth, bore out by the reported cases of further child rape following the 2002 incident. A man of his power, influence, and ‘moral authority’ needed to do more. Sandusky will rot in a jail cell; Paterno’s reputation has justifiably been ruined; Penn State’s reputation has been dragged through the mud. Very sad, but hopefully a resetting of priorities will ensue.
10:25 pm on December 25th, 2011
“it was a Saturday morning and I didn’t want to interfere with their weekends”
Guilty.
10:49 pm on December 25th, 2011
I personally feel that this has nothing to do with being and fan or a hater. It is beyond a football field or football program and way beyond being fanatical for a storied football legacy to future alumni. It is deplorable to think that the old coach had information about this happening in “his house” and did very little if nothing to protect the victims. If you read between the lines of the deposition, and you will if you have a concious, it appears and will nag on you that the old coach knew what was going on. He went to his AD and bla…bla…bla… The events are hideous and on top of that at a university where young adults go to learn to better themselves for their future as adults. It protrays the university system as dangerous and cheap. Maybe the coach would not quit to keep the skeletons in the closet. hahahaha!
12:32 am on December 26th, 2011
wow, an 85 year old man doesn’t remember exact time or dates?? …shocker!!
12:35 am on December 26th, 2011
and what the hell would bobby bowden do?? Offer Sandusky free shoes?
2:39 am on December 26th, 2011
@Lefty again I ask what more do you think he should do? As has been established he does not have investigative powers. Those are belong to the police. There may be statues of him on campus that does not mean he runs the university, as evidence by the fact that he was fired. Could he bar him from campus? I tend to doubt it.
What I am guessing is that you want him to go on TV and start whipping up a frenzy against Sandusky leading to a public lynching, which I know is the popular thing to want. Then again, on that off hand chance that Sandusky is innocent, we would be sitting here talking about how awful it was that Joe Paterno abused his authority against an innocent man.
The bottomline is that people got an emotional reaction when the indictments were made. I get that, given the severity of the alleged crime. But to say there was not a rush to judgment is laughable. Within the first day of the announcement sport commentators were calling for Joe Paterno to be fired. Within the week the Board of Trustees fired him. And all based on what? A grand jury testimony that does not reveal all the facts about what Paterno did or did not do, as again the focus of the investigation was on Sandusky. There is likely more to the story, but Paterno was never given the chance to tell his side of the story. Remember the cancelled news conference. He was railroaded out of town in order to satiate the media’s and apparently a lot of these posters blood lust. This was not justice but revenge.
6:49 am on December 26th, 2011
I am not passing judgement on JoePa, but I have to question something, What if there had been a Murder? would he have waited till monday, or next week to report it? I guess he didnt take this very seriously, and that there is more to the story than he is letting on , Just my Opinion
8:23 am on December 26th, 2011
Im sorry, I like Joe Pa, but this was handled completely wrong, if your told about a child getting butt banged by an adult the appropriate action is not to put it off so as not to ruin someones weekend. A child is being molested its not time to worry about inconvienancing someone. You call the police. It wasnt a rumor he was told directly from a witness.
12:41 pm on December 26th, 2011
For ALL the home-grown prosecuters out there…how many times have you been to a bar and watched someone leave who you knew was drunk, but didn’t say anything??? If that person later killed another while drunk driving, does that mean society should persecute eveyone in that bar who knew there was a drunk going out the door, but didn’t stop them????
YOU could’ve done something right then and there, but didn’t!!! And what if you didn’t see it, but someone else came up and told you the person was drunk…do you act, or do you just turn and finish your own beer…hey it’s not YOUR problem right????
It’s time you arm-chair prosecuters step back and look at your own selves first!!!! I don’t condone what happened at PSU, I think once the truth comes out those charged should be handled accordingly, and I DON’T believe just because JoePa is a famous football coach that he should become the scapegoat for something he had NO involvement in…he wasn’t in the shower…NEVER EVEN SAW IT HAPPEN….just heard it from someone else….(in court, that’s called hearsay-inadmissable)….and he took the correct actions by telling his superiors!!!! It doesn’t mean a hill of beans that he waited a minute, an hour, or days…HE REPORTED IT!!!!! The failure comes AFTER he reported it…with his superiors….and what of the guy who actually saw it…he was so broken up that he reported it to someone who really can’t do anything other than what he did….begs the question of why didn’t HE report it properly to the campus police???
It’s beyond time to get the truth…and it’s NOT happening here by you second-rate witchburners!!!! Find a mirror and take a good look at yourselves….only ONE can pass true judgement on us all!!!!
12:52 pm on December 26th, 2011
Please note that the above transcript only represents approximately 10 pages of a 250+ document that was transcribed during the prelim hearing of Curley and Shultz. I know that there has been a lot of emphasis on Paterno not wanting to ruin others’ weekend because that is printed above, but additional testimony showed that Paterno contacted Curley that weekend and demanded a meeting with Curley (and I think Shultz as he was there), which happened the next day, Sunday. Just wanted to provide additional info because when I read the “ruin the weekend” comment I was floored too until I saw the other testimony. Still a lot of troubling things for me, but I felt that this piece of information should find its way to this conversation.
1:31 pm on December 26th, 2011
Send the lot of them to GitMo and get to the truth.
3:29 pm on December 26th, 2011
I still remember JoePa talking trash about USC before the Rose Bowl. How PSU did things the right way, when all of this had already gone down. What a dirt bag! Anyone with a little class would have at least kept his mouth shut.
3:37 pm on December 26th, 2011
I am shocked at all you ppl that support Joe. First off im not saying he should go to jail..If you people read it says he waited till Monday..Really!! rumor or not he should have rang some phones then and there. NOW TEXAS POTATO..He reported it two days later..for you statement about the drinking thing. Since you dont know facts about the drinking and driving if a person is caught drinking and driving they ask what place u came from. The bar is hit with a big fine and if there is a death they can be heald in account for it. So try something new!!! Myself if i was in the power Joe was I would have done the report ASAP and followed up the next day. If nothing was reported to the actual police i would have called the police with my report. Not like they would have fired Joe if he had. You all know that for a fact…
4:04 pm on December 26th, 2011
Let me see if I get this straight. According to many of you delusional posters and the media, JoePa has been so senile for the past decade that he really hasn’t coached for that period of time, but somehow he was the most powerful man on campus who had the responsibility to do all of the following:
(1) Make sure the campus police arrested Sandusky in 1998 after two officer heard the equivalent of a confession givenby Sandusky to the mother of one of his then victims;
(2) Make sure the campus police reported the 1998 incident to CYS and that the investigator for CYS at least identified Sandusky as a potential child molestor–something he admits he did not do then (funny how that incident which resulted in no identification by CYS or criminal charges from the State College DA in 1998 is now the subject of criminal charges brought by the AG’s office ;
(3) Make sure the Second Mile (where Sandusky got all his victims) stopped letting him take kids offsite without the knowledge of their parents after being aware of the 1998 incident;
(4) Tell McQueary (then 27) who actually witnessed the 2002 incident that he should report this to the police (much better to place the moral blame for not reporting the incident to the police on Paterno who got a second hand account of this from McQueary rather than McQueary and/or father and a physician who worked with McQueary’s father–(who both told him to tell Paterno, rather than the police, when McQueary met with them on the nighjt he witnessed the event to decide what to do; and
(5) Make sure that Paterno’s boss, Tim Curley, and Gary Schultz (to whom a 250 person university police department, which by statute had all the powers of the local and state police, reported) commenced a police investigation (McQueary did after all testify at the preliminary hearing the other Friday that he told Curley and Schultz more graphic details about the incident than he did Paterno; and Schultz is the only one of this group who admitted, during his GJ testimony, that he was aware of the 1998 incident and the 2002 incident and that they were similar).
I could go on with numerous other examples of the egregious legal and MORAL failures of others in this horrible situation, but I am sure that it would have no impact on the views held by so many of you who accepted the moral rush to judgment witch hunt against Paterno led by the Enabling Sexual Predators Network who proclaimed long and loudly that JoePa was the No. 1 moral villian here despite doing NOTHING withe a tape recording of a conversation with one of the victims and Bernie Fine’s wife which by any definition contained more direct confirmation of Fine’s misconduct than what McQueary told Paterno. Of course, it was okay for ESPN to sit on that tape for years because ESPN had no corroborating evidence (funny how the same ESPN moralists who tried to justify their witch hunt against Paterno by claiming they are “all about the viictims” had no concern whatsoever about the kids who were victimized by Fine because they had no corroborating evidence).
Gimme a break!
4:40 pm on December 26th, 2011
Coach Paterno tells his boss about a person acting inappropriately that no longer is a employee of his or Penn State.
Again what did he do wrong other than chastise the DA for not doing their job when notified(?)
9:25 pm on December 26th, 2011
First, for those of you who aren’t from PA, the grand jury is not a trial. It is where the jurors are selected to hear testimony from the DA and to vote (openly) as to whether or not the DA has sufficient evidence to bring the defendant to trial. There is no cross examination, there are no defense attorneys only the DA bringing forth information to ascertain validity for trial.
Second, the 1998 allegations were thoroughly investigated by police and the DA elected not to bring charges, for what ever reason, not enough evidence was there.
Third, Sandusky was spending too much time with the second mile charity and Joe Pa gave him a choice to resign and run his charity or to coach.
Fourth, in 2002 Joe Pa had just had 2 consecutive losing seasons and Curley and Spanier tried to fire Joe because he had lost touch, but Joe refused to resing and the backlash at his firing would have been enormous. What I am getting at is in 2002 Curley would have loved to blame Joe. He wanted him gone.
In this country we love DIrty laundry, what else would the media do. Lets see how the trial comes out. Will everyone be as quick to apologize to Joe.
2:36 am on December 27th, 2011
Joe Pa is a scumbag pure and simple, for the reasons stated.
7:56 am on December 27th, 2011
Joe did what he thought was right at the time. Joe didnt witness the incident. If anyone should have called the police it was the guy who witnessed it. In hindsight should Joe have handled things differently, probably, but again he did not witness the incident. He did not know this guy was abusing all these children. People seem to think that Joe should have known what no one else knew at the time. Really, think about it and put yourself in Joe’s shoes.
7:15 pm on December 27th, 2011
To bad we have a bunch of morons like cv who are quick to blame Joe Pa for something that was not his doing or responsibility.
9:10 pm on December 27th, 2011
To (John) and the rest of the blind who have commented concerning this matter? Wake the hell up! There is no need for me to go through the time line, or what has happened I think we are well aware of those things. What everyone seems to miss is that coaches are with one another more than their own families. For them not to have discussed these issues with one another is simply a lie. What is really disturbing is the cost of winning games. For them to cover up, follow up, or simply look the other way is what is considered WIN AT ANY COST. It is really sad that we place winning above protecting the young and innocent. Win or lose you get another chance, a luxury those children will never get.
9:14 pm on December 27th, 2011
I have been molested when I was I child. I strongly suggest that you all wait to find out the facts before you start blaming everyone. The only person who is BAD is the child molester. It is easy to look back and see things perfectly. But usually at the time, most people don’t know or have a clue what has happened. We are always right, being a Monday morning quarterback, [after seeing the game Sunday.] Its not so easy trying to know everything before it happens. [On Saturday}
8:23 am on December 30th, 2011
I can understand the arguments from both sides. What I can’t understand is the fact that Mr. Paterno is being crucified more than Mr. Sandusky. The fact the Mr. Curley did not do his job seems to be more blatent, from a work environment point of view. The fact that this seems to be handled as a workplace situation, Mr. Paterno did exactly as he was supposed to by contacting his immediate supervisor for action. Did he make the mistake of not following up to ensure that this was being handled properly? Most definitely! If it was not, then from a moral standard he should have gone to the proper authorities. It’s a real shame that Mr. Paterno’s legacy and career had to be tarnished the way it was. When information of such an atrociuous nature is not handled correctly by all involved, this is the cost of such action. I am still an avid Penn State football fan but am now lacking as a fan of the Penn State leadership.
Good luck to Penn State and sympathies to those that had their lives altered in such a terrible way by those invovled.
12:59 pm on December 30th, 2011
If the child ran a 40 yard dash in 4.5 seconds, Paterno would have had more interest. Gutless puke.
2:38 am on December 31st, 2011
Is ad hominem the best that you can come up with, Patrick?
I am not even going to try to debate the facts with you, as you obviously have a foregone conclusion, one typical of the self-righteous.
1:08 pm on December 31st, 2011
So Sad… so sad. I was a Penn State fan. I was a Joe Paterno fan. But can’t be associated with that mess.
I think of Penn State and hurt for the now dozens of children that were molested (at least) that would have been protected if Paterno (and others) cared more about children than themselves.
Paterno/McQueary/Schultz/Curley/Spanier/Bradley and the rest should be ashamed of themselves…
So saddened by this. Hoping they clean house entirely (I mean everybody) so I could consider renewing season tickets and buying more stuff… but if anyone is retained… I won’t be back. It’s an embarrassment.
11:11 pm on January 1st, 2012
Just an fyi and a follow up question: the 2002 alleged assault happened the Friday evening of the start of Spring Break. Campus was a ghost town. Do we even know if Curley was in town or on a vacation with his family?
10:43 am on January 6th, 2012
If Coach Paterno is a calculating and as all-powerful as some of you want to believe, why did he tell ANYONE? He told McQueary that he had to report what he saw. I’m befuddled that if McQueary saw a child being raped - that he was incapable of using that little four letter word? Coach said he stopped McQueary from speaking - know he did not need to know all the details, nor did he need to risk contaminating McQueary’s memory by asking questions. Coach thought he was doing the right thing There is a reason witnesses are asked to not talk to anyone.
Don’t get me wrong, what happened to those boys is tragic and anyone who participated in the actual activity or planned a cover-up should be punished.
But, given what is actually known at this point. I don’t know if there was an actual cover up. It is starting to sound more like a grad student who lacked the maturity to come up with grown up words to describe what he witnessed and in doing so led administrators to believe what was happening was immature horsing around by an adult who should have known better.
9:43 am on January 25th, 2012
If you read the entire Grand Jury testimony you will see that the facts are that Joe Paterno told Schultz who is the head of Finance & Business for the University about the incident. Schultz, who apparently is head of the campus police, does not have arresting power and DID NOT look further into the matter. He didn’t even alert the campus police about it. Furthermore, NO ONE decided to tell actual campus police (with arresting power) or the local police about it. If they had, an immediate investigation would have been enacted especially since Sandusky had already been the subject of an investigation back in 1998 (which from the testimony appeared to also have been swept under the rug and covered up). The guy even admitted to his inappropriate behavior and corroborated what the victim’s testimony but all he got was a promise that he never do it again.
Joe Paterno absolutely DID NOT do what he should’ve. He told the University President and the Head of Finance. Once a YEAR had gone by with absolutely no result he should’ve realized that nothing was being done and DID MORE. McQueary also should have done more. Joe Paterno isn’t alone with the blame. Penn State and it’s administration should be ashamed of themselves. Reading the testimony shows that most of the abuse happened ON CAMPUS and it was pretty well known among the few people that something fishy was going on with Sandusky and these kids. The fact that victims were assaulted as late as 2007 just shows that no one did their job.
Joe Paterno isn’t solely to blame but even fighting about this and what he could’ve done is a slap in the face to all the victims that were abused from that point on. If he had done what he should’ve there would be no victim 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (and even more). Bottom line: if, in this world where information travels in the blink of an eye, any of this information had been brought to the proper authorities it wouldn’t have been completely quiet for 10 years. The fact is we learned of these incidents 10-13 years after them and that is horrible.
For all you fighting for Paterno and his legacy please read the Grand Jury Testimony. The facts alone and the number of victims that could testify would make you sick and possibly change your mind about what the guy could’ve done. The fact remains that these poor victims will never ever be the same and it was something that could’ve been avoided.