NYT: ‘Critical Break’ in Penn St. Scandal Came From a Comment Posted on the Internet
- Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:13pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Mike McQueary (Photo: AP)
This may be hard to believe, but the New York Times is reporting that a “critical” break in the Penn State University child rape scandal involving former coach Jerry Sandusky came when someone posted a comment on a message board. There, someone mentioned that a coach might have seen something “ugly” but kept quiet. The Times explains what happened next:
Investigators with the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office had by 2010 already come to the conclusion that Sandusky, the longtime defensive coordinator for Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions, was a serial molester, according to two people with knowledge of the case. But what had started with a complaint of sexual assault from a high school freshman had grown to include another matter altogether: whether Penn State had acted to cover up Sandusky’s behavior, even crimes.
Working off the brief mention on an Internet forum where people chatted about Penn State athletics, according to the two people with knowledge of the case, investigators narrowed their list of coaches likely to have seen something to Mike McQueary, then an assistant coach and the football program’s recruiting coordinator.
State College is a close-knit community. Word would get around that a Penn State coach had met with investigators. So investigators set up a meeting in an out-of-the-way parking lot, according to those with knowledge of the case.
There, one day a little over a year ago, McQueary unburdened himself, the two people said. He needed little prompting.
McQueary then unloaded:
He told of a horrific scene he had stumbled upon as a graduate assistant one Friday night in March 2002: a naked boy, about 10, hands pressed against the locker room wall of the Lasch Football Building, being raped by Sandusky. McQueary was explicit and unequivocal, the people said. He had told Paterno, the team’s longtime and widely beloved head coach, about the incident the next day, but he was filled with regret that nothing had happened.
“This had been weighing on him for a very long time, and our guys felt he was relieved to get it off his chest,” one law enforcement official said. “When he had the opportunity to make it right, he told the truth.”
McQueary has come under fire for not stopping the incident immediately. However, he has now come out and said he did, and also that he told authorities — besides Paterno — what happened. Still, the local police has said they cannot locate an official police report.
Read the entire NYT article here.
(H/T: Business Insider)
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Comments (67)
65Plus
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:18pmFootball Uber Alles!
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:33pmNo evidence that any of this had to do with football. More likely that if there was a coverup that it had to do with money or prestige.
Report Post »hud
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 5:42pmMoney, prestige, football. Which came first the chicken or the egg?
Report Post »netmail
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:00pmOh, come on now, for years, ALL the coaches and administrators KNEW what was going on and they kept quiet about it to protect their beloved jobs and football program. Let ALL the facts come out and then bring the hammer down HARD on each and every participant according to their deeds.
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:33pm[netmail
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:00pm
Oh, come on now, for years, ALL the coaches and administrators KNEW what was going on and they kept quiet about it to protect their beloved jobs and football program.]
Maybe, maybe not.
Report Post »SLOWBIDEN
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 7:07pmIf an older woman that chases younger guys is called a cougar does that mean an older man that chases younger guys is called a coach from Penn State
Report Post »expatinontariocanada
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:51pmThere’s no telling where the top of this hive of pedastry is. The cops can‘t find McQueary’s original report? If true, there’s another tunnel to pursue. Take a look at this..http://www.henrymakow.com/penn_state_scandal_is_bigger_t.html.
Report Post »timeout
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:25pmneed more that this particular link to believe this crap! got more for research?
Report Post »VANDAL 99
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:46pmhang em ALL
Report Post »VANDAL 99
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:45pmhang-em ALLLLLLLLLL.
Report Post »pbhiller
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:34pmIt is so hard to believe all the “ Guilty” by association that is going on. Joe Paternos’ legacy has been destroyed because he did not followup on something hear say that he was told. He reported it to the school leadership. Read my lips he reported it.. Where is he legally bound to do anymore than that. and it being second hand information what would ve been done if he went further than required. I want to know which prosecutor it was that investigated a 1998 incident and found no issues involving Sandusky. Sandusky needs to fry no doubt but lets stop prosecuting on somehing that someone morally should have done. I think Joe Paterno should be rehired immediately and a public written apology by the board of trustees need to be given this outstanding coach, teacher, leader.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:54pm@ pbhiller
Report Post »You’re an idiot. His inaction of reporting a horrible rape of a child, to the POLICE, allowed more boys to be raped and scarred for life. If your kid gets raped do u call your boss ??? He is an outright accomplice…..PERIOD
evilpa
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:22pmJoe Paterno may not have been “legally” obliged to report it, but what about morally and ethically obliged to report this heinous act to the police. ANYONE who sees any kind of attack is morally and ethically obliged to immediately act and contact the police. I am sick knowing that this may not have been stopped, that the alleged perpetrator was not beaten to a pulp, that the child was not embraced, consoled and protected, and that 911 was not immediately contacted. The final judgement is left to God.
Report Post »timeout
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:26pmrehire a man who knowingly allowed a child to be butt …… is outrageous. i have a plan for them all!
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:51pmDetroit, you are absolutely correct. The PSU/Joe Paterno defenders sicken me. They all knew about it. Paterno did squat. It was his former coach, on his lockerroom showers and I’m betting he told the cops, to just make it all go away. Strange isn’t it that this comes down right after Paterno sets the record for wins. Like maybe they were told to hold off?
Report Post »tjcusick
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:06pm@PBHILLER; I agree with you and it was Ray Gricar, The Prosecutor Who Failed To Prosecute Jerry Sandusky, who just mysteriously disappeared shortly after…
And i love all the haters on the page that are vilifying Joe Paterno… Why don’t we see this much hatred toward Sandusky?? You remember him.. the guy who actually did the unspeakable acts against the kids?? Oh no never mind him… lets just jump up and down and scream at Joe Paterno… that makes for better head lines…
Report Post »tjcusick
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:10pm@EVILPA: First get your facts straight… Joe Paterno DID NOT witness the act… he was told from an assistance coach the day after it happened. Also he was told (according to the Grand Jury testimony) that Sandusky was in the locker room horse playing with a young boy. So under that definition he is supposed to go to the cops and demand that Sandusky be lynched??? PLEASE!!! You people need to really get a grip!!! Makes me sick to hear all the haters spouting off without knowing all the facts!!!
Report Post »knighttemplar999
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 7:53pmMany people can see that Joe Paterno is a creepy old pervert.
Report Post »trench99
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:28pmI believe Paterno, McQuerey, and others should be held as accomplices to the rapes by Saudesky. In the case of a rape of a child that IS life or death, rape kills a piece of a person & though they may live through it they will never be the same EVER! Any one rallying around this cover-up coach is saying “my entertainment is more important than a child’s life” and I hope they rot in hell next to the rest of these dirty bastards!
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:49pmWhat a way for Paterno to end a fifty year career, acomplice to child rape… Whoda thunk it ? Yuk….
Report Post »DaveOregon
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:27pmAgree this is going to get uglier – too much covering up – and there has to be members of the board and other levels of the administration who knew. This could be even wider – like a pedophile ring. We don’t know yet – McQuery – no conclusion yet – because I think at least some of the police were in on it – so who knows yet.
Report Post »jakibo23
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 6:40pmGood point. Let’s keep in mind where this happened. Locker room = campus, campus = campus police. If the cops work for PSU it‘s not hard to believe they’d want to protect the football program that brings in 70 million to the school. Just because there was no police report doesn‘t necessarily mean that it wasn’t reported. Just sayin.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:25pmLocal police often will not file a report if they have no hard evidence. I have reported felonies and they came out an acted as if I was a nuisance, even when I was able to identify the perp.
Bottom line is that we have so many welfare actors running around making false claims against their baby daddy, that the police no longer believe it when a legitimate call comes in.
Report Post »dadadadio
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:23pmIncredible, that Sandusky felt so invincible that he would rape this boy in an open locker room where anyone could just walk in. Something tells me there’s more to this story……
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:35pmAren’t locker rooms common places for people to get naked?
Report Post »Drakkhanlord
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:21pmSobs should be taken outside and shot…
Report Post »Guitar Master
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:21pmzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
THE REPORTER Speaks
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
TOPIC – Joe Paterno
Question: Did Joe Paterno know that a 10 yr. old was raped in the shower by his assistant coach soon after it happened?
Answer: Yes !
Does that make Mr. Paterno a co-conspirator? THE REPORTER believes it certainly does. If Paterno would have called in the authorities he could have saved other victims of Sandusky’s vile actions.
THE REPORTER has been spouting off continually about the American mentality when it comes to sports. Americans are rabid when it comes to sports and the Paterno incident is a classic example. If the American people cared as much about who they voted for as they do their “sports heroes” we wouldn’t be in the miserable state we are in today in every respect.
Until Americans stop caring about who their favorite NFL team is and instead, start caring about who the hell they’ve voted for they will continue to dig themselves a deeper hole.
FINAL THOUGHT: Joe Paterno should be arrested immediately as a co-conspirator in the sex scandal cover-up. If he isn’t you can rightfully blame the local authorities.
Report Post »Arthur Spooner
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 5:15pmAgree, but . . .
CAN WE QUIT CALLING IT A “SEX SCANDAL” AND CALL IT WHAT IT REALLY IS??
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CHILD RAPE SCANDAL AND COVER-UP <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Thanks.
Report Post »garyM
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:10pmI’m sure Paterno had enough influence with the police, he could call them and get anything erased from the files, on his players or anyone else. That’s how the American system has always worked, it’s called the good Ole buy game! It stinks but many of us know it’s true!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:23pmIt wouldn’t be the 1st time records have been lost. Unlike the Rose Law firm records these won’t be found on a coffee table a year later. Heck, the Pennsylvania is missing a whole district attorney. that is like the feds missing a deputy attorney general & saying we don’t know.
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:27pmYou guys are funny. The way you talk everyone in the state must have known about it. Ah, hindsight makes us all geniuses.
Report Post »lynda1276
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:05pm10 year old?!!! i’m just a girl and i could have and would have stopped it right then and there. Shame on you, McQuery!
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:04pmWait – they can’t prosecute gay sex. It’s got protected status here in America. Benetton wants you to Un-Hate Penn State!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:27pmHow could Sandusky be married that many years & not have kids? He or his wife could be infertile, but there are fertility treatments. Did he even have sex with his wife? If he didn’t that would be very gay! Makes you wonder if Senator Craig had sex with his wife? Why are their wives with them? So long as the money comes in sex in marriage does not matter?
Report Post »Pat Alexander
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:01pmIt’s IMPOSSIBLE to work with and be around someone for that long of a time and NOT see the signs.
I have encountered this in my own area and people know. They just look the other way, because it’s not their kid.
There is NO excuse.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:12pmSo if people know, what are you doing about it? Just askin….
Report Post »lodgerat
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:45pmAgain the moral fiber of this country is shown to be lacking. I’m so sad for the young men involved.
Report Post »awarestudent
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:41pmEveryone who had any knowledge of this and did not physically do anything to stop it should be shot. They could have gone to the media if that’s what had to be done. All the kids that Sandusky RAPED (this is not molestation – it’s rape) should go after every single person that knew anything and did NOT help them.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:41pm“Local police often will not file a report if they have no hard evidence.” -Secessionista
So if McQueary told police & they did nothing, you want to shoot him? He told Paterno, & the boy’s father. We know that for sure. He allegedly told the police.
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:40pmI don’t understand. Any parent who doesn’t go straight to the police. There is no excuse. If I were ever (God forbid) in that position with one of my children, I would first go to the police, then bring a lawsuit, and make sure that everything was quite public until everyone involved was brought to justice. I would never stop. What is wrong with these people.
Report Post »cramy4u2
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:39pmSo WHY didn’t McQueary rush in there and say WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON and put a stop to it right then and there? Too concerned about himself…just like the others. There are no words for my disgust!
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:39pmMcQuery’s hero status sure in heck did not last very long did it? As it turns out, it appears he has lied on a number of issues. One has to now wonder what exactly did he report to Paterno. In any case, we need to actually wait for the facts before we choose whom to condemn and how much they need condemning.
Report Post »pap pap
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:31pmGee I wonder why Sandusky who was beng groomed to be Paterno’s eventual replacement was pushed into retirement back in 1998 because of so called coaching changes. Talk about a long term cover up. This whole thing is horrible.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:21pmI blame everyone who had knowledge… and did nothing… including the Kids & Parents, who acted as enablers!
Report Post »ItBites
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:11pm10 year old children do not have the minds of adults. I cannot imagine the horror and confusion they must have felt. Attacks like this leave deep, deep emotional scars. You cannot in ANY WAY place an iota of blame on these kids. Idiot. I say it again- Idiot.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:15pmThey were little kids being coerced into doing something they knew wasn’t right. If you read the Grand Jury report some were 7 or 8 yrs old. They were intimidated and didn’t know what to do. All of them were from a broken family or some sort of troubled life or they wouldn’t have been in involved in that charity. I don’t blame any of the children at all.
Report Post »Oraclevoiceofreason
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:20pmI am still baffled as to how and why this has taken 10 years to “unfold”
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:35pmIt’s because Penn State values their football program more than the lives of these young boys. We all saw the students rally around the #1 enabler.
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:40pmActually it was being heavily investigated by a Prosecutor who mysteriously disappeared in 2005.
My beef is that the first “known” instance occurred in 1994 and Penn State quickly hushed it up. When the next case was exposed in 1998, Sandusky was asked to “retire”, although the AD, School Prez, and especially Paterno fought to get Sandusky an office in the athletic department, with free movement privileges to all the facilities offered within the athletic department.
My questions from this point on. What did the BOARD members know, and when did they know it. At what point did they use their financial and legal influence to cover this crap sandwich up? There is no possible way that since 1994 when questions first arose, that they didn’t know what was going on with Sandusky. Many of their “friends” and reportedly even a couple of them, supported the Second Mile charity.
This case is going to get really ugly, and more is yet to come. PSU may as well close their doors now. Mount Nittany is about to get leveled.
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:43pm[JLGunner
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:35pm
It’s because Penn State values their football program more than the lives of these young boys. We all saw the students rally around the #1 enabler.]
Three issues. It is generally good to rally around a hero coach, especially when none of the facts were in. And we still have a lot of facts left to yet be revealed.
Secondly, you calling Paterno the number one enabler is far from an accurate accessment. Especially since multiple witnesses explain that Paterno reported the incident to the best of his knowledge, immediately.
Thirdly, the number one enabler turns out to be the short lived hero, McQuery.
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:02pmK if you were aware of the goings on , would you just mention it to someone or would you mention it and fallow it through to the end?
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:20pmthe10thamendment – thanks for saying something about that missing prosecutor. I hadn’t heard about that. I just read a bit; very interesting. Is murder involved in this awful tale now?
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:30pm[JLGunner
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:02pm
K if you were aware of the goings on , would you just mention it to someone or would you mention it and fallow it through to the end?]
You’re assuming that Paterno was aware of everything that we are currently aware of, as though it was a slam dunk case. Neither you nor I know exactly what Paterno did or what exactly he knew or when he knew it. He said himself that he should have done more. I have no idea what that means since he was not specific.
But the wild assumptions about what everyone must of known is just kind of dumb, since we are speculating after the fact.
Report Post »kmichaels
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 2:32pm[deeberj
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:20pm
the10thamendment – thanks for saying something about that missing prosecutor. I hadn’t heard about that. I just read a bit; very interesting. Is murder involved in this awful tale now?]
The police, for whatever reason, have claimed that his disappearance was not related to this event. I have no idea how they drew that conclusion, but they did.
Report Post »G.E.R
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 12:18pmThat’s not good enough when it concerns a 10 year old child
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