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Penn State Scandal: JoePa Gets Lawyers, McQueary Gets Threats, Cops Review Riot Tapes
By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 11, 2011
Modified Nov 11, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 11, 2011
Modified Nov 11, 2011
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The mess at Penn State keeps getting messier. With Joe Paterno out and the student riots over, death threats are coming in, people are lawyering up, the national media is focusing in on alleged pederast Jerry Sandusky and just what exactly has been going on at his youth charity The Second Mile. With Penn State playing Nebraska on Saturday, this story is not going away any time soon.
- Assistant Coach Mike McQueary, who allegedly saw Jerry Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in the Penn State showers in 2002 and rather than tell the police called his dad for advice and then told Joe Paterno, will no longer be working Saturday's game. The school released a statement Thursday night saying, "Due to multiple threats made against Assistant Coach Mike McQueary, the University has decided it would be in the best interest of all for Assistant Coach McQueary not to be in attendance at Saturday’s Nebraska game." McQueary's role in the scandal and how it has affected his career since 2002, has been getting a lot of attention.
- Meanwhile Paterno, who has not been charged with any crimes (as much as some would like him to be), appears to have reached out to "a prominent Washington criminal defense lawyer" as "in addition to the investigations by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, the former coach is concerned about the likelihood of civil lawsuits by Sandusky's alleged victims and their families."
- Reportedly the victims are not taking well to the firing of Paterno. A Harrisburg lawyer who is advising some of them has come out against the firing of the legendary coach, saying, "These victims do not live in a bubble. They see the students’ reaction to the termination, and to think this does not weigh on their minds would be naïve."
- And it isn't just the victims who see the reaction, their families do too. The sister of one of victim who currently attends Penn State talked to The Patriot-News about the pain of being on campus through this ordeal. "I’ve been going to minimal classes," she said, "because every class I go to I get sick to my stomach. People are making jokes about it. I understand they don’t know I’m involved and it was my brother, but it’s still really hard to swallow that. ... they should be focusing on their respect for the families and what they’ve been through."
- Not that every PSU student is being uncaring through this ordeal. Students have reportedly been lining up to buy "Blue Out" Nebraska T-shirts to show their stance against child abuse (the proceeds from the shirts go to Prevent Child Abuse PA).
- In advance of today's previously scheduled meeting of the school's Board of Trustees, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett held a press conference yesterday in which he praised the board's decision to fire Paterno and President Graham Spanier ("Their actions caused me to not have confidence in their ability to continue to lead," he said) and pointed out facts that seem pretty obvious to most casual observers: "Certainly every Pennsylvanian who has any knowledge of this case, who has read the grand jury report, feels a sense of regret and a sorrow to also see careers end. But we must keep in mind that when it comes to the safety of children, there can be no margin of error, no hesitation to act." (you can see the video here)
- Police are reviewing video footage of Wednesday night's riots and have reportedly identified numerous suspects amongst the crowd that they say totaled between 4,000 and 5,000.
- And just in case this whole thing weren't vile enough, yesterday Pittsburgh radio host Mark Madden went on the air to pass along a disturbing rumor (which is still very much a rumor) "that Jerry Sandusky and Second Mile were pimping out young boys to rich donors." He says that the rumor is "being investigated by two prominent columnists even as I speak." To give you a sense of just how upsetting that rumor could be if true, just look at this map of how many individuals The Second Mile served in the state of Pennsylvania.
- Want a little conspiracy with your scandal? Journalists are now sniffing around the story of Centre County PA prosecutor Ray Gricar, the DA who never prosecuted Sandusky but disappeared in 2005 (and has never been found).
- Finally, for an enlightening read on what the local media knew about the story and when, go read this.
Tagged
coverup
jerry sandusky
joe paterno
mike mcqueary
pederast
pedophila
penn state
student riot
Garth Johnston
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