BULL HOCKEY.....He reported the incident. Sandusky was the one with the problem of 'horsing around'. Did any of the victims coach the team for 60 yrs?

He did not reprot exactly what he was told. Read the Grand Jury report.

He filtered it to protect a long-time friend, sacrificing a young boy's life in the process. He made a choice. It was the wrong one but served Paterno well.

We can't deny him his pension based on the fact that he was fired, though, because otherwise every geriatric person who makes a mistake at work is subject to being fired to save companies from paying any pensions at all. Think it won't happen? Then you don't truly understand corporate greed.

Paterno was what 80 at the time he found out about this stuff.. Yeah I'm sure his memory is perfect... (heavy sarcasm if your one of the ones that cant figure it out)

Joe Paterno is Pond Scum!

When you are told by a memeber of your staff that he just witnessed another member of your staff raping a 10 year old boy in the shower you don't just report it to the Atheltic Director unless you are trying to cover your ass, and protect your program. You stop what you are doing and you call 911 that very second! Anything less, and you are guilty of failing to report a Felony to Law Enforcement. Add in the nature of this felony, and the age of the victim, and like I said, Joe Paterno is Pond Scum. I only wish there was some law in Pennsylvannia he could be prosecuted under.

Shows you what we value in this country: police, firemen, military, schoolteachers, doctors, nurses...people who actually do something useful for a living...make nowhere near what a corrupt college football coach makes! This is more than about the cult of Paterno and the cult of sports, it's about a country that resembles the movie IDIOCRACY.

Carole-1226209 refers to Sandusky's actions as "Horsing Around".

Actually Carole, it was Anal Rape of a 10 year old boy, and Paterno knew about it and did not call the police immediately. Joe Paterno cares about Joe Paterno, and his legacy. Well fine; his legacy is that which we are discussing right now.

Once again, how do you know exactly what Paterno was told? where you there? If he was told the words anal rape, why was he not charged? Explain please.

Hey Trooper Tom,

You won't mind if I have someone report to your superiors about you having anal sex with some 10yr old boy? Once it's in the papers and your life is destroyed, I doubt you will care much that they retract it later on page 10. Of course you can get the person reporting prosecuted but I doubt it will help your reputation once you are labeled a child molester. Calling 911 about an incident that wasn't even happen at the time should be prosecuted. It's an emergency service for immediate problems not something that happened yesterday or the day before that.

Well, Trooper Tom, according to an email from McQueary that's suddenly surfaced, he did contact police right away - mind you, that's not what he stated originally, though, so there seems to be a little revisionist history at work - so doesn't that make the entire police force liable for not doing anything?

He did not reprot exactly what he was told. Read the Grand Jury report.

Tom - Sorry if I should already know this, but can you direct us to the Grand Jury report? I would like to read this as there seems to be conflicting stories on this.

according to an email from McQueary that's suddenly surfaced, he did contact police right away

If that is fact, then why would it be necessary to even expect Paterno to do anything? I mean why even report this to him except to just inform him? Once the matter is in the hands of the police, wouldn't further action taken by university personnel be considered interfering with a police investigation?

Let's not forget, it was Joe Paterno who was molesting those kids and not Sandusky, of course he should lose everything...

He did not reprot exactly what he was told. Read the Grand Jury report.

He has stated he was not told by McQuery that it was a rape he witnesses. Who are you going to believe, a man who built a reputation of integrity or the guy who walked out of a locker room where a 10 year old was being raped WITHOUT taking the boy with him. And oh by the way, McQuery has been telling freinds a different story than the one he told the grand jury. If he doesn't want people to think he walked out on a rape now, do you really believe he admitted it to Joe Paterno then?

Gillanator -

Good Morning America reported on it this morning. They have a copy of the email he sent - this is the excerpt they posted:

I did stop it, not physically ... but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room ... I did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police.... no one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30-45 seconds ... trust me.

Do with this what you want ... but I am getting hammered for handling this the right way ... or what I thought at the time was right ... I had to make tough impacting quick decisions.

This is off record ... again ... I have not and will not say anything to anyone else.

Kind of sheds a different light on things, doesn't it?

Conservatives have been railing about out of control pension costs for public employees for years. Professors, teachers, school administrators, clerks at your local village hall or county office all receive salary and benefit programs that far exceed those in the private sector. The governor of Wisconsin tried to reign them in and now faces a recall election, funded by union thugs.

I agree if fired for cause, Paterno should forfeit his pension, as should any employee. Try to get the public teachers unions or your local teamsters to agree to this change and you will have a riot on your hands.

Karl Stevens, I agree. It is the misplaced hero worship of sports heroes that allows this type of BS to happen in the first place. OJ Simpson got away with murdering two people for the same reason. The real heroes of this country are unsung.

I don't mean to turn this into a political discussion but it is the same passive attitude that has allowed our country to be overrun by greed. People don't care enough to pay attention. They only care about watching some guys play with balls. President Obama was right when he said we need to revere scientists more than sports heroes. If you care more about watching sports than educating yourself then you take part in the blame.

Paterno was fired. Now what was the cause? The cause was for the good of the Universities Board of Trustees so it looked to the media that they were doing something about their problem. He was #1 scapegoat.

According to McQuery, based on the email above, he did report it to the, apparently, State College police and to the official at the university in charge of police. So what did those people that heard that initial report do?

Someone is always looking for the goat to cover collective a$$eS.

Oh, and regarding Joe selling his house to the wife for $1. Have you seen the outside? How much can it be worth in State College, PA?

Paterno is being crucified in the media and by a lot of ignorant know-it-alls. The evil that Jerry Sandusky perpetrated is actually being proliferated by those factions attempting to destroy a good and decent man, Joe Paterno.

Some of you people on here "Doth protest too much" ... what are you really upset about? Take a look in the mirror in your glass house.

To those of you saying the things about how bad Paterno is, and how mike mcqueary did tell the police, you all need to read the grand jury report in it's entirety. what is in there is alot different than mcquearys story to his friends. I wonder if it's because you can BS your friends, but your under oath in front of the grand jury.the truth is McQueary walked out of the showers and left that boy there with Sandusky. what a piece of garbage. Anyone that can believe what he says about calling the police right off after reading the grand jury report is an idot. furthermore, this should be a non issue with Paterno, if you just start reading on page 18 you will find that the DA and child services had this guy dead to rights in 98 and did nothing. he should have at the very least been terminated then, the truth is Penn State and everybody else is using Paterno as a scapegoat. I challenge you to read the entire grand jury report and see if you don't have a different view of who the real guilty parties are in this. That goes for you to Trooper Tom

I forgot the link. for those of you that wish to read the grand jury report, this link will take you to chicago news station 2 web page they have a link to the grandjury report chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/11/07/sandusky-grand-jury-report/

Witch hunt. The man served the school for over 50 years. He is entitled to a pension. How would any of you commenters out there like it if YOUR pension/retirement were taken away just as quickly before all of the facts are known? Joe is gone. Until he is convicted of a crime, leave the man alone!

Whatever happened to the concept of "innocent until proven guilty"?

Let's wait and see what happens with the actual investigation before we start crucifying people.

This isn't about Joe Paterno. This is about the impact that a sick adult has had on the life of a child. Joe Paterno is 80+ years old and has made a ton of money. Frankly, the concern about him and his football legacy is misplaced. Football is a game, nothing more. The fact that so many of us deify athletes and coaches is our weakness. These people are nothing more than human beings. Frankly I find it hard to deify someone who has not conducted themself in who has not conducted themselves in a deific manner.

half a million dollar pension... no wonder people are going 10 of thousands in debt to go to school.

Farce, scam, cover up and GREED, with it's partner sexual perversion.... This whole article wreaks of it...

For everyone who now hates Paterno, which appears to be even more hatred than that for Sandusky; he is third generation removed from this, and reported to his superiors a crime that was witness by someone else about someone else. Who knows what was told to him? Everything is speculation at the moment. A lot of he said/she said. If this man is to be destroyed for a crime someone else committed, that was witnessed by someone else other than him, then there should be millions of people who need to be ruined for not going to the police after hearing of any crime.

I understand this crime is horrible, and would want many people to get involved in the pursuit of righteousness to stop such an act against my child. But this is wrong. We are now criticizing him for financial transactions months ago. We want his retirement taken away. We are burning him at the stake. Where is the hatred for the guy who witnessed it. He is the one who has the ultimate responsibility to go to the cops. By the sounds it he did, maybe he didn't. Who knows what he told Paterno? No one here knows a thing other than what the media is telling us. Which we all know tends to be more crap than not. Especially, in cases like this that are being hyped to get more viewers/readers/website hits.

If he is guilty of anything, then yes, he should be culpable for his inaction, but to the extent people on here detest him seems a little excessive.

This is one of many reasons college cost are out of reach for so many. Pensions reaching a half million dollars is simply mind boggling to me for a retired coach or anyone else at a government funded instituion.

The whole ugly incident aside, why are liberals and their media toadies so damned interested in how much people earn/possess.......envy, maybe?

The only thing good about the pension is that he is 84 and won't be around too much longer.

It is really said to see all of the misplaced hate in all of these posts. NEA Exec glad that Joe won't be around much longer because of his age. People with large student loans blaming this pension as the reason school costs are so high. Here is one to think about. What has the head football coach's pension cost to Penn State been since, let's say, 1965? My guess would be almost zero. Joe brought tens maybe hundreds of millions to the school through the football program, and the group on here wants to create some kind of morality clause to cheat him out of his pension after the fact? How many corporations out there would love to start scrubbing their books to look for ANY reason to deny someones pension to balance their books if we let this happen? No one is perfect. I know that I am not. Maybe all of the perfect people out here stoning Joe need to take a hard look at themselves. Maybe you would have put on your cape and executed Sandusky on the spot if you were there. Do you overlook crime in other ways? Where do you draw your line? Should your life/job/pension be on the line for your actions? These comments don't apply to all of you perfect people out there.

I think that Paterno is being unfairly demonized by the media and people in general simply because he is the most high profile, best known individual involved in this whole affair. No one can be sure what McQueary told Paterno, particularly since McQueary's story has changed so many times. He did not say anything at all to Paterno until the day after the incident took place. According to Paterno, who I tend to believe more than McQueary, he said nothing about witnessing anal intercourse between Sandusky and the boy, only that he saw something inappropriate going on in the shower between Sandusky and the boy. Paterno then relayed the information he was given to his superiors at the university. It was not Paterno's job to investigate the allegations or to take any further action at that point. The only thing that you might be able to fault Paterno for is that he did not pursue the matter further when his bosses apparently swept this under the rug. However, if McQueary can be believed and he did contact the police, there was no need for Paterno to do anything more than he did. To go further would be to interfere with the police investigation. Also, how many of you self righteous people out there would go to the police and accuse someone of a crime, possibly destroying their life, when you did not even witness the incident in question and had only second hand information. I do not believe a word coming out of McQueary's mouth regarding what he told who or when he told them since his story keeps changing. The e-mail that says he contacted he police does not say whether this was the State College police department or the Penn State University police department. In any case, the University police were also informed by the university administration and apparently did nothing to investigate or report this to the State College PD as required by law. There are many people that are far more responsible for the failure to act in this situation than Paterno who are not receiving any where near the same level of scorn. The scorn for Paterno is completely out of proportion with his level of involvement in this incident. His firing by the university board of trustees was without just cause and done purely for political, public image reasons, not because Paterno did anything illegal. As for Paterno's pension, he has earned it through 60 years of dedicated service to the university. He has not been convicted, or for that matter even accused of a crime. There would be absolutely no justification, legal or otherwise, for denying Paterno the pensions he has earned through his dedicated service. Knee jerk reactions like removing the statue of Paterno at Penn State are completely uncalled for considering the fact that he has not been accused of any crime.

WTF? Joe Paterno could have made millions long ago. This man is NOT greedy and dedicated his life to Penn State and his team. He was offered numerous Pro NFL teams head coaching positions. The man actually sacrificed the really big bucks to stay at PSU. He worked there for 60 years and raised something like a billion dollars for the University...!

Some people are just effin idiots.

Paterno broke no laws. He reported what he was told by the Graduate Student who called his dad and not the police. Paterno reported the "ALLEGATIONS" to the schools Administration. Paterno was not a party to or part of any cover-up. The Graduate Assistant/Assistant Coach on the other hand by not immediately reporting what he actually saw to the Police was and is part of the cover-up. Paterno has no authority to fire anyone because he only had an Allegation which he reported. It was up to either to Graduate Assistant/Assistant Coach or the School's Administration to ask for a Police Investigation. Paterno "Earned" his retirement and has broken no laws, he keeps his retirement. The Graduate Assistant/ Assistant Coach should be terminated, not Paterno. Paterno is a Football Coach not an Investigator or College President.

This is one of many reasons college cost are out of reach for so many.

The ONLY reason college costs so much is the Higher Education Act of 1965. Since that time the cost of a college education has increased at four times the rate of inflation. Providing colleges with a source of easy money allows them to turn their campuses into country clubs and pay coaches, presidents and professors insane salaries.

When you are told by a memeber of your staff that he just witnessed another member of your staff raping a 10 year old boy in the shower you don't just report it to the Atheltic Director unless you are trying to cover your ass, and protect your program.

Actually, that is what doesn't make sense about all of this. Exposing Sandusky immediately is what he should have done to protect himself, Penn State and the football program. If Paterno had told the cops and Sandusky had been arrested it would have been short term pain for Penn State football but it would have blown over because they did the right thing. Perverts don't advertise their existence and you can't tell someone is one by looking at them. They can be your neighbor, your friend for coworker and you have no clue until you find out after someone sees some sign of it or you experience it yourself. People recognize that and would have accepted that Sandusky's actions did not reflect on Penn State. If one of my subordinates reported this to me about another subordinate alarm bells in my head would have deafended me until I got to the cops. That this wasn't apparent to the administrators involved in this utterly astonishes me.

However, by seeming to sweep this under the rug an already bad situation has become a raging bonfire of controversy. Makes me wonder if Joe has had some senility issues creeping in over the past couple of years. That would be the best explanation for him anyway. Don't know what everyone elses excuse could be though.

No Vince - his pension SHOULD NOT go to the victims! Just as I have always figured - this has always and will always be about money for the victims and their families. If it were my child - I would want to see justice - if the alleged acts really happened - and that has nothing to do with monetary reimbursement.

One parent knew about his years ago and never went to the police but confronted him. What kind of a parent is that????!!??? Sounds kind of twisted to me and I bet you that parent is now in line with her hand out wanting money! Some people are so pathetic! If you want justice for your child - then prove what he did in court and let him be punished for it - not come out and all of a sudden be sad and hurt when you can possibly get some money for it!

Interesting events unfolding here. A coach sees the molestation occurring, he's an eye witness. He tells Paterno, he hears this secondhand, not having witnessed the act. He in turn tells the athletic director what McQueary told him. The athletic director tells the university administrators who inform the university president.

This has been going on for most of the decade and by all accounts everyone knew about this. Even the campus police knew about this as well as the entire university administrative staff. There are indications that even the coaches from the other sports knew of this.

As coach Barry Switzer recently stated, everybody knew about this, and we can now add that McQueary states that he in fact did go to the police about this. Obviously all this needs to be sorted out but what is astounding is that of all the involvement of all of these people, some choose to single out Paterno for retribution and apparently have an agenda of imposing as much destruction and character assassination upon him as possible.

The school should cash him out with a lump sum as a settlement and not as a pension that can be transferred to a 401k or IRA. Then they are out of the picture. Legal settlements are not taxable, so he'd get a tidy sum, but then the victims can sue him against assets that he can't hide where they can't be touched legally.

The school should cash him out with a lump sum as a settlement and not as a pension that can be transferred to a 401k or IRA.

Pensions don't work that way. It isn't up to the employer how you receive your pension. Thay can do things en masse but they can't just say "hey, we are mad at you take your money and get". Moreover, unless there is some law a plaintiff can exploit Paterno is likely not legally liable here.

Tuition moaners take note:

So much wah, so little knowledge...

Wet Willy

Here's what is wrong with your view of the situation. You seem to believe that Joe Paterno is getting a raw deal. However, he doesn't deny that McQueary told him of the "incident" - he just says that he didn't know how serious it was. Now tell me, if you had received a report of "inappropriate" activity IN THE SHOWER between an adult and a 10-year old wouldn't you ask, "WHAT WERE THEY DOING?". Isn't that obvious? Any reasonable person would ask for more information. The only possible motive for not asking is NOT WANTING TO KNOW. If there is any other reason for not pursuing the issue I am not smart enough to figure it out. Can anyone explain it to me?

Don: I shudder to think what this "crowd" would do to these folks. No one has the full story about anything yet and still we are happy to lynch anyone involved.

The person everyone should focus on is Sandusky, first. HE is the one who allegedly victimized these kids. Why are we trying to demonize everyone else??

We won't have the full story for a long time so why all the guessing and supposing what you would do? You really just THINK YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD DO.

Jessie

Anyone who knows that a child is being raped by an adult and does not stop it and report it deserves to be demonized. Because Sandusky was not reported and stopped the abuse continued and more victims were added to the list. I can't believe that is so difficult for you to figure out. McQueary, Paterno, the athletic director and anyone else who saw the incident(s) or received reports of the abuse and did not call the police deserve to be demonized.

You people that keep defending this turd make me sick! Joe Paterno WAS the head coach of a major college football program for over 40 years. He knew everyhting that was going on at the University and even moreso with the football program. He is a liar and is just as guilty as Sandusky. He should be prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison to spend the last few years of his disgusting life. How many young lives were shattered by Sandusky and Paterno yet not one person on here shows any sympathy towards the victims, only "Joe Pa". He will probably get away with it because of his fame and fortune, but Sandusky will get what he deserves in the prison shower! Hope he enjoys "horsing around" with bubba in the rec yard.

Joe B

Joe P received a report that a child was being abused. That has been confirmed. If he did not ask any questions about the nature of the abuse he is either a complete fool or he did not want to hear the answer to any questions he might ask.

The media is doing Penn State's dirty work for them. The way the media is treating McCreary for coming forward against a powerful institution. What person in their right mind would ever witness against Penn State or their twin ever again. Penn State thanks you for doing their character assassination for them. Who wants the whistle blower sticking around at Penn State. Bet his career is over because of this. Both college and professional football will make sure of it. Dear media: No need to make it easy for Penn State and be their "cleaner".

Google Sandy Berger - of course campus police don't have a record of it...

$500,000 public employee pensions are why we are going bankrupt at the local, state and federal levels, but there is no reason to think elected officials who are beneficiaries of the same largess will ever change the system.

Vote in sanity; vote out all incumbents.

I did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police ....

It does not state WHICH police he allegedly reported to. My guess from the context would be campus police. While they are legally peace/police officers I am quite sure where their thoughts are when it comes to a coach on the team. Especially faculty members. As to Joe.... IF he reported it to campus police, which is the standard process on campus involving campus crime, he did all he was required to do. Joe is/was a coach not a detective. He did NOT witness the crime. The question would now be who took the report and who suppressed the investigation? The President got canned also, which leads one to wonder what involvement they had or should have had and failed to know.

Here is the link to the Grand Jury report

norm

Get a grip. There are very few public employees who make $500,000 per year and have a tenure of 60 years.

$500,000 is ridiculous, don't ya think?

I hate to say it, but I don't think he will live long enough to enjoy it. Many men that retire his age are dead within six months. Hope that is not the case with JoePa, but I see it all the time.

The one that can really clear up what happened in the locker is the kid that was getting raped. I hope he comes forward and says what McQueary really did or didn't do.

Paterno, McQueary, and Sandusky have done nothing but lie and cover their @sses since this news broke. If you and the janitor see a child being anally raped the only proper response is send the janitor to call 911 and he should tell the police that you and he saw a child being raped. While the janitor is calling you physically intervene. You separate the victim from the child. You give the child towels to cover up. You do not allow the criminal to dress or do anything to destroy evidence. When the police arrive you and the janitor fill out a criminal complaint. On a major campus like Penn State they have their own police departments. They are real police not security guards. But they are university employees. So then you call the State College Pa. police department and file another report. Anything less by McQueary was criminal. If your assistant coach comes to you and tells you he saw a child being anally raped by a former coach in the teams showers. You call the police both university and city/town immediately. When they get there you and the assistant coach both speak with the police and file a criminal report anything less is criminal.

Wow, JoePa only earned an average of $500,000 over the last three years? Penn State was getting off cheap. The average for a coach in his class is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 million per year. Maybe JoePa could go and coach at the University of Kentucky in the SEC.

For all of you supporting Paterno, I have one question. How many of you would sit down with one of your subordinates day after day, eat lunch, have drinks, shoot the sh$%t for years without even asking if what happened was even true? Are you F@@#ing kiding me? I call bull@!$%# on that!!!!!!!!!!

How many of you would sit down with one of your subordinates day after day, eat lunch, have drinks, shoot the sh$%t for years without even asking if what happened was even true?

And you know this DIDN'T happen how exactly? What? You would expect him to admit it or something? Are you fcking kidding me? Surely you must be.

At this point it is not clear what happened at Penn State,whether the police themselves,possibly at the behest of higher ups failed to act and "forgot" about possible reports and "lost" paperwork of those reports from both Paterno and McQuery. It would shed light on this stuff if the victim from the incident in the showers that McQuery is supposed to have reported to Police and/or Paterno the next day would come public with his story of what happened. Until that happens I think it is premature to condemn anyone except perhaps for the perp at this time.

The State College police don't have a record of it. That means that it wasn't reported to them?

What other forms of evidence had the police, of any community, "never had"?

If you see an old guy having sex with an underage boy by force(or not) then you dont leave the area and report. You grab the guy by the adams apple and squeeze til hes dead. Walking away is such a p***sy move. MCqueery is just as guilty.

You grab the guy by the adams apple and squeeze til hes dead

Yeah because witnessing a violent murder couldn't possibly harm a child in any way. The kid's already been damaged so what's a little more as long as YOU don't end up feeling like a pussy right? Moron.

Not saying that the school didn't do JoePa dirty. He is undoubtedly a scapegoat. But in the end everyone who did know about this can't deny that they weren't too worried about their jobs and reps to report it or make sure it was reported. At least do more than ban Sandusky from the locker rooms! The reality is that the truth always comes out, and it's always better to rip the bandaid off right away than be someone's scapegoat later. He could have gone to the cops. So could have McQuery, Curley and Schultz. Hell, anyone that even heard the rumor could have called in a tip. It's just a reflection of how much power one department has over an entire campus... and a lot of the city too. The fact that we even had to write legislation such as the Clery Act is sad proof of this culture.

The thing that doesn't sit right with me is the transfer of his home to his wife for a dollar. If he didn't play much of a role in this cover up then why would he take that precaution 4 months ago? I am not saying that we should write off his entire career over this, but it's not like he is going to be living on the street if he doesn't get his whole pension. Any amount of screwing over he is getting right now isn't justice... it's karma.

If he didn't play much of a role in this cover up then why would he take that precaution 4 months ago?

What you refer to as a "precaution" would in no way protect his home if he did in fact know what was coming. People do these things for tax purposes all the time. If you had bothered to read some of the other posts here you'd have known that before you commented on it.

McQueary seems smart enough to make himself look like an unreliable witness and muddy the waters and Paterno is smart to sell his house to his wife for one dollar to protect it from being taken in the law suits that are coming.......

real men of honor and integrity.......just the kind of men we want our kids looking up to and idolizing....what they really are are greedy self serving liars who have allowed their careers and their pocket books to grow on the backs of the horrific act of child rape.

What goes around comes around..........the kids suffered and have a life not normal......

YOUR GUY'S TURN!

Everyone here is missing the point of McQueary's claim that he notified the police. The police do not seem to have any record of that. Do you know what a good lawyer will do with that info in court. Suddenly your "star" witness is caught lying? It is only a simple matter to add, what else are you lying about, are you just trying to make yourself look good at the expense of others? Sadly I have no doubt that these events happened. I feel for the young people who have suffered at the hands of this monster. Getting a conviction with a wittness who is actively changing his story and in such a public fashion will be nearly impossible. The Ad and the president should have charges brought. Paterno was rightly terminated. He needs to remember that he is at a school to TEACH young people even if he is a famous coach, protecting his students from harm while in his program goes along with that

Grind

Paterno was rightly terminated. He needs to remember that he is at a school to TEACH young people even if he is a famous coach, protecting his students from harm while in his program goes along with that

Just a point of FACT. None of JoePa "students" or football members were assaulted, as far as we know, by this thug. JoePa's JOB was to COACH football. I'm not saying he should/could not have done more. More heads should roll in the chain of command.

trust_verify, the kids were guests of his program. They were under the care of his asst. coach. He was the supervisor, yes they are in his program when they are on campus. He is the first link in the chain of command. Joepa ran a great program and I thought highly of him, but that doesn't make him any less responsible.

Alex... what a loser! Tyler... what one day? considering the subject you should have cut that belligerent creep off for a week.

Debbie - Of course a nearly 85 y.o. guy wouldn't consider selling his house to his wife to possibly avoid that piece of property going through probate when he dies.

Thinker thank you! And of course now we find out the man has cancer! Can I say it? Please?
The "conspiracy theorist" Debbie? who claims Paterno did this to avoid lawsuits is a fool...
Thank you again for pointing out the obvious but intelligent facts!

You act like he raped those boys! He did nothing illegal at all and there are reports now that he filed a couple of police reports. Do you hate him because he makes more money than you? This is a witchhunt!!!

I don't hate him at all. Hate infers that the subject of your hate has some importance to the hater. Joe Paterno is not important to me; I don't care about him at all. I do however care that these victims recieve the help they will require for years to come. Joe Paterno's pention would be a good start.

Joe Paterno could have ended this the very moment a member of his staff told him that Sandusky raped a 10 year old boy in the shower. If he had called 911 that second and had Sandusky arrested then and there Joe would have been a hero. But obviously protecting his presscious program was more important to him.

He didn't rape them but he betrayed them in the worst possible way.

I can't believe that he didn't ask himself 'Why is this guy still on the staff? I reported him.'

and they are finding plenty of witches.

Trevor,

the allegation came 5 years after Sandusky left Joe's staff.

cdahl don't obfuscate these people with the facts.. they just want to throw ole joe in the furnace for reporting a crime because he didn't do it in the manner of every individual who thinks they know better than everyone else. These people have a God delusion because they think they are God.

the allegation came 5 years after Sandusky left Joe's staff.

But it happened in Joe's locker room!

It happened in the Penn State University's locker room!

I agree with you DaBriggs! And Wagonmaster - it was ALLEGED! You will be surprised how many people will make up stories or coach their children to get into someones pocket book. Also - you will also be surprised how many people you work with that will cut your throat in a heart beat using a lie or not!

This entire thing is a bunch of B.S. and I think he should counter sue all those involved including those families that made the allegations which cost him his job and other perks. Let's see how it looks when they have to pay a crap load of money to him and live under a bridge!

Trevor-1973 you are so full of chit it's not funny. How you like to find out this man was raping your kids. From you remark you probly would put them up for an azz tag just for seasson tickets.

Just another nail in his coffin - screw him....

The estate tax laws are such that couples with large net worth are foolish to own things jointly. JoPa would have been commiting terminal stupidity unless he and his wife did not split up their assets between them and create trusts.

One can easily read way too much into that move.

That "move" sure came at an opportune time though.

He did that well before this was even known.

so, what kind of financial windfall or success did JoePa get "at the expense of poor kids"? he made money on the deal? where have you read that? From what I've read, he reported everything he legally needed to... hence the reason he's not even on the investigator's radar... y'all need to calm down and wait for the trial... ya know.. the one where SANDUSKY is reported to have raped children? You people make me sit here and shake my head... i don't hear you screaming and crying about the guy who is actually accused of the crime... but, JoePa makes a great scapegoat right? successful, wealthy coach... yeah, HANG THAT BASTARD!!! grow up.

Actually selling your house for a dollar to your wife isn't anything new. well nothing new to those who are educated. The feds tax people enough when they are alive let alone taking the rest when you are dead.

Funny how all these "innocent" people just happen to protect themselves financially just a few months before the "fit hits the shan"...

Slick move Joe selling your house to your wife for 1.00 assuring the law suit won't take your house

He had no reason to believe there would have been a lawsuit back in July. If there is any way he could have know then it won't matter, they'll be able to prove that and go after it anyway. You people need to get a clue before you jump to ridiculous conclusions.

I worked for my dad for many years before taking over a share of the business. When my dad had some health issues he "sold" me that part of the business for a buck so the Feds wouldn't come in and take a third of it when he dies.

What lawsuit? Joe Paterno is not going to be the victim of any lawsuit. He did what he was supposed to do.

How is this even news?

Yes! Intelligent people do exist! The only thing transferring the house to his wife shows is that JoePa was most likely going to retire this year regardless, and, that he was concerned he might die and his wife would lose the house to taxes.

He did that well before this was even known.

Possible, but I'm not buying it. I think he saw the writing on the wall.

What lawsuit? Joe Paterno is not going to be the victim of any lawsuit. He did what he was supposed to do.

Every single one of those victims will file a civil lawsuit. Everyone, and I mean everyone involved, will be named. That includes Joe Paterno! He didn't do what he was supposed to.

When my dad had some health issues he "sold" me that part of the business

I'm a long-time JoPa fan, and probably more willing than others to give him the benefit of the doubt. However, why would he sell it to his wife? What your dad did made sense because you were much younger and much less likely to die in the near future. Your dad was making sure you didn't have to come up with tons of liquid money after being taxed to hell for a non-liquid asset.

What JoPa did doesn't make sense. Why would you sell your house to your wife who is nearly as likely to die any given day, therefore putting your kids in a situation where they owe tens of thousands of dollars to keep the house? Maybe they file separately and her net worth is under the death tax threshold?

Lose house in a law suit? You are not smart enough to share this planet. Get off!

JoePa was most likely going to retire this year regardless, and, that he was concerned he might die and his wife would lose the house to taxes.

Jointly owned property between spouses is not considered an inheritence when one spouse dies.

Every single one of those victims will file a civil lawsuit. Everyone, and I mean everyone involved, will be named. That includes Joe Paterno! He didn't do what he was supposed to.

LS-415070 before you make a comment like this you sould inform yourself of the reporting laws in that state. he did exactly what he was supposed to do. and that was to report it to his superior. his superiors are the ones that didn't do what they were required to do. and why is everybody going after Paterno, What about Mike McQueary he was the one that witnessed everything and walked out of the shower leaving that kid there with that piece of garbage Sandusky

Jointly owned property between spouses is not considered an inheritence when one spouse dies.

That may be true but there are other considerations-

"A major problem with joint tenancy is that it can create a heavy tax burden at the survivor’s death. Since property is transferred outright to the survivor, the entire value of the property is included frequently in the estate of the survivor. For those concerned with federal estate taxes, the best strategy, therefore, might be to get out of joint tenancy."-http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c4-24.html

@Matt-1145746

What JoPa did doesn't make sense.

What doesn't make sense is our friggin ridiculous federal tax system. In this instance it's not to protect the wife when he dies but rather the kids when she does.

Thanks, Backcountry. I didn't know they passed a law that allowed that tax to be deferred until the surviving spouse kicks the bucket. However, I also didn't realize that it triggers a substantially higher tax rate. So, it's not to protect her from losing the house, it's to protect his estate when she kicks the bucket and thier son, who still lives in the house from what I understand, receives an IRS beat down.

Is Pennsylvania a "community property" state? If so, Mrs. Paterno is every bit as liable as her husband and just as sue-able because all acts done by either one of them are done on behalf of their marital community. And I don't believe there is any insurance coverage for illegal acts.

AC- You have zero idea what you are talking about. Community property state has nothing to do with being "sue-able". All it means is that property obtained during the marriage is presumed to be jointly owned. Pennsylvania is not a community property state so that is neither here nor there. Your statement that Mrs. Paterno is every bit as liable as her husband is ludicrous. I'm amazed at how far people are willing to spread the blame on this. What happened is terrible, but keep your blame on the people who deserve it such as I don't know maybe Sandusky?

Regardless of tax law, if this "estate planning" which happened to be transacted just before a scandal became public (not necessarily before it was known to the parties involved) can be overturned by the courts in a civil case if it looks like an attempt to shelter assets not from the tax man but from victims seeking compensation. And you better believe prosecuting attorneys in a civil action will try to make it look like an admission of guilt or at a minimum extremely suspect behavior. Personally, I think they'll win that battle in the current social environment.

To all of the ignorant posters earlier...

Does this look like a prudent move for someone with cancer? His heath issue are his business, just like estate planning driven by those health issues. If any of you are looking for justice, lobby to have Sandusky's trial on Court TV. Anything less is not going to be enough for some of you.

And I reluctantly agree with you Northeast. This is not news.

Northeast: I agree with you, and as college coaching salaries go his was rather modest for a major program in today's world.

I wonder if the students that protested his release also protest against tuition costs.

I am surprised he was only making a half million a year. Look at most other top tier football programs and the head coach makes a million ...the first year not after an entire career. If we can find a way to take away his pension every major employer in the country will try to do the same thing. Look at the money it will save states as well as every employer. Think about it people

Larry, that was base income. Coaches nowadays get paid for camps, radio shows, etc all part of a pkg when hired which boost their income to the millions you're familiar with.

People with jobs like that should pay their own damned pensions anyway. Or try for SSI like most of us. At least he worked a full life. That I will grant him. 30 years and then a lifetime of government pensions is just bleeding the system. Why aren't these people harangued in the media for bleeding the system of 'entitlements' like they do to people who only have social security after paying in for 40-50 years?

ok, done crying now.

why don't you go after all the people having kids out of wedlock to bleed the system? and all the people drawing disability SSI who shouldn't be. As much as I don't like what Paterno did, HE WORKED FOR HIS MONEY!!!! MADE PENN STATE A LOT OF MONEY!!!!!!!

I am surprised he was only making a half million a year.

Then you don't know anything about Joe Paterno. He has also given MILLIONS of that money BACK to the university. His name isn't on the library because he was the football coach.

Joe Pa was not making $500+K per year. Look up the salaries of college football coaches. Joe Pa's compensation was about 3x what people are stating here. However, he is #5 on the big ten list at a little over a million per year with Iowa's coach bring in $3,781,000 with a $1,750,000 BONUS. Alabama's Nick Saban pull in about $5, 997K with a bonus of $700K. Joe Pa was paid PEANUTS compared to some of his compatriots!!! But football pays its own way plus provides funds to allow other sports to exist. At Penn State, about the only thing after football was wrestling and perhaps gymnastics. I don't think basketball is self-sustaining.

But the poster above nailed it. Joe Pa has given back not only to the University but also to the community.

Okay, just trying to get proper context here for the comment. As long as you give back to the university and the community, it's okay if you are **allegedly** complicit in child molestation? Sorry, I must have lost something in translation. As far as reporting the matter to university officials, is it just me, or does that smack of something like a CYA effort? I am not a criminal investigator (and I don't play one on TV), but last I checked, you report improprieties, not criminal matters, to university officials. Something tells me this is not going away any time soon and the $1 sale to the wife of the house will become a very prescient act...

He not only earned his pension he worked for many years as an underpaid employee when comparing his success and the success of football coaches who

were paid millions more per year for less success.

Virtually all college coaches are employees of their university and paid as faculty. This is the amount that figures into their university pension. However, big time program coaches generally get another set of compensation that comes from the sports program earnings. These can easily be many times their base university salary. These amounts generally do not count towards computing the university pension. And before the screaming starts, big time college sports programs often provide way more benefit to the college than they cost. Penn State's was likely very lucrative to the school. Those studies some will post in disagreement are not addressing schools like Penn State, Duke, USC, texas and their like. They address run of the mill programs most have never heard of.....

The typical college football coach in a successful program makes at least twice what Paterno made.

Many of you here want to hang somebody, anybody, for the alleged incident, even if they had nothing to do with the alleged crime. Joe Paterno did not commit a crime, nor was he a witness to this alleged crime. You should collectively be ashamed of your brainless attitude and judgement. This clearly demonstrates how effective the media is in manipulating people with child like gullibility. None of you were there. How can you be so sure of culpability?

If you were falsely accused or associated with a crime, I wonder how comfortable each of you cowboy vigilantes would be with a jury of 12 hotheads just like yourselves. Poetic justice.

pw-777,

As long as you give back to the university and the community, it's okay if you are **allegedly** complicit in child molestation?

Yeah, I guess it is OK. What is your allegedly BS? You kiddin me? Are you allegedly a dolt? The media makes sure the attention is on Paterno and not McQueary and Sandusky cause big time sells. Over and over I see Joe Paterno was fired and he hasn't been charged with any crime like if they say it enough something will change.

"Hey Joe can you tell me how you felt when you received the phone call from that gutless board member who didn't have balls enough to tell you face to face that your tenure as Penn State coach was over. Tell me Joe. Tell me Joe. Tell me. Tell me." What a bunch of friggin' vultures. And THERE HAS BEEN NO TRIAL. Nothing. Nada. Nichts. Except in the media and posts like this one.

What a bunch of dumba$$e$. Look to the board of trustees. They are the ones that run the place. How much did they know since this is anything but new "news."

MADE PENN STATE A LOT OF MONEY!!!!!!!

Yes, but his actions will bring down the program he built up. What alumni are donating this year? What good prospects will go there now? The program he was willing to sacrifice children to help protect has been destroyed because of his inaction.

There has been no trial because he has not been charged with a crime-but, by his own admission, he should have done more to protect these children.

Not stopping the abuse he knew was going on by going to the police is a HUGE deal. It trumps everything "good" he did for the college.

Fact as per Grand Jury and Joe: He was told of abuse (Joe says he did not now it was rape, but still knew it was abuse)

Fact as per Grand Jury and Joe: He did not contact law enforcement.

When he spoke out, he did not offer anything that changes this. He should have done more. Period.

And his failure to do so is a very big deal. It must be made into a very big deal.

Every institution from now on that considers covering up child abuse to protect itself should say "but look what happened at Penn State." and, if not doing the right thing for moral reasons (as they should) do it because they know they will be destroyed if they do not report it to the police.

For some of you under the false-belief that JoePA didn't report the Sandusky incident to the police, you may want to consult the Grand Jury Presentment:

.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf More notably: Page 8, last paragraph, "Schultz testified that he was called to a meeting with Joe Paterno and Tim Curley, in which Paterno reported 'disturbing' and 'inappropriate' conduct in the shower by Sandusky upon a young boy, as reported to him by a student or graduate student." Page 10, 2nd paragraph, "..Schultz oversaw the University Police as part of his position.."

Did he retire or was he fired? If he was fired, as has been reported, then he shouldn't receive a nickel of pension!

Toward what end? Why should he be sued again? Not sure I'm following that logic.

Generally it is easier to convict in Civil Court than Criminal Court.

If a jury agrees that Joe Paterno's actions in not calling the police immediately allowed a pedophile to continue to remain at large, and there were subsequent acts against minor boys than he, and the rest of the PSU department who failed in this could be on the hook as well as the University itself.

and what do you do about the police who supposedly had Sandusky admit to molesting a boy in 1998 and they did nothing about it???? if you want to blame anyone, start there.

Wrong Trooper Tom. Somebody told him he saw something, that's hearsay. It's not his job to investigate or call the police. You people don't get it. A university heirarchy is much like the military. There is a chain of command. When there is criminal activity you go to your immediate superior and they move it up the chain. That's exactly what he did. Why isn't anyone blaming the police, the DA, or Child Support who knew about incidents and investigated them years before - and did nothing! You want to sue all of them?

How many times have you seen or heard about people walk right by someone getting beaten or stabbed or raped - and do nothing. It happens all the time. It's sad, but it's not criminal.

That's what they said at Nuremburg!!! I was only following orders. All of you who are defending anyone that didn't make sure the police investigated this if they knew about it, are all suspect in my opinion. A man sees a 10 year old being raped, [he heard the bam bam bam againt the wall] and he does what he is told to do by his father, and is big and strong, and doesn't pull the rapist of the kid, is an accomplice to the act.

Somebody told him he saw something, that's hearsay.

Based on that logic then, administration didn't have to do anything either. After all, it was only hearsay!

When there is criminal activity you go to your immediate superior

Are you kidding me??? Nope sorry...that is NOT correct. I work for a University. If there is criminal activity, I go to the police! Police!! Not my boss!

Oh, wait....maybe when they're trying to hide something from damaging their precious football program that's what you do!

Trooper Tom

Why shouldn't the parents of the victims be held responsible too since they did such a @!$%#ty job of raising their sons- they were afraid to report abuse? What

pathetic parenting skills to raise a kid afraid to tell you he has being abused- and you allowed it by giving the OK for sleepovers and trips out of town. Never wondered why your kid was getting so much attention when there were so many kids in Sandusky's life? You failed as a parent and now blame everyone who didn't protect your son- guess you'll be sueing me too- I didn't do anything either except

raise my son to tell me if he had any problems-.

Hey, if it had happened in CA. there would be no chance of anyone beingconvicted of anything. After all, if O.J. and M.J can get off?

and what do you do about the police who supposedly had Sandusky admit to molesting a boy in 1998 and they did nothing about it???? if you want to blame anyone, start there.

Right. the guy who watched and did nothing, then after testifying he adds he did contact the law enforcement...in 2002. then waited for TEN YEARS before wondering why they didn't call back yet? Are you clowns that simple. Let this dirt bag come up with a date or the report, a case number. Something. not just his own email to a friend.

Doubt they would get anything or it would go far. Consider the State and Local Government tort Claims act in PA. Also consider that Penn State was created by charter and and act of PA Legislature in 1855 signed into law by Governor Pollock. Since Penn State is a State related School, even if liability is established it will be limited. Please review 42 Pa CSA 8500 et seq. I think this may come as a surprise to many. Further, litigation surrounding Joe Paterno’s salary a few years ago, considering it went to the State Supreme Court, firmly establishes him as a State/local Employee participating in the SERS program.

“In Community College of Allegheny County v. Seibert, 601 A.2d 10
1348 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1992), this Court held that community colleges are local
agencies entitled to immunity under the Tort Claims Act. In so finding, this Court stated that, in addition to being sponsored solely by political subdivisions, community colleges possess other characteristics which weigh in favor of finding immunity, such that community colleges are “expressly granted the right to participate in various other statutory schemes which are normally reserved for political subdivisions.” Id. at 1351-52. The Court noted, as an example, that the statute governing community colleges provides that they shall be eligible for participation in the “State Public School Building Authority Act and the Municipal Authorities Act of 1965.” Id. at 1352 (footnotes omitted). Furthermore, in addition to being a tax-supported institution created by local government units under a grant of authority by the Legislature, the Court noted that “employees of community colleges are eligible for inclusion in the Public School Employees’ Retirement System of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Employees’
Retirement System.” Id.”

Bob A

Atty at Law

He worked there for 60 years, he doesn' deserver any money? He should be broke! He paid into the pension and besides he was not really fired - they forced him retirement, big difference. By the way why do you care so much if he gets the pention or not?

By the way why do you care so much if he gets the pention or not?

Just as a wild thought I will throw in the name of the educational institute concerned, it's called PENN STATE. The key part there being state, i.e. taxpayer dollars, get it now???

So he or any other state university deserves $500,000 a year as a pension? I think not.

I would argue about the "just cause" of the firing, especially in light of the recent statements of Mike McQueary stating that he did report the incident to police.

That is not grounds for a forfeiture of pension in the state of Pennsylvania. This is from the plan's website: "Pennsylvania has laws in place to penalize public employees who violate the public’s trust, by stripping the employees of their pensions. The Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act 1978-140 (Act 140) applies to all SERS members who commit certain crimes in relation to their employment. In addition, the Pennsylvania Constitution and Judicial Code contain pension forfeiture provisions applying to judicial members. Those provisions can be triggered even if no crime has been committed. Pension forfeiture details are available in the Legislation area of this website."

I believe Paterno was forced to retire immediately...not necessarily "fired". The school has no legal reason to fire Paterno and would have risked a multimillion dollar lawsuit if the did actually fire him. Though it wasn't ever going to be a quiet transition, considering the situation, Paterno agreed to step-down in-light of the seriousness and depth of involvement with Sandusky.

Paterno has 60+ years of work and deserves the pension as specified by their system. Get over it. He's wealthy. He was going to retire after this season anyway, and he was already making personal financial plans to prepare for retirement. This legal mess just accelerated Paterno's plans. There is probably nobody in America that has 60 years of service and is still working.

Though Paterno did not everything he should have done to prevent future abuse, I don't think he should be "spit on" as all the allegations have been made public. There were far too many other people involved who would have been just as effective as Paterno had they pursued legal action against Sandusky.

As long as they're arresting everybody, they should also get the Penn State police chief/director.

At least you are correct when you state he is wealthy. I question why the top tier get huge salaries all their lives and still get a monster pension off the taxpayers.

Joe Paterno made Penn State over $1 billion doing his tenure as coach. He deserves every dime.

Mal'achi,

Define Just Cause. And how do you know the term of Joe's release?

jlt0x,

My only dispute would be with your characterization of Paterno's actions as not doing "everything he should have done to prevent future abuse..." Considering the gravity of the alleged crimes, that was too mild. Otherwise, your comments on all other matters are the most thoughtful I've read.

I personally think the better question is why state employees get such pensions.

Relative to being fired for due cause...do we really want pension plans (legal commitments) to be nullified by being fired...for any cause ? If I stole a pen from work (if I worked where pensions still exist)...and got fired....should I lose a pension....if I got fired for a sexual harasement allegation (un proven, but people do get fired none the less)...should I lose my pension ??

a pension that gives full wage...come on...those days are gone (but legally he is entitled, you can only change future pensions obligations, not former ones unless the state pension declares BK)

That money was taken out of his check just the way Social Security is, which by the way he did not pay into because his contribution went to his Penn retirement(as is the case with most state employees, teachers, etc). To advocate for him to not receive money he has paid into the system amounts to theft and is wrong. As far as what he did or didn't do, it has been documented that he notifed his superiors and they did nothing, so why is he to blame for his higher ups not following thru. If he fired Sandusky based on an alleged act then he woud be guity of something else. People have put him in a situation where he will be wrong no matter what just because he was the public face of the program. People need to grow up and put the blame on the man who is guilty and the administrators of Penn State, not the head football coach.

cdahl

I suggest you first try a little investigative research you may learn something. Secondly, if he wasn’t fired for “just cause” he would have one hell of a lawsuit against Penn State.

jlt0x

You stated that you didn’t think that Joe Paterno “…should be ‘spit on’…” Well my friend Miguel “Miggs” doesn’t think so either. “Miggs” said that he should be masturbated on.

Thank you John-1425001 and jlt0x. You've basically saved me a lot of typing to try and insert some logic into an otherwise emotion driven thread. Mal'achi, he did everything required by his role in the University in relation to this incident. The reason they forced him to retire is because the rest of this nation realizes that what was required by his role in the University was not the same as doing what he should have and the University saw his dismissal as a way to turn down the heat. Not the same as being fired for "Just Cause".

Paterno was not forced into retirement, he was fired. There is a big big difference. Usually, when you get fired, you get no severance, no unemployment, but what pension you are entitled to, I guess is determined by PA law and his contract with the university.

alan290 - " Usually, when you get fired, you get no severance, no unemployment..."

Not true as a blanket statement. Depends on the circumstances.

MadTown-2924251

If he was employed by the company I retired from he wouldn't receive a penny. In fact they would spend up to $50,000.00 on legal fees to ensure he didn't collect unemployment either.

All of you Christians need to practice what your religion and Jesus preached and stop acting like a bunch of medieval mobsters with pitchforks full of hate.

Some
things we know, like Joe was removed to protect Penn State. Let’s be honest, my
belief is that the same board that is suddenly cleaning house at Penn State has
known at least in part about all of this and in fact it appears many people
knew of these allegations for a long time. That would seem to include various
police agencies as we are told today that McQueary has indicated he did talk to
the police about what he saw and we already know the 1998 incident was
investigated. The Grand Jury has been seated in this case for over three years,
interviewing individuals from Penn State, the second mile and alleged victims.
And now that the perception of inaction is hurting the schools image, the board
decides to make heads roll.

Now
for the morons that think following the established rules of reporting somehow
equals “just cause” in these terminations, all I can say is we don’t yet know
all of the details concerning all that was reported by Joe and to whom. The man
broke no laws, he paid into his own retirement for over forty years. It’s his
money and he deserves it.

Paterno saw the writing on the wall in July but he wanted to finish out the year?

There is no evidence whatsoever that he knew this was coming in July. If he had then they'll be able to prove that and selling his house to his wife would not make any difference, they'd be able to come after it anyway. Try using your head to do your thinking, your heart was only meant to pump blood.

I feel compelled to ask again. Under what grounds would anyone have to sue him when he did what he was legally required to do?

You'd have to ask a lawyer that one, but as this encompasses so many top level Penn State employees, you can practically hear the lawyers' feet as they run for the courthouse to file their suits.. It isn't like they (the lawyers) need to chase an ambulance this time around. Can you say easy money? At least it will be for the lawyers, unfortunately for the children; they lost something money will NEVER give back!!

As we all know, you don't have to be guilty of anything to be sued. I bet at least some of the families go after him. It makes little difference what I think should be done. I am betting it happens.

He is not going to have to fight off anything! This is a bunch of greedy families that think they see a big payday for themselves. You people are twisted who say he should not get his pension and the victims should get it all. Whatever! Those ALLEGED victims - which I don't think any of it is true - need to be interrogated - I bet you will find that they were coached to lie. It would not surprise me one bit! Greedy lying SOB's!

@Segderb,

So the assisant coach who caught Sandusky in the shower molesting the child is all making it up? The children who were molested by that sick ba$trd are the bad guys? Thats twisted.

Who said Paterno shouldn't get his pension? I said he is going to need it to pay off the law suits coming his way. Civil Court is much different than Criminal Court.

Example: Have a friend whose home had been burglarized. The burgular was attacked by his 2 German Sheppards during the robbery. The robber sued and won. So, if this guy can win when he was doing something illegal.. well you see where I'm going with this....

If your friend lost a case to a criminal who was breaking into his home when the dogs attacked - which was what they were supposed to do - his lawyer truly sucked. Get a better one and appeal!

See my post at 6.4

This isn't an unemployment compensation claim. How does being fired affect anyone's retirement compensation? It doesn't. Or you'd have every corporation firing people right before they retire. Is that what you want?

Who said Joe was fired. Only the media. As I recall the vice-chairman nontheless (chairman must not have had the balls) said in his media event that Joe Paterno was no longer the coach of Penn State football and the prez was no longer the prez. He DID NOT say Penn State has fired Joe Paterno!

So you are saying if you hear of sexual abuse of children should not be reproted to the police is OK if you use the excuse it was hearsay? You are sad.

whats that saying.........................."Stupid is as Stupid does"..................

If the shoe fits.........................

I agree with everything you say in your post.

Besides, if this tragic set of circumstances had taken place at Podunk U with Joe Smoe as the coach nothing, repeat NOTHING, would be heard. But since this situation involved a big time school and a big time coach the media has come in with their usual sensationalism journalism.

There was actually some dumba$$ journalist that insinuated that everyone held this from coming out in the media until Joe Paterno passed Eddie Robinson of Grambling with the most wins. Are you kiddin' me?! What an a$$hole.

Last Saturday, ESPN spouted that they were going to have a crew outside Joe Paterno's home ALL day. For what? In case he showed his face they were going to take his picture? Why didn't they sit outside of Sandusky's house. Because Joe Pa sells more than Sandusky - that's why. What a bunch of hypocrites. "Pay me the money and I'll be fine." What a moto?!?!?

Churchhill once said something to the effect that a jounalist was a semi-educated dolt that wrote only to fill in the spaces between advertisements. Many of the journalists "covering" this case prove that definition to be true.

Well Tom - why did the mother of the one child who said she confronted him sometime back not report it to the police? WHY?? What type of parent would not go straight to the police if their child said this was happening and then figure out who was lying. I contend that the reason she did not go to the police is she figured out either her child was lying or she knew she coach him and the gig was up! There are some sorry people in this world and their are a crap load of them at Penn State!

Segdirb: The mother you keep talking about confronted Sandusky while the POLICE were on the phone too, listening. It was a planned call. You've got your facts wrong. Carole: You don't know what you're talking about either. With child abuse, even SUSPECTED abuse should be reported to child protective agencies and police. Too bad PA is not one of the 18 states in which EVERY PERSON is legally bound to report child abuse and SUSPECTED child abuse. In PA I guess it's only mandated reporters, i. e. teachers, nurses, people who work with children in their job. Hearsay has no place in reporting child abuse.

The mother did report it to police. READ the Grand Jury transcript. Victim 6 (page 18). Notice how Public Welfare and the County District Attorney were all involved in 1998. Too bad none of them did their jobs:

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf

News flash, choke choke... campus police actually do cover up 'mistakes ' made by faculty all the time. The incidents do not make it on paper. So who in the 'policing profession' will be losing their job? And the pile of pooh just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

Very possible. he was so connected to the program for so long it will be interesting to see how he handles not being involved.

Good for Joe! He's earned every penny of his pension

Exactly, who cares if several low-income students with terrific grades and attitudes won't get scholarships.

Yep, just blame it on the old guy.

When it comes time for you to collect your pension, surely there will be "reasons" to deny it.

Pensions have caused our country to the brink of bankruptcy? Wow, you really need to be educated on finances in the United States of America david-1861417. Pensions have little to do with the cost of wars, assisting other countries in times of need, assisting people screwed by "big money" in the USA and the list goes on. Sounds like you missed your calling in life.

and i bet michelle complains constantly about the social security "entitlement' like all of us didn't get forced to pay into it for many many decades. but then if you are a government employee nobody says anything at all. i guess it is different if you have been on the public payroll all your life. then we all owe you.

Agin--thank God you don't get paid for figuring people out. As a self-employed individual who pays 15% (7.5 % employer and employee 7.5%) of payroll to the US government and receives no "pension" from the public or private sector, I am waiting (just like you may be) for my social security to help offset my retirement income. So, no--I don't complain constantly. With that being said, maybe you should educate yourself on pension systems, both publice AND private. Have a lovely day!

troll

I guess that if there was a law requiring you to assist pedophiles you'd do that? It's foolish to say that 'he did all he was required to do' when that plainly wasn't enough. What happened to doing what's right? I applaud that nurse and am personally outraged that the was terminated. That's why we can't trust any large organization. They set rules to protect themselves, not the people that they provide services to or the people who work for them.

Reporting the rape of a child to the police is "above and beyond the call of duty?"

Remember - this doesn't just apply to JoePa, but to each and every person in this country. So either shut your eyes or go to the police. BUT be very careful, if the heresay evidence is false the ones who reputation you ruined can sue you.

Go ahead and act like you didn't know that Paterno was the highest authority at Penn State. What a great gig, yield all of the power, yet have others to hide behind when necessary. He is one mystical creature. But, the sacred cow makes the tastiest steaks.

Dean_Commentator:

In reference to your comment "I guess that if there was a law requiring you to assist pedophiles you'd do that? It's foolish to say that 'he did all he was required to do' when that plainly wasn't enough."

No one is saying that Paterno could NOT have done more. Yes he should have. The point of the matter is because HE felt he took the appropriate action, HE felt HE did what he was suppose to do. What you, myself or others feel as DOING MORE may have been enough for him. Per my previous posting...It is suggested that he should have done much more. The comment in reference to the young lady who went above and beyond to help children was to open the eyes of people that...sometimes people hesitate to do above and beyond good deeds if it would interfere with their livelihood.

SOME INDIVIDUALS ARE WILLING TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES AND LET THE TRUTH BE KNOWN. ARE YOU ONE OF THEM?? I AM.

I am wondering if he was "fired" at all, or actually was allowed to retire or resign. Most public employees I know of would forfeit their pension if they were fired. Occasionally- according to the situation and the stature of the person, the individual is brought behind closed doors and told to retire, quit, or be fired.

The university could then tell the press they "fired" him, to save face.

If he really was fired, he ought to be counting his lucky stars for still having his pension.

Tell that to the victims...

I believe Joe Pa is a victim. Honestly how far would you take hearsay evidence against one of your (at the time) close friends? I think he did exactly what he needed to do. It is up to the DIRECT WITNESS to report to the police what they saw.

I believe Joe Pa is a victim. Honestly how far would you take hearsay evidence against one of your (at the time) close friends? I think he did exactly what he needed to do.

Look up hearsay evidence. if someone tells you they saw something it isn't hearsay.

Yes, and further, hearsay does not even apply when reporting child abuse or SUSPECTED child abuse to police and child welfare agencies.

Considering his age, the pension system will most likely NOT pay out as much as he paid in unless he lives far beyond the norm. Maybe if his wife is much younger but even then the surviving spouse pension is usually much less than the retired member's pension.

"railroaded?" Seriously?

Paterno admiited that he did not call police after he was told that a child was raped in the Penn State football facilities. Repeat: A CHILD WAS RAPED and Paterno passed the buck. Shame, shame, shame...

So you don't mind if I go tell the police today that you raped a 10yr old boy traveler? I mean you do understand even if you are not prosecuted because you are innocent it won't matter, you will be labeled a child molester on second hand information. Then what, you'll expect compesation from me when I reported something I was told was true.

Paterno told his superiors.. and they did nothing. And yet you expect him to do so on second hand information from another coach that maybe has a beef against sandusky. Quit playing God and deciding telling others how you would have done it perfectly by informing police with second hand information because you were not the direct person who witnessed it. Any information from Paterno is second hand.

Read 17.2

Then, read 10.5 and 17.4 and read how you're wrong.

So why didnt the grand jury indict Paterno? They indicted both people above Paterno. And a grand jury isnt the final word on the law. Just that there was probable cause to pursue actions against the Athletic director and the supervisor in charge of campus police. They both interviewed McQueary after Paterno reported what McQueary had said about the incident. They were truely responsible for what didnt happen afterwards.

Paterno is a scapegoat. Lookie we fired the big guy in our football program (but allowed everyone else higher up to resign or retire or take a leave of absence).

After he "stopped it", did he actually remove the boy from the room or or leave him there with a predator.

Actually it's not unusual at all.

Agreed. The media is mixing up stories here. While I think it's ridiculous for universities to sink millions into sports programs and stick the students with the bills, if people were willing to give Paterno that kind of money, you can't blast the guy for accepting it.

Now Paterno getting fired. If he didn't go to the police and let the cover-up happen, he may have skated by on the lack of PA legislation but he deserved to get fired. With all the pull Paterno had at PSU, do you think he would have behaved the same way if he heard that it was his grandson getting raped in the school's locker room?

The lesson here is that if you work for a business that is more interested in covering problems up then solving them, you will be forced to make decisions that will turn you as corrupt as the system or get blackballed as a whistleblower.

I don't get this whole lie of an idea of people needing to speak out.. The last thing you do is run to the police with second hand information about someone and ruin their entire life. Let's be honest this guy could have made the whole thing up because he hated sandusky. It wouldn't matter if it was true or not. Once the police investigate someone for child molestation their lives are over, ruined, destroyed. IT will make no difference if they didn't do it. The only person who should have gone to the police should have been the person who actually saw it happen, or the person at the very very top of the food chain. I.E. the last person in the string of people who get told to the very president of the university or the board.. whomever it is. This is not something you just go about saying things that you didn't actually see yourself being the middle man that paterno is.

Right Steve W. Somebody told him he saw something, that's hearsay. It's not his job to investigate or call the police. These people don't get it. A university heirarchy is much like the military. There is a chain of command. When there is criminal activity you go to your immediate superior and they move it up the chain. That's exactly what he did. Why isn't anyone blaming the police, the DA, or Child Support who knew about incidents and investigated them years before - and did nothing! You want to sue all of them?

I agree with you Steve W, McQuery told Paterno about the rape the next day. How can people try and hold Paterno responsible when Sandusky didn't even work for the University anymore, he ran his so called charity there.

Why all of this anger against Paterno when the anger should be directed at Sandusky and even the parents of the children who were attacked. If someone raped my child I would be at the police station every day and complaining to the news people until something was done. How could this have gone on for years when University police and even the former district attorney knew about it?

Yet people are trying to blame Paterno when he wasn't even there when the rapes happened and was told about the rape a day after it happened. The way some of you people are acting you would think Paterno was raping children.

I have not spent the amount of time paying attention to all the details, but it sounds to me like Paterno gets to be the consummate fall guy. Someone comes to him and says something happened in the showers involving people (ex-coach and kids) who did not work for the University. JoePa does what he is required to do in full accordance with the rules and regs of the University and reports to his superiors, who apparently ignore the whole thing.

So now, after being ignored by the University, the cops, the prosecutors, the victims, the victims families........... for quite a long time the events finally reach the light of day and JoePa becomes the devil incarnate.

I understand why the University fired him so quickly even though he is not a target of anyone's investigation. They needed a fall guy.

Now they're taking down his statue? What a bunch of prixxxs.

Funny how Paterno reveled in being King of the Castle, until this sh** hit the fan. Before he was the all powerful Oz, now he is just an employee.

The thing that bothers me most is We don't know what McQueary told Paterno, we don't know! There is no way in heck he tells him I saw the rape and I walked away!! how does he say that? How does that converstation go down? It just doesn't folks he tells Paterno the rumor they have all heard that sandusky was in the shower with a kid. Now we all know Paterno broke off all contact with sandusky and its my opinion he wanted him off campus but was trumped by the AD who didn't get along with Paterno, but allowed Sandusky to keep using the facilities, it doesn't bother anyone else that they the AD and the VP waited 2 weeks 2 WEEKS to interview Mcqueary what do you think happened in that time?? I'll tell you they talked to Sandusky and he told them to make it go away and he'd give up his keys and so they did, they gave Mike the job of his dreams, told Joe it was taken care of and they washed their hands of it. The AD still has a job, Mike still has a job but some how Joe had to resign...

Joe Paterno had a stellar career, by all accounts, doing great things for Penn State. But he committed an egregious error in judgement by not reporting this to the authorities (and I mean the real, civil authorities, i.e. the cops, not the college president). This one single action will overshadow anything he accomplished in the past, and is what he will be remembered for. It's the first thing that will pop into the public mind when his name is mentioned. Sad, but true.

Funny how you weren't on boards making negative comments about Paterno until AFTER this story came out in the media..