Penn State Scandal Highlights Lack of Accountability and Disregard for Child Safety

The country and Penn State University have been rocked this week with allegations of sexual assault by former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky has been charged with over 40 counts of molesting and sexual assaulting at least nine young boys, all having met Sandusky through the Second Mile Foundation, a charity founded by Sandusky in 1977 to improve the lives of disadvantaged children. The assaults occurred over a period of at least 13 years, though the Pennsylvania Attorney General has asked any other victims to please come forward. A Grand Jury released its presentment last Saturday, which described in graphic detail Sandusky's alleged assaults upon these victims. A link to the Grand Jury Presentment can be found here (please be warned of its graphic nature; courtesy of Beaver County Times): http://www.timesonline.com/news/police_fire_courts/jerry-sandusky-grand-jury-presentment/article_2e4c04d6-9f56-5dcb-895d-35a909e4b342.html

There has been a firestorm of criticism revolving around the case due to what administrators and head football coach Joe Paterno knew or should have know regarding these incidents, and a lack of reporting or even taking minimal action to prevent future incidents. Here is a story written by Penn State Alum and current ESPN reporter Dana O'Neil concerning the affect of the scandal on the community (courtesy of ESPN): http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7203559/penn-state-nittany-lions-scandal-stuns-community

Sandusky apparently used his ties to the Second Mile Foundation, a charity he co-founded in 1977, to spend time with all of the victims and prey upon them. As stated before, the Second Mile Foundation was a charity designed to improve the lives of disadvantaged children. The Second Mile Foundation has this to say on its website about its mission: "Many children face adversity even before they understand how to dream. The Second Mile, founded in 1977 in State College, Pennsylvania, is a statewide non-profit organization for children who need additional support and who would benefit from positive human contact." (http://www.thesecondmile.org/aboutUs.php) The Second Mile has done amazing things for Pennsylvania's disadvantaged youth. This scandal should not downgrade the good that the organization has done. But, the reasons for the foundation existing in the first place, and the seeming disregard for child safety raises many questions.

Second Mile exists because children's home lives are no longer a positive atmosphere for them to grow. Whether it be due to divorce, inattention, or absence, the children of today find themselves alone more and more. Family breakdown has led these children to seek refuge in the homes of others and to trust individuals who are not their parents. These are opportunities for predators to exist, build trust, and then take advantage of these children. A recent figure indicated that in as many as 93 percent of child sexual cases, the child knows the person that commits the abuse (statistic courtesy of Child Sexual Abuse and Prevention Center: http://www.stopitnow.org/child_sexual_abuse_fact_sheet).

Parents sometimes have no choice but to partially out-source the raising of their children for many reasons. This is not to blame anyone but the defendant in this case, but the fact that Jerry Sandusky was repeatedly caught inappropriately touching young boys dating back to the 1990's and was still participating in Second Mile events until 2008 is extremely disturbing. It seems as though these children were marginalized and somehow portrayed as unbelievable when compared with Sandusky. Sandusky came under police investigation in 1998 for an incident with a young boy in a shower and nothing was done to prevent him from having more young boys sleep over at his home. During these sleep-overs, Sandusky would establish trust with the young boys and then "see how far they would let him go," according to the Grand Jury presentment.

Due to the young age of these boys, it is not known exactly who knew what about these incidents. Young boys subjected to these assaults would most definitely experience fear and agitation regarding the abuse and would be unsure as to what to do or who to talk to. Another recent statistic shows that 88% (!) of all sexual abuse cases are never reported to authorities. (statistic courtesy of Child Sexual Abuse and Prevention Center: http://www.stopitnow.org/child_sexual_abuse_fact_sheet). Sandusky's portrayal of himself as a trusted adult figure to these children would only increase the confusion. These victims have suffered immense psychological and emotional damage as a result of these assaults and will bear these scars for the rest of their lives. It is an immense tragedy that Jerry Sandusky was allowed to continue to be around children even after one allegation of inappropriateness with a child.

This country cannot simply give a person the benefit of the doubt when it comes to cases of this nature. The protection of our children must be paramount in cases such as this, but so many times, individuals in positions of power are allowed a free pass because of who they are and who they know. There have been allegations that Sandusky was still allowed on Penn State's campus as recently as last week even though he has been under investigation since 2008. Additionally, after a 2002 incident with another boy in the locker room showers at Penn State, Sandusky's only apparent punishment was to tell him to stop bringing children onto campus. Nothing else was done. That failure in itself is abhorrent, and should raise serious questions about all aspects of this case.