Movie: Paterno

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“Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arraigned on 40 counts of sex crimes against young boys on Nov. 4, 2011.

A week later, investigative reporter Jason Berry, who authored a book on the Catholic Church cover-up of priests who sexually abused children, was asked in The Atlantic about the similarities between the cover-ups at both institutions.

“The parallels are striking,” Berry said. “Allegedly, Paterno did what most of the Catholic bishops have done. He referred the problem to someone else, and then put it in cotton. Out of sight, out of mind. The prolonged, aching story of the Catholic Church crisis is in part a failure to report to law enforcement, and instead to give guys (like Sandusky) a free ride.”

My recent column about the HBO movie, “Paterno,” which examines the Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal and whether Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno did enough to report the abuse, got readers fired up. Both sides digging their heels in. Some believing Paterno did enough by doing nothing more than reporting what he knew to his superiors. Others wondering how Paterno could have fumbled the ball.

“It’s pretty simple to me,” said Leon Richmond, of Quakertown. “As you wrote, you tell your boss, and if he doesn’t tell the cops, you tell the cops. Case closed.”

Instead, Paterno put it in cotton.

What “Paterno” reminds us is, much like the Catholic Church cover-up of reassigning priests they knew were sexually assaulting young boys instead of having them arrested, the pattern of institutional self-preservation that existed at Penn State. Protect the brand. Protect the image. Children be damned.

“The institution took precedence over any other potential harm to individuals and must be protected at all costs,” wrote Frank Messenger, of Levittown. “You would have thought Joe could have found some way to get rid of this guy (Sandusky) and at least spare Penn State the shame.”

Frank Schultz has friends on the other side of the Paterno fence. Friends he made as a member of a fraternity at Penn State in the 1950s. Friends who are still close friends. Friends, up to 30 of them, who he meets with every year. Friends who are members of the Penn State board of trustees.

Some 95 percent of them are Paterno loyalists.

And him?

“I have continually swayed to your beliefs (that Paterno didn’t do enough to stop Sandusky),” wrote Schultz, of Southampton. “My friends — and I love them — just don’t get it.”

Nor do many of mine. After reading my column, one childhood friend, a Penn State graduate and Paterno defender, rolled out the tired refrain: He did what he was supposed to do — report to superiors. Anne Riegel, of Plumstead, agrees.

“What those men did or didn’t do with that information isn’t Paterno’s fault,” she said. “He reported what he knew.”

True, but it was unconscionable for Paterno to stop there upon learning his superiors — athletic director Tim Curley, vice president Gary Schultz and university president Graham Spanier — didn’t have Sandusky arrested. That’s when the Paterno we thought we knew should have demanded answers from them. Instead, he went back to football. Moral bankruptcy.

“A lot of Pennsylvania is PSU country and Bucks County is no exception,” wrote Dan Hobbs, of New Hope. “I believe your article on all points and commend you for it because it’s not what a lot of people in the area want to hear.

“I love college football (or I should say loved). But when it comes to children, things need to be put in perspective.”

In a poll of importance, the safety of children always ranks No. 1.

“Paterno” isn’t likely to win a slew of industry awards. Rather its impact will serve as a reminder how the administration of a respected university and its principled football coach ignored their moral compass at the expense of children.

Sandusky’s horrific abuse of children is in the recent past, but remains reflective of the present. Every eight minutes, child protective services substantiates, or finds evidence for, a claim of child sexual abuse, according to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network). Every eight minutes.

No one is suggesting Paterno’s football legacy should be forgotten: The victories, the championships, the graduation rates, the fundraising. But on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard-line, and trailing by four with time running out, the coach had a chance to do the right thing. Inexplicably, he took a knee.

As we did.

To pray for the children.”

Gianficaro: ‘Paterno’ movie about Sandusky child sexual abuse has both sides digging in

[The Intelligencer 5/2/17 by Phil Gianficaro]

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