One of my predictions of the Sandusky case was that eventually victims would number in the dozens. Today it was revealed that alleged victims 9 and 10 have come forward, and that their testimony was deemed credible. As a result, Sandusky was re-arrested, and placed in prison pending $250K in bail, which he currently has been unable to post. This new arrest adds two victims and 12 new counts of sexual assault of a minor, bringing the total to more than 50.
Perhaps the most damaging piece of information to come out of today's news is this:
The alleged victim also said that Sandusky tried to rape him on at least 16 occasions... According to the grand jury report, “the victim testified that on at least one occasion he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky’s wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him.”
Doesn't that last line doesn't describe the whole sordid tale? Young, vulnerable, at-risk boys screaming for help knowing that there were people around to help them...but no one ever came. Not a janitor. Not various coaches or assistant coaches. Not players. No one.
And it can't have been much of a secret. I have always contended that Joe Paterno knew about the behavior for years, but was determined to handle things "in house" as he had always done. Now the news comes out that Sandusky applied for other coaching jobs after leaving Penn State. First of all, why would a man with nothing to hide or lose leave one of the premier coaching positions in the country (Penn State), and a role where he was the heir apparent to a legend, only to apply to coach at Juniata College--not even on the map as far as football is concerned. And I love this line from the Juniata College press release:
Juniata spokesman John Wall said the college was not informed of the details of the investigation or the existence of a grand jury, but based on the report informed its coaches Sandusky was not to have contact with the program.
"We basically did our due diligence," Wall said.
"We basically did our due diligence." That is a very pithy line to describe what officials and leaders from Penn State and The Second Mile Foundation failed to do--basic due diligence into the character of Jerry Sandusky. Now let's continue to work to make sure that this doesn't happen again.
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