I didn't have a cell phone in 2002. Neither did my college student.

[pnwmom]

Yet everyone's assuming the distraught grad assistant did. I bet he probably didn't, and that's why he left to call his Dad. It's too bad his father gave him such bad advice -- but people at Penn State thought Paterno walked on water. It's REALLY too bad that Paterno, who could have acted strongly one day after the incident, chose instead to pass the problem upstairs. And it's inexcusable that the top guys chose to cover-up the problem. Once Paterno realized they were going to, he should have blown the whistle.

[TeamPooka]

1. had a cell phone since 1991

not having a cell phone is no excuse for not doing the right thing.
Making excuses for any of the people involved in this cover up is not the right path top follow.

[pnwmom]

8. I think the student was behind the investigation when it finally happened.

Yes, he shouldn't have waited for years, but he finally helped break this thing open.

And not having a cell phone would be a reason for not doing what a lot of people here have suggested -- instantly calling 911. Instead, he had to leave and find a phone, and then he made the mistake of calling his father, instead of the police. But if this had been one of 40 some other states, Paterno would have had the legal obligation to call the police. As it was, he could just pass the information up the chain of command and let them not handle it.

[jmg257]

20. He is NOT. In both instances, Moms of the victim started the investigation.

McQueary did nothing more for 7+ years.

[fishwax]

29. no, the investigation started because a victim's mom reported to a high school

and the high school, unlike Penn State, reported it to the proper authorities.

[MADem]

2. He had two strong arms, didn't he?

He could have picked up a locker room bench and beat the living shit out of Sandusky with it.

He could have grabbed that little kid and protected him.

He could have then gone into one of the gym offices and punched out NINE ONE ONE.

No excuse.

[abelenkpe]

17. I have two bony girl arms

and would have done that if witnessing such a thing.

Once I saw a father back hand his seven year old son at Ikea. Hard. The kids brother and mother were sitting on a bench not doing anything to intervene clearly afraid of the father who was screaming at the kid he hit. I took out my cell phone, photographed the guy, told him I was calling the cops and then followed the family as they left out to the parking lot where I photographed their license plate. He threatened me and honestly scared me but damn it he was a monster and I wasn't gonna let it go. I can't understand why anyone would let what they witnessed Sandusky doing go.

But maybe I'm crazy?

[MADem]

25. And if you can manage it, as a wee bony and bonny lass, surely he could

have as well -- there really is no damn excuse.

[saras]

34. Without photos, he'd die in prison and the molester would go free. No DNA tests in 1991

It was, and is, the CULTURE, not these specific few individuals. The unfortunate truth is that almost everybody who finds themselves in these positions in reality, not merely their self-justifying fantasies, do exactly the same thing. They punt. They don't want to be the one pariah that tears down their own society around themselves.

People should stand up to corrupt cops, too, and refuse to obey their orders, but for some strange reason, people nearly always go along with them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15668834

Just a few years later, DNA testing would have been available.

[fishwax]

45. The event in question took place in 2002 -- what's the significance of 1991?

I agree with you that, while many people claim they would intervene, the reality is that most people don't.

[MADem]

56. Integrity is like virginity, as they say.

You can only lose it once.

There was a witness and a victim with working vocal chords-the child.

A corrupt cop, though, who is brandishing a weapon, is not the same as some naked asshole raping a kid. Sometimes, 'he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day' is the way to play it. Save yourself, report the corruption later if you can.

In this case, though, a sound beating of Sandusky and a phone call to 911 would have been the way to go.

[JuniperLea]

51. +1

:applause:

[RockaFowler]

3. I had one in 2000

Even still, he did make a phone call from another phone in the building.

[pnwmom]

16. Right, and by then he had time to wonder if he even saw what he thought he saw.

If he had a phone on him, he could have reported it in real time, before he had a chance to wonder.

[jmg257]

23. A 10 yr old boy in the shower getting reamed by an old man? What's to question?

Read the testimony - there is NO chance he did not see anything different then what he saw and heard and thought he saw.

"...graduate assistant entered the locker room doors, he was surprised to find the lights and showers on. He then heard rhythmic, slapping sounds. He believed the sounds to be those of sexual activity. As the graduate assistant put the sneakers in his locker, he looked into the shower. He saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky. The graduate assistant was shocked but noticed that both Victim 2 and Sandusky saw him. The graduate assistant left immediately, distraught."

[blueamy66]

35. Wait, What?

He had "time to wonder"? How do you wonder about watching a grown man sodomizing a 10 year old boy?

FAIL

[Tansy_Gold]

44. But, you see, he was distraught. :sarcasm:

This 28 year old former quarterback who had, we presume, bravely and fearlessly faced huge, helmetted opponents on the football field, was so distraught at the sight of a 55 year old man raping a child that he walked away.


HE

WALKED

AWAY.


Some quarterback.




TG

[blueamy66]

53. He needs to lose his job.

ASAP

[Tansy_Gold]

54. At least.

(TG -- Also in AZ, but it's home now)

[blueamy66]

57. where in AZ?

nt

[NightWatcher]

4. did they not have phones on the campus or a pay phone on the street?

[pnwmom]

11. Of course they did. But the longer a delay, the more time he had

to wonder what he had just seen, to wonder maybe he was wrong, to think that it couldn't have been happening. If he had been just standing there with his cell phone, I think the chances are greater he would have used it -- and even pulling out the phone would have probably made Sandusky stop.

[MADem]

27. I've never been in a gym locker room where there wasn't some sort of

coach's office within a short dash, and in well over half a century, I've never seen a coach's office that didn't have a thing called a phone in it, so I suspect that there WAS a phone close by. What--in an athletic setting that, owing to its success, has all the bells and whistles, where, owing to the nature of the sport, accidents DO happen, Penn State is going to hope someone has a cellphone on hand if someone is injured? Hell to the No, as the kids say!

[fishwax]

30. He called from the phone in his own office

which, presumably, was also in the Lasch Football Building.

[MadHound]

5. So, he uses a pay phone, a campus phone, whatever.

You call the police, no excuse, no rationalization. Better yet, before going out to call the cops, you get the child out of danger, away from the goddamn pedo.

McQuerdy, Paterno, and a lot more people at Penn covered up this shit, and they should all go.

[pnwmom]

14. By the time he got to a phone, he was probably questioning what he had seen.

This student probably idolized Paterno, just like everyone at Penn State. He mistakenly trusted Paterno to know what the right thing to do was. I blame Paterno and Paterno's superiors more than I blame the shocked witness.

[MadHound]

21. Oh please,

I've seen some disturbing shit when I was this guy's age, and didn't question my senses. And it wasn't Paterno in that shower, but Sandusky, with a child, raping that child. Before going to the phone, why didn't McQueary stop the crime in progress rather than turn his back on the victim?

No excuse, none.

[LisaM]

6. Actually, that's a good point.

I didn't have a cell phone until 2005, and my SO just got one this year. Who knows where the nearest phone was? Without excusing anything that happened, that is just a really good point. People used to have to seek out a phone. And in 2002, many people did not have cell phones.

[LynneSin]

12. Um that would be the coaches office

just saying

[blueamy66]

37. Really?

You ARE making excuses. There are phones ALL OVER the place in EVERY office for every coach.

[Tansy_Gold]

7. No excuses for a former quarterback

Mike McQueary, the poor, beleaguered "graduate student," had been the quarterback for Penn State's football team. He was 28 years old.

Quarterbacks have to think on their feet. They have to make split-second decisions ALL THE TIME. It's part of being a quarterback.

Whether he had a cell phone or not, he was there and he saw what was going on and at the age of 28 and physically fit he chose not to attempt to stop the rape of a 10 year old boy by a 55 year old man.

He chose to call his daddy instead.

No excuses. None. If he didn't have a cell phone, he had his two hands and his voice and he could have gone into that shower and said, "Hey, Jerry, what the hell are you doing? Get away from that kid!"

HE

DID

NOTHING

to stop a rape.


And now some say he's going to hide behind whistleblower protection?


That's a coward's way out.



TG

[OhioChick]

38. Damn good post. n/t

[blueamy66]

39. +1000

nt

[Aerows]

9. He has a mouth

How difficult would it have been to shout "What the hell are you doing, STOP THAT!" I'm 5'3" and a petite female - even I'm capable of doing that. You can make enough noise to have other people come see what is going on.

[fishwax]

31. He could also do something like pull the fire alarm

[Aerows]

33. That option does sound rather appealing n/t

[LynneSin]

10. I would take a good guess there were phones in all the coaches offices and at least one pay phone

Penn State isn't that far out of modern technology

Plus the guy did manage to call his father and Joe Paterno that night. Was the 9 and 1 keys broken?

[pnwmom]

15. He probably thought Paterno would call the police. That WAS the way it was supposed

to work in PA -- that when a lower level employee reported something, the higher-ups were required to take it to the police.

[jmg257]

18. Hmmm...so if I see a child rape in progress in PA, I'm good as long as I tell my boss the next day?

You do realize he is NOT behind the investigation? The mom of the latest victim is?

McQueary has done nothing for at least 7 years?

[LynneSin]

49. and your dad - don't forget he needs to know. Just not the State Police or CPS

:grr:

[LynneSin]

47. And if I'm some low level peon who witnessed a 10 year old being raped in the showers...

and no one called the police

I would have called them myself

And I surely wouldn't have taken that coaching job with a team whose leaders ignored the rape.

[jmg257]

13. I'm not assuming he had a cell phone, I'm assuming he had a pair of balls. nt

[sufrommich]

19. Who needs their Dad's advise on what to do when you

see an adult molesting a child?

[spanone]

22. use a pay phone...911

run to a police station

find the campus police

get a two-by-four and whack the perpetrator



rape was reported before there were phones

[Rebubula]

24. Cell phone or not...

Here is what I think happened.....


McQuery saw what he saw and reported it. Paterno spoke to the board\President whoever.

Invite sent to McQuery to meet with board

Board: You have a bright future here, young man...we are a family. A family takes care of each other and we will take care of you

McQuery: sir, I saw Sandusky raping a kid in the showers

Board: Do not worry about that....we will take care of this and make sure this does not happen again, Coach. Oh....damn...did I just call you Coach...well....you get my point.....keep this to yourself and we will handle it


Powerful institutions are only concerned with one thing - REMAINING powerful institutions.

The missing DA - who knows, but it CERTAINLY not like the mob has not been involved with college athletics for 100 years. I highly doubt that Paterno or anyone involved with the Football program directly had anything to do with the DA going missing - but most teams have insiders that pass along information the press, bookies whoever. It is not beyond the pale to think that the DA was murdered because he wanted to pursue the case after PS shut everyone else down.


Joe Paterno will always have an asterisk next to his name. He sold out the innocence of children for his own glory - fuck him and everyone else that knew about this....as well as ANYONE that apologizes for them.

[Raven]

26. What does having a cell phone have to do with stopping a rape?

"Oh, yeah, I witnessed this rape but I didn't have a cell phone so I walked on by...." Really?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

28. Because you need an app for ethics silly. nt

[MADem]

36. OK, this is a serious subject of discussion...

...but that was a bit of clever, smart and bitter humor. Touche`!!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

42. It's not my intention to trivialize this subject and I've stayed away form the topic so far.

But I've heard some really unbelievable things in my office and read some here. I do hope that no one takes offense to it. I mean. What could one even say in these situations?

[MADem]

46. I'm dead serious--

You gave me the first laugh I've been able to muster in the context of this entire imbroglio with that cutting and true comment.

That was some A+ wit, there. Seriously!!!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

48. I did get that from your post. But I figure others might not take it the same way and I get

that. I've been known to be inappropriately sarcastic at times. But when I come across these fucked up situations I tend to use humor as a defense mechanism. That's all.

[MADem]

52. If they can't parse out your feelings, they aren't reading contextually!

I know where you're coming from.

[fishwax]

32. I haven't seen people assuming he had a cell phone

I have seen people say that he should have used a phone to call the police instead of his father, though.

[yellowcanine]

40. The problem wasn't lack of a phone. He called his dad, didn't he? Call could have been 911.

[myrna minx]

41. What does a cell phone have anything to do with stopping or reporting the rape of a child?

If he had access to a phone to call his dad, he had access to a phone to call 911.

[Liberal_in_LA]

43. Americans have been finding ways to report crimes to cops BEFORE cell phones

He was a grad asst in that building. He had access to phones.

[JuniperLea]

50. It makes not one bit of difference if he had one or not...

That's a silly argument... and I've never seen anyone hear assume that.


He was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, not to make sure the proper authorities were notified. Wrong. It doesn't take a genius to get that. The student surely had the wherewithal to get that too... if he didn't have that much common sense, what the hell was he doing at an institution of higher learning?

[hedgehog]

55. If it had been 1972, he might have had an excuse. One of my high school

friends was groomed and molested by a priest. We all knew about it but didn't know what to do with such a seemingly bizarre situation. But by 2002, pre-schoolers knew good touch from bad touch! A 28 year old man in 2002 that didn't recognize anal rape of a child when he saw it? No excuse! This guy failed the test of a life time!

[SoCalDem]

58. Every facility of any size had pay phones...and we all used them them

there were no doubt, many phones available...and of course police tend to cluster in buildings called police stations:)

This was not a bewildered 5 yr old who wandered away from Mommie & was too stressed to know what to do when he saw a bad thing...

[pitohui]

59. yes you did and so did everyone else, 2002, not 1992, read the story again

you don't sit and chat w. daddy while a 10 year old is being raped up the ass, even if you don't have a cell phone, you would use a fucking pay phone or you would blow your whistle or you'd grab someone else's cell phone or you'd do SOMETHING

it's 9 years later, that's a fuck of a long time to sit on your hands whining you didn't have a cell phone when you were a witness to a brutal violent rape

sorry he was covering something up, my guess is, he too screwed around w/ others, i like the part where he heard the sounds of sexual activity/slapping and came on in (probably hoping to get some of it himself until he realized it was a 10 year old!)

there's no good reason you don't call the cops here, there are excuses, all of them bad -- the most probable being that sex was a regular activity in that shower room and the guy's first thought is oh shit i've got to cover this up or my part in it will come out

[WinkyDink]

60. A 28-yr-old in State College knows how to find a cop. It ain't a big place.