Home Tags Posts tagged with "Penn State University"
Penn State University
US college sport authorities have fined Penn State University $60 million in the wake of child sex abuse perpetrated by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Famous US football school Penn state University will be banned from competing for honors for four years, and lose all wins from 1998-2011.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) said the punishments were “corrective and punitive”.
Assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of sex abuse.
He abused 10 boys over a period of 15 years, a court found, judging him to have preyed on boys he met through a charity, Second Mile, that he founded himself.
Jerry Sandusky has not been sentenced but could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Penn State University was fined $60 million in the wake of child sex abuse perpetrated by Jerry Sandusky
The NCAA said the fines were equivalent to the annual gross revenue of the Penn State football programme.
The money is to be given to an endowment funding external programmes to prevent child abuse and help victims.
“Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said.
“The sanctions needed to reflect our goals of providing cultural change.”
Other NCAA sanctions against Penn State include:
• A ban on participating in post-season games – or playoffs – for four years, including the 2012-2013 season
• Number of football scholarships limited for the next four years, a reduction of 10 places per year
• Football wins revoked between 1998-2011
• A five-year probation on all sports at Penn State
• Adoption of all recommendations for reform in Section 10 of an FBI investigation into abuse at Penn State
• Appointment of an NCAA-selected Athletics Integrity Monitor for five years
• Further penalties against individuals could come after criminal proceedings end.
Correspondents say the sanctions are unprecedented in their severity, although the NCAA did not impose the “death penalty” and close the entire football programme.
The fallout from the scandal has sullied the reputation of Penn State’s former head football coach Joe Paterno.
Joe Paterno, who died earlier this year, months before the resolution of the case, won more college football games in his long career at Penn State than any other head coach in university sport.
He was heavily criticized in a report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, issued after the guilty verdict, which said the highest-ranking officials at Penn State failed utterly to protect victims and potential victims from Jerry Sandusky.
Many of his wins will now be expunged from the record books.
On Sunday a statue of Joe Paterno was removed from outside the university, after it was deemed to have become a “lightning rod of controversy”.
Travis Weaver became the first alleged Jerry Sandusky victim to reveal himself to the public, saying in an interview that he was sexually abused by former Penn State assistant coach more than 100 times, starting when he was just ten.
Travis Weaver, a 30-year-old Ohio man, said Jerry Sandusky preyed on him after he and his brother went to a summer camp for the Second Mile, a charity the coach founded and through which he is accused of cultivating most of his victims
The revelation comes on the same day as a jury begins to deliberate Jerry Sandusky’s fate on 48 counts of sexual abuse charges.
In closing arguments, his attorney said the accusers were liars who were hoping to cash in on legal settlements from the university.
Travis Weaver is not one of the eight accusers who testified at trial, but he did tell his story to the grand jury that handed down the Sandusky’s indictment, NBC News reported.
An exclusive interview with Travis Weaver will air at 10:00 p.m. Thursday on Rock Center.
Travis Weaver became the first alleged Jerry Sandusky victim to reveal himself to the public
When asked what he would do if he ever met Jerry Sandusky again, Travis Weaver doesn’t hesitate: “I’d punch him in his mouth.”
“There would be no reason to say anything. He knows what he did.”
During the sex abuse trial, Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer Joe Amendola said the former coach is being railroaded by overzealous investigators and prosecutors.
He strenuously denied that accusations and Sandusky has maintained his innocence since his arrest last fall.
Joe Amendola said the accusers were greedy and they lied about the abuse in the hopes of winning big payouts from Penn State University so they could drive new cars and buy big houses.
Travis Weaver has also filed a lawsuit and is being represented by a well-known attorney who has specialized in sex abuse cases against the Catholic church.
The abuse began in 1992, Travis Weaver told NBC’s Rock Center, when he met Jerry Sandusky at a swimming pool at a camp sponsored by the Second Miles, which Sandusky founded to help at-risk young boys.
“It was like meeting my hero,” Travis Weaver said of Jerry Sandusky, who was once the top pick to replace legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
The individual attention Jerry Sandusky gave Travis Weaver began innocently, but gradually grew more and more sinister, he said.
It began with a shower in the Penn State football team’s locker room.
“After the shower was over… he’d dry me off with a towel. He’d say he was trying to wrestle with me…” Travis Weaver told NBC.
He always assumed he was the only victim, he said.
He never imagined there have been other boys until Jerry Sandusky was arrested last fall.
Travis Weaver also blasted Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, who testified that she never saw or heard anything that would have made her think her husband was molesting boys.
He said the abuse continued for four years until he moved away to Ohio to flee Jerry Sandusky.
Joe Paterno, the legendary former football coach of Penn State University, has died aged 85, reports say.
Joe Paterno led Penn State University to more wins than any other top division college football coach in US history.
The legendary football coach was sacked in November 2011 after 46 years in the post, amid accusations that he failed to act over child abuse claims against an assistant coach.
Joe Paterno, the legendary former football coach of Penn State University, has died aged 85
Joe Paterno was suffering from lung cancer. He fell and broke his pelvis at his home in December.
His family said on Sunday that “he died as he lived”.
“He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been,” they said in a statement.
Joe Paterno was a hero to many for winning more games than anyone else in major college football – 409 victories at Penn State.
But his reputation became tarnished when, in November, his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, 63, was arrested for allegedly abusing eight boys between 1994 and 2009.
Joe Paterno was forced to resign after it emerged he had been told that jerry Sandusky had been seen abusing a boy as young as 10 in a locker room shower in 2002, but failed to alert the police.
Joe Paterno said he had alerted the university’s athletic director about the allegation, but regretted not taking it further.
Police have said that Joe Paterno fulfilled his minimum legal requirement but have suggested the coach had a moral responsibility to do more.
“This is a tragedy,” Joe Paterno coach told the Washington Post.
“It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more”.
Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dorothy, has been absent from the analysis of who knew what about the former Penn State coach alleged sexual abuse of eight boys over a 15-year period.
Now, Dorothy “Dottie” Gross Sandusky does make an appearance in the 23-page Grand Jury indictment which graphically details the charges against her husband.
Dorothy Sandusky, 68, attempted to call one of the victims in the weeks leading up to his testimony, despite the fact the now 26-year-old had cut off all contact with Jerry Sandusky two years prior.
Jerry Sandusky’s wife left a message on Victim 7’s phone saying the matter was “very important”, but the man, who told the Grand Jury that as a ten-year-old in 1994, coach Sandusky hugged and inappropriately touched him, did not return the call. Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dorothy, has been absent from the analysis of who knew what about the former Penn State coach alleged sexual abuse of eight boys over a 15-year period.
Part of that alleged abuse took place in the Sandusky family’s State College, Pennsylvania, home, in which Dorothy and her husband raised their six adopted children. Jerry Sandusky claimed he and his wife could not have any of their own.
Over the years the couple became the parents to Ray, now 46, a businessman living in Nashville, EJ, 41, former Nittany Lions player, and now a football coach at West Chester University, Kara, 38, a Penn State graduate, Jeff, 35, a former Marine, and 33-year-olds Matt, a Penn State graduate and Jon, who is Director of Player Personnel for the Cleveland Browns.
Quite how much any of them knew about the sexual abuse, which occurred between 1994 and 2009 with a number of incidents at the family home, is now under scrutiny.
Jerry Sandusky and his lawyer, Joe Amendola, have maintained that he is innocent and publicly denied all allegations.
Neither Dorothy Sandusky nor any of her adopted children have yet made a statement on the scandal.
The Grand Jury indictment states that Jerry Sandusky selected his young victims from the “Second Mile”, a charity he started in 1977 devoted to helping troubled boys in the State College area. Dorothy Sandusky helped out with the running of the programme.
“After we had taken in some foster children, we saw the opportunities that some kids just hadn’t had,” Dorothy Sandusky told Sports Illustrated in 1982.
“But we’d gotten to the point where we couldn’t take in anymore, so Jerry started thinking about starting a group home.”
In his 2000 autobiography, “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story” the onetime heir apparent to Joe Paterno devotes many pages to his relationships with boys he met through the Second Mile.
Jerry Sandusky also makes reference to his own children during an exchange with some of the boys from the charity.
In his 2000 autobiography, "Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story" the onetime heir apparent to Joe Paterno devotes many pages to his relationships with boys he met through the Second Mile
He wrote that one night he was talking to two Second Mile boys who had rebelled against their foster parents, with one boy telling how his foster father had “grabbed me around the back of my shoulders and he made me do something when I didn’t want to do it.”
“Do you ever grab your kids like that?” the boy asked Jerry Sandusky.
“No, I don’t grab my kids like that,” the coach answered.
“I grab them like this.”
Jerry Sandusky wrote: “With that, I put my hands gently around their throat.”
It was an apparent jest.
“I could tell they were totally confused,” Jerry Sandusky wrote.
“Both boys had a scared look in their eyes.”
The book repeatedly described Jerry Sandusky hugging boys and detailing how he was very close to those he met through the charity. Of the photos that line his office walls, he said: “They are kids that have touched my life and have been a part of me for a long, long time.”
In the book Jerry Sandusky paints himself as someone who would repeatedly take risks in the hunt for what he refers to as “mischief”.
“I believe I live a good part of my life in a make-believe world,” Jerry Sandusky wrote in one of the final chapters. “I enjoyed pretending as a kid, and I love doing the same as an adult with these kids.”
Whether Dorothy Sandusky was worried by any such behaviour is not yet known. What is established is that she has been by Jerry Sandusky’s side since the mid-1960s, when they married.
Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, she had met Jerry Sandusky in Washington a few years before. He endearingly called his wife “Sarge”, because Dorothy Sandusky was in charge in their home, ESPN News reported.
The shocking Grand Jury indictment makes repeated accusations that victims were abused inside the couple’s home.
Victim 1 spent many nights there sleeping in a basement bedroom. The report states that Jerry Sandusky would come down to the basement to check on him at bedtime.
The report found that Jerry Sandusky “indecently fondled Victim 1 on a number of occasions, performed oral sex on Victim 1 on a number of occasions and had Victim 1 perform oral sex on him on at least one occasion.”
Phone records also confirm that Jerry Sandusky made 61 phone calls from his home phone to Victim 1’s home phone between January 2008 and July 2009 despite Victim 1 expressing a wish that he no longer wanted to see the football coach.
Jerry Sandusky also made 57 calls from his personal cell phone to Victim 1’s home phone.
Jerry Sandusky and his lawyer, Joe Amendola, have maintained that he is innocent and publicly denied all allegations
Despite these actions, there is no suggestion whatsoever in the indictment that Dorothy Sandusky was aware of her husband’s sexual relations with Victim 1 or any of the other seven victims.
Experts have suggested that Dorothy Sandusky and her children could well have been kept in the dark.
“[Abusers are] very good at hiding it from everyone,” clinical social worker Farlie Chastain told WRCB TV.
“Very good at seducing the child and manipulating the child not to tell.”
However, Farlie Chastain, who counsels sexually abused children and teenagers at Parkridge Valley, Tennesee and at Foxus Psychiatric Services in Tennessee Valley, adds: “I’ve seen it both ways, in which the family knows and is in denial.”
Meanwhile State College police have reported that someone threw two cinder blocks through a bedroom window at Jerry Sandusky’s house on Thursday night.
The news came as it emerged that Jerry Sandusky, who is out on bail, lives close to an elementary school and playground.
Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State University football coach was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault after allegedly abusing eight young boys that he worked with through a charity helping underprivileged children.
Two university administrators were also charged with perjury for failing to report information about Jerry Sandusky‘s sexually abuse.
Athletic director Tim Curley and the school’s vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz were charged Saturday with perjury and failure to report in an investigation into Jerry Sandusky‘s abuse of eight young men, state prosecutors said.
Jerry Sandusky, 67, was arrested Saturday and released on $100,000 bail, the attorney general’s office said.
Tim Curley, 57, and Gary Schultz, 62, both of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, were expected to turn themselves in Monday in Harrisburg.
Gary Schultz’s position includes oversight of the university’s police department, hence his involvement with the case.
Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State University football coach was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault after allegedly abusing eight young boy
Jerry Sandusky is a star in football circles as he is closely identified with the school’s reputation as a defensive powerhouse and a program that produced top-quality linebackers. He retired in 1999.
Longtime head coach Joe Paterno, who has more victories than any coach in the history of Division I football, was not charged, authorities said.
When Joe Paterno first learned of one report of abuse he immediately reported it to Tim Curley, prosecutors said.
Jerry Sandusky, who worked with at-risk children through his Second Mile organization,was charged with seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; eight counts of corruption of minors, eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child, seven counts of indecent assault and other offences.
Second Mile organization, which was founded by Jerry Sandusky in 1977 to help underprivileged children released a statement distancing themselves from their disgraced leader:
“Jerry Sandusky has had no involvement in The Second Mile’s children’s programs and services since he made us aware of the allegations against him in November 2008. In August 2010, Jerry announced he was formally retiring from The Second Mile to attend to family and personal matters.
“This clearly is a very difficult time for Jerry and his family, for all other involved parties, and for The Second Mile.”
A preliminary hearing for Jerry Sandusky is scheduled for Wednesday.
Attorney General Linda Kelly called Jerry Sandusky “a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys”.
The grand jury identified eight young men who were targets of sexual advances or assaults by Jerry Sandusky from 1994 to 2009, prosecutors said.
Though the nature of the charges is shocking no matter what, the surprise is more loaded by the fact it comes from within the corridors of Penn State, a school where the football program is known for its consistancy as much as its success.
Attorney General Linda Kelly said:
“It is also a case about high-ranking university officials who allegedly failed to report the sexual assault of a young boy after the information was brought to their attention, and later made false statements to a grand jury.”
Prosecutors said all of the young men first encountered Jerry Sandusky through Second Mile and not through the university.
A grand jury report, which recommended charges, said the first to come to light was a boy who met Jerry Sandusky when he was 11 or 12. The boy received expensive gifts and trips to sports events from Jerry Sandusky, and physical contact began during his overnight stays at Sandusky’s home, jurors said.
Jerry Sandusky was banned from the child’s school district in Clinton County in 2009, after his mother reported alleged sexual assault to his high school. That triggered the state investigation that culminated in charges Saturday.
Linda Kelly said that seven years before that, in 2002, a graduate assistant saw Jerry Sandusky sexually assault a naked boy, estimated to be about 10 years old, in the locker room of the Lasch Football Building on campus.
The grad student and his father reported what he saw to Joe Paterno, who immediately told Tim Curley, prosecutors said.
Tim Curley and Gary Schultz met with the graduate assistant about a week and a half later, Linda Kelly said.
Attorney General Linda Kelly said:
“Despite a powerful eyewitness statement about the sexual assault of a child, this incident was not reported to any law enforcement or child protective agency, as required by Pennsylvania law.
“Additionally, there is no indication that anyone from the university ever attempted to learn the identity of the child … or made any follow-up effort to obtain more information from the person who witnessed the attack.”
The jury said Tim Curley lied when he testified repeatedly that he was never told Jerry Sandusky had engaged in sexual misconduct with a child, Linda Kelly said, adding that portions of Gary Schultz’s testimony also were not deemed credible by the jury.
Penn State president Graham Spanier called the allegations against Jerry Sandusky “troubling” but said Tim Curley and Gary Schultz had his unconditional support and he predicted they will be exonerated.
“I have known and worked daily with Tim [Curley] and Gary [Schultz] for more than 16 years,” Graham Spanier said.
“I have complete confidence in how they handled the allegations about a former university employee.”
Jerry Sandusky, once considered a potential successor to Joe Paterno, drew up the defenses for the Nittany Lions’ national-title teams in 1982 and 1986.
