Tag Archives: Child abuse

Oct 23 2012

Penn State Wants McQueary Trial to be on Hold


By Anne Danahy — adanahy@centredaily.com

 Penn State is asking the court to put on hold the lawsuit former coach Mike McQueary filed against the university while the criminal trial of two former administrators is under way.

In a motion filed Monday, Penn State argues that the university “would be severely prejudiced” if the suit were allowed to move forward while the criminal proceedings against former athletic director Tim Curley and retired senior vice president Gary Schultz are still going on. Penn State’s motion notes that the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas has put several civil suits against Penn State on hold for that reason.

Curley and Schultz are facing charges of perjury for testimony they gave to the grand jury investigating Jerry Sandusky and failure to report child abuse. They are scheduled to stand trial in January in Dauphin County Court

Jul 12 2012

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES


Today with the report released by Judge Louis Freeh, the Penn State Board of Trustees delivered on the commitment we made last November when we engaged Judge Freeh to conduct an independent investigation into the University’s actions regarding former Penn State employee, Jerry Sandusky, and the handling of allegations of the child abusecrimes of which he has since been found guilty.Judge Freeh and his team conducted a rigorous, eight-month investigation into all aspects of the University’s actions to determine where breakdowns occurred and what changes should be made for the future. We like many others have eagerly anticipated Judge Freeh’s Report of the findings of his investigation.His report has just been released at http://thefreehreportonpsu.com/ and we currently are reviewing his findings and recommendations. We expect a comprehensive analysis of our policies, procedures and controls related to identifying and reporting crimes and misconduct, including failures or gaps that may have allowed alleged misconduct to go undetected or unreported. We will provide our initial response later today.

We want to ensure we are giving the report careful scrutiny and consideration before making any announcements or recommendations. We are convening an internal team comprising the Board of Trustees, University administration and our legal counsel to begin analyzing the report and digesting Judge Freeh’s findings.

As we anticipate the review and approval process will take some time, our initial response and immediate next steps will be presented at 3:30 at the Dayton/Taylor Conference Room at the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center.

These top-line reactions will provide an overview of our process for developing and implementing a plan once we have studied the report and have a better understanding of what it means and how we can implement findings to strengthen Penn State’s role as a leading academic institution and ensure that what occurred will never be allowed to happen again.
Jul 12 2012

Paterno’s Words Resonate to ALL Alumni of Penn State


Forget my career in terms of my accomplishments and look at the last 40 years as I do:  as the aggregate achievements of hundreds of young men working to become better people as they got an education and became better football players.  Look at those men and what they have done in the world since they left Penn State and assess their contributions as an aggregate – is this a collection of jocks who did nothing but skate by at a football factory, or are these men who earned an education and built a reputation second to none as a place where academic integrity and gridiron success could thrive together?

Whatever failings that may have happened at Penn State, whatever conclusions about my or others’ conduct you may wish to draw from a fair view of the allegations, it is inarguable that these actions had nothing to do with this last team or any of the hundreds of prior graduates of the “Grand Experiment.”

Penn Staters across the globe should feel no shame in saying “We are…Penn State.”  This is a great University with one of the best academic performing football programs in major college athletics.  Those are facts – and nothing that has been alleged changes them

Mar 23 2012

Expert introduces new child-abuse center


Esteemed child abuse expert Dr. Richard D. Krugman spoke Thursday afternoon at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center before a reception held for the new Penn State Hershey Center for the Protection of Children. Krugman, who is the vice chancellor for health affairs for the University of Colorado Denver, provided strong background information for why it is so important to continue the efforts to reduce child abuse. Dean of the College of Medicine Dr. Harold L. Paz said the new center will focus mainly on patient care, education, research and the formation of partnerships with other organizations such as the Dickinson School of Law to advocate against child abuse. According to Paz, the center was established in December when the university announced it would contribute $500,000 to $800,000 of the Big Ten Bowl Game revenue to the center, on top of the $1.5 million to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Paz said the Hershey Medical Center has had different initiatives for a long time but recently found the momentum to bring them together with the center. Expert introduces new child-abuse center with lecture

By Sam Janesch and Mitchell Culler Collegian Staff Writers

Mar 18 2012

Football Letterman “Make an Impact”–Do Joe Proud!!


The men of the Football Letterman’s Club quietly took on a task they thought their mentor, Paterno, would have expected them to do. They voted to take on an initiative they call “Defend a Child,” a move to position them as leaders in stopping child sex abuse. “All of us in that room … had gotten a massive education in how prevalent sexual abuse is in our society,” said one of those men, Rudy Glocker, who played for Paterno in the late 1980s and early ’90s. “We said, ‘Look, we’re going to be leaders.’ That’s what Joe taught us to do.” Glocker  joined the initiative in December. The club’s goals are simple: first educate its members, then raise awareness about sexual abuse and educate the community about preventing it. Along the way, members have learned startling statistics: On average, 1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused before their 18th birthdays. For boys, the average is 1 in 6. Or that 73 percent of child victims don’t tell anyone they were abused for at least a year. Forty-five percent of the victims don’t say anything for at least five years, according to the national organization Darkness to Light. The lettermen involved don’t want to be singled out for their part of making the initiative come together or what it’ll do. That was something Paterno taught them, they’ve said, pointing to the empty space on the back of a Penn State football jersey where the name would go. Further, they say they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel by duplicating existing advocacy and education services. Instead, they want to use their celebrity and influence to make people comfortable with talking about child sex abuse and direct them to the experts. Blue-White weekend, on April 20-22, is slated to be the internal launch of the initiative. To learn about child sex abuse, club members will attend an April 21 training session offered by the law firm Love and Norris, of Fort Worth, Texas. The firm defends victims of child sexual abuse in the public, private and religious sectors. Some lettermen who play in the NFL will be filmed in public service announcements on the topic of child sex abuse. The PSAs will be filmed by WPSU, the university’s public broadcasting station. “This is a great initiative, and we certainly encourage all and any efforts to educate and raise awareness about this insidious and destructive crime,” said Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers. “Leadership on all fronts is needed if we are to make a difference, and the lettermen can certainly make a difference.” The group’s website, www.defendachild.org, should be up and running by then, too, and contain resources and related information. As they’re readying themselves for the club’s launch, members have been reaching out to Centre County organizations and national child abuse prevention advocates and experts. Earlier in March, they attended a meeting of local leaders working on organizing an initiative called the Centre County Child Safety and Protective Collaborative. It includes leaders from the county’s United Way, YMCA, Women’s Resource Center and Youth Service Bureau. That meeting featured speakers from Darkness to Light, which is based in Charleston, S.C. Cindy McElhinney, the director of Darkness to Light programs, said she thinks the lettermen will set “a great example” in advancing the education about child sex abuse. Her organization has provided them with a 21/ 2-hour interactive training workshop. McElhinney said the training teaches adults how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child abuse. Participants have to talk about child sex abuse, something she said is a tough barrier to break down. The lettermen also have turned to advocates at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape for educational and prevention resources. Coalition spokeswoman Kristen Houser said prevention efforts go beyond calling the police to report possible abuse, and she applauded the lettermen for their efforts. “We’re really encouraged that so many people from so many walks of life are saying that they want to be a part of the solution,” she said. Mike Dawson can be reached at 231-4616.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/03/18/3130820/psu-lettermen-swift-to-act.html#storylink=cpy

Feb 4 2012

What Joe Paterno REALLY Said!


The media’s hand in this debacle is equally stained. Many in the media knew of the Sandusky rumors for 16 years and did not push for a major investigation. The press had to have learned of Gov. Corbett‘s self-protection angle but self-righteously continued down the Paterno narrative. This self-serving dereliction of duty continues to protect their previous actions. The media commentators say over and over again that Paterno said he wished he had done more (Actually my recollection is that the press is saying that he said, ‘I should have done more’.”   They did this as if they were attempting to convince us that Mr. Paterno was making an admission of guilt.

In fact in his resignation statement Paterno actually said the following: “This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight I wish I had done more.” The addition of the word hindsight changes the entire meaning. Mr. Paterno, like all of us would change many of our actions if we could see the future.

Joe Paterno‘s resignation statement was again him being his usual humble self. He did not defend or blame anyone else for the despicable way he was treated. He politely refused to play prosecutor and law enforcer in the Sandusky saga but noted the abuse of children was a horrific act.

Mr. Paterno did everything he should have done in this situation. He reported the allegation he received second hand to school official Tim Curley, and to the administrator in charge of campus police. He never eye-witnessed any act on a child. All his knowledge and that of a multitude of others were hearsay rumors.