When you find out a friend has done something like Joe Paterno did

[RB TexLa]

You do not have a choice. You have a moral obligation to society. If you have a friend who you know is destroying a child or children's lives you must act to stop them. What Joe didn't realize is you can still be a friend. You can still stand with your friend. You can still say and demand that they receive a fair trial. You can still proclaim that they are your friend. You can still provide support for them. You can still say "He is my friend and I care for him, if he committed these crimes he will have to pay the price for his actions and I will be there for him." It's very simple sometimes friends aren't perfect sometimes they are far, far from even seeing perfect. If Joe had done the right thing it wouldn't have been he that ended a friendship by doing it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. You need to be a friend of the child

This case is just disgusting.

[RB TexLa]

7. You do that by bringing in the proper authorities, as soon as you even think something is going on

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Exactly

When I was a kid, we had a neighbor who regularly beat the shit out of his wife and kids. My dad called the cops on him several times. And they never did a thing, because it was a "family matter".

I am so grateful times have changed and this is now a very serious crime.

[roguevalley]

13. legally, morally, in all ways that matter, that child NEEDS YOU!

Some of us in our professions will go to jail if we don't report. I would go to jail if I didn't and Paterno and his admin supervisors were part of a school's staff. They had a LEGAL obligation to turn this in to the police even if they tossed off their moral obligation.

Consider this: Paterno knew he had an ACTIVE PEDOPHILE on his staff and did dick. He needs to go to prison too. End of story.

[Bunny]

29. Sandusky retired from coaching at PSU in 1999.

Paterno was informed of the shower room rape in 2002. You cannot say that he KNEW he had an "active pedophile" on staff when he didn't find out about the allegation until three years after Sandusky retired.

[whistler162]

30. No he did the monimum he was legally bound to do.....

but then didn't follow through when nothing was done. Jail time probably not, ruined reputation yes.

As for the OP they seem to have put Paterno in Sandusky's place which is what a lot of people will probably do.

[roguevalley]

20. Sandusky wrote his autobiography in 2001 and called it...

wait for it ...




Touched.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. OMG

:puke:

[monmouth]

2. What really roils me is that Paterno is a Catholic. Just disgusting...n/t

[RB TexLa]

4. I am too, but mentioning that would have let the thread be taken in an entire different direction

[monmouth]

10. Definitely, we'd be traveling Rome 'bout now....LOL... n/t

[Jumping John]

3. Well I feel it is more about the 10 year old boy who was raped moreso than

It is about Paterno and his friend.

[RB TexLa]

8. That is my disgust with the then 30 year old grad assistant who left because he

felt "distraut." I don't care who it is, you pull them off the child and do what you can. This was a 30 year old football coach, I doubt he was a physically weak man.

[roguevalley]

15. apparantly that grad assistant is a coach on the team now. Nice.

[MADem]

5. Of course. He should have clobbered the guy with a chair and called 911.

Basta cosi.

You just don't fuck little kids. It's wrong.

You can be friends after the fact if you'd like (I think I'd have a difficult time on that score), but you need to first protect the child--and any other children the pervert might get his hands on.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. You talk to your friend first and convince him to turn himself in

If he refuses, then you reluctantly go to the police yourself. I know some individuals can be wonderful people, great friends and yet have a fatal flaw. I understand the reluctance to see them exposed and punished. But when even a dear friend commits an act that is intolerable in a civilized society, it gives you no choice, not even if that friend is like a brother or sister.

[roguevalley]

16. actually, if he is part of a faculty then there are laws that say he

has to go to jail if he doesn't go to the police immediately. You are a quasi officer of the court. Admins and teachers and coaches and all are REQUIRED by LAW to report and if they don't they go to JAIL. Paterno for jailbird.

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. First you do the right thing.

Everything else is secondary.

[Coyote_Bandit]

12. ???

I thought Paterno reported the sick bastard to his higher ups who then sat on the information and did nothing about it.

It'd be interesting to know whether Paterno was contractually bound to report criminal matters to university authorities for campus police to investigate rather than contacting authrotities outside the university.

[RB TexLa]

14. If you reported that to your boss and nothing was done would think ok, I fullfilled my obligation?

[Coyote_Bandit]

18. There are situations where

someone with information has a legal obligation to keep the information confidential. That would be true of attorneys representing the offender, for example.

I'm not defending Paterno but if he did in fact report the incident to his superiors then they are just as guilty if not more so. And I can easily see the University wanting to investigate and handle such matters internally rather than inform and co-operate with civil authorities. Given that, Paterno and other university employees may be under certain contractual obligations regarding the reporting of criminal conduct.

[Romulox]

23. Joe Paterno is a football coach. Not an attorney. Hope this clears up any confusion.

"And I can easily see the University wanting to investigate and handle such matters internally rather than inform and co-operate with civil authorities."

Right. That's potentially a crime. :hi:

[cyglet]

27. The Catholic church

handled this the exact same way. It did not end well for them, either.

[emilyg]

17. Always protect the young and the very old.

[pennylane100]

19. I have this aversion to reading all the details of child abuse,

I just cannot handle them emotionally so I am not sure what exactly Joe Paterno.s role was in this horrible happening. I know that two coaches got fired for not telling authorities what they knew, and apparently there were actually eye witnesses to the abuse but I am not sure about Paterno,s role in the cover-up was.
However, I hope that all involved, burn in hell.

[Romulox]

21. "Friends" with a child rapist? Um, no. How about doing one's duty as a human being to protect the

weak?

:hi:

:puke:

[RB TexLa]

24. That was in there.

[Romulox]

25. As with many of your posts, your stilted, strange emphasis ("friend" mentioned x 20) that grates.

:hi:

[MurrayDelph]

26. You have to think of the child

AND your enlightened self-interest.

I was a schoolteacher in California many decades ago. Part of the code in the credential makes me an obligate reporter of abuse. This means not just witnessing, but if I have any reason to suspect abuse, I was under obligation to report. Failure to do so could result in penalties and license revocation.

[RainDog]

28. let's face it. he wanted to protect his program more than he cared about children

otherwise, no one would need to be told that an adult should protect children from other adult predators.