Anneewakee - Joe Paterno

[Rebubula]

I was sent to a reform school in the early 80s. It was called Anneewakee and was located in Douglasville Georgia (with campuses in Carabelle, FL and a girls campus in Rockmart, GA).

The founder and operator was a pedophile named Louis J. Poetter. It was a well known secret that he was interested in the male students - mostly the weaker ones of course, predators rarely attack the strong - and had even once been banned from contact with the boys after someone complained in the mid 70s. Many donations to local and state politicians (including then Gov. Jimmy Carter) basically made that restriction go away.

When I was there - he was known to favor certain boys and would have 'sleep overs' with them on his boat at the Carabelle Marina (built with the slave labors of the boys there). He kept other boys and their questions at bay by using an Aryan giant named Carl Moore (I was never sexually abused there, but Carl once kicked the crap out of me for talking back to Doc - he was an honorary Doctor and everyone referred to him as Doc Poetter - during a trip to Mexico) and some other flunkies.

Two years after I terminated the program (was there for 2 years, 1 month and 2 day - we lived in the woods in rustic cabins, sturdy tents and even Teepees and spent most of our days doing physical labor on the campus grounds) - the whole Anneewakee program came crashing down when several former male students came forward and a trial was held.

Many people went to jail for having knowledge of his (and several others) crimes and keeping quiet. It was a strange time for me as I also knew about some of this - but it is was a knowledge built on rumors from disturbed adolescents and angry kids.

Doc Poetter served a few years in prison as did Carl Moore.

Because of my background....I am incensed about the fact that so many people KNEW...they FUCKING KNEW this Sandusky fellow was raping kids. Moreover, the defense of those in power that knew and did not alert police (by several posters on this site) is making me physically ill.


There is NO FUCKING EXCUSE for people to know...not rumors, FUCKING KNOW about children being raped and not doing a damned thing about it.


I want to say that my experience in this reform school was, overall, very good. I was a troubled young man that made many life long friends and was able to overcome some anger and learn ways to deal with all the shit that life throws at you.

But I will never forgive the enablers that allowed this monster - Louis J. Poetter - to continue to abuse children LONG after the 1st incident occurred.


Joe Paterno and everyone at Penn State that knew about the shower rape are guilty of enabling a monster and the - probable - continued rape and abuse of children.

Everyone apologizing for their actions REALLY needs to consider the fact that children were raped and abused and NOT ONE FUCKING PERSON THAT KNEW CAME FORWARD TO SAVE THEM!!!!!!!!

[MineralMan]

1. Thank you for your post.

What you say is true. Those who knowingly cover up such abuse are guilty of that abuse by proxy. Their cover up enables it.

[seabeyond]

2. i am floored, too. i was not even into this story until all the people defending the coach.

i cannot see any way a person can defend a man that KNEW kids were being fucked and continued to allow this man to have access to kids with no boundaries, no rules, no watchful eye. if he couldnt fire his ass, refuse him admission into the site, the LEAST i would do is follow the amn around ensuring the safety of the children.

[Rebubula]

5. I have no problem if you are conflicted...

...but as long as you recognize that Joe Paterno could have stopped this in 2002 and is now complicit in any sexual abuse that occured after that - fine.

Also - I highly doubt the ones that got fired etc are the only ones that knew about this.

Everyone knew something was wrong at my school - but no one wanted to stop the gravy train.

[seabeyond]

6. i am not conflicted. i do not understand the people that make excuses for the coach.

i agree that people knew this and allowed him access to kids and turned a blind eye.

i am disgusted. disgusted that it seems to be a gray line for so many.

[Rebubula]

8. Sorry...

...did not mean YOU personally are conflicted. You were VERY clear in many threads.

I was just saying - you may have 40 years of revering Joe Paterno and his program (it would be like if the same thing happened and it were Rob Derhak - bass guitarist for moe.- and I had to realize that someone I have admired for 20 years was enabling sexual assault) and now you have to see him in a different light.

As long as people that love JoPa realize that he allowed this shit to continue.


:hug:

[seabeyond]

9. oh, okay... lol

ah ha. i am often told i am not clear. but i do that "you" too. and people get confused. yes.... i am very vocal about this.

people think. that is all. just fuckin think. some things actually have a very clear line.

[Divernan]

13. Hell, Paterno could have stopped this in 1998, when Sandusky confessed to pedophilia

Read the Grand Jury report. (New York Times website)

In 1998, he made an 11 year old boy "shower" with him (sickening details in the Grand Jury report). When the boy was returned home with wet hair, his Mom asked him what happened and he told her. She immediately called the campus police, who investigated, and found yet another 11 year old boy who also had been sexually molested by Sandusky in the Penn State showers.

IN 1998, SANDUSKY CONFESSED TO THE CAMPUS POLICE. SEPARATELY HE CONFESSED TO THE VICTIM'S MOTHER AND THIS CONFESSION WAS TAPED BY THE CAMPUS POLICE.

Penn State pressured/"requested" the Centre County DA to not prosecute, most apparently in exchange for forcing Sandusky to retire. Following the 1998 football season, Paterno personally told Sandusky that Sandusky would no longer become Head Coach after Paterno, and Sandusky negotiated a retirement "package" which allowed Sandusky to maintain a campus office, phone and email account, as well as access to all the campus athletic facilities, including the infamous showers. Even more outrageous, Sandusky was allowed to continue to operate summer youth football camps on branch Penn State campuses. So there's Sandusky, operating out of Penn State's main campus, trading in on Penn STate's and Paterno's football fame and trolling for new victims for THIRTEEN YEARS.

With friends like JoePa, who needs defense attorneys?

[myrna minx]

3. Your last sentence is what is ripping my heart out. No one protected those kids and they KNEW,

they bloody well KNEW it was going on. :cry:

[LynneSin]

4. We've got the same thing in Delaware with the Earl Bradley case

The man was a peditrician who for over a decade was diddling his female patients. There had been calls again and again and again to look into the case but no one did. It must have been over 100 victims in lower delaware who were victims of this doctor.

It was said the reason that Beau Biden didn't run for US Senate in 2010 was that he wanted to see this case to the end. There were also questions as to why the Delaware AG office didn't act on this sooner.

When it involves children there will always be people pointing fingers at 'who do we blame' and 'why wasn't something done sooner'. With the Delaware case there were so many failures at so many levels it's hard to point a figure at who was to blame (for the most part Biden Jr came out of this looking good - the guy is in jail for like 5 lifetimes). But with the Penn State case it was very obvious where the failure started.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. Too many cannot see the obvious moral and ethical obligation here

They're too busy trying to frame the "legal" argument. That's not what this should be about, although it does play its part, the real issue should be the lack of ethics and morality exhibited by those who knew.

[seabeyond]

10. i think the moral and ethical line in this nation has become so blurred.

i had the dickens of time getting my 14 yr old to see the absolute wrong. no if and and buts. but then, he is only 14. and he had been listening to espn. giving all the reasons we should forgive or reason away the coaches part in this.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. I totally agree with you.

Your son is not alone, and it wasn't only ESPN that was saying such originally. It was a vast amount of the "media" outlets. I commend you on setting the young man straight. Well done!

Last Saturday morning when I first became aware of this, I was outraged over what had not been done to prevent further molestation of children. I felt it was obvious there was a cover-up involved to save face for Penn State, with no thought to the devastation it would cause in the victims lives. What I was greeted with when I said this to people I know was, "Paterno told his boss. That's what he was supposed to do." At first I found very few who felt as I do that that what was done wasn't nearly enough. I'll admit, as the story has gained steam, more people are starting to speak out on the moral and ethical failure of the University.

What I'm realizing is, as a culture, we really have lost our ability to think, feel and stand up for what's right and wrong on our own. When we're told to feel and/or believe one thing, by and large, that's what we feel and/or believe. With very little, if any, consideration to whether it's right or wrong, or true or false. Even when it's something as obviously heinous as what Penn State did in this situation.

I've found the entire situation to be extremely disheartening.

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. I wish I could stockpile recommends so that I could use them all on this post.

Exactly.