Comments on the Joe Paterno Case
his article is being typed up on 11/9/11. I am sure many of you have heard of the big national scandal that has just erupted over Penn State University and their big time football program. Joe Paterno, who is the head coach of Penn State University, has now been fired, along with the president of this University.
For those of you who are not aware of what has just transpired, long story short, one of the defensive coaches of this team has been indicted by a grand jury for molesting 8 young boys between the ages of 8-13 over a 15 year period.
What has so many people upset is that back in 2002 one of the graduate assistants saw this defensive coach molesting a young 10 year old boy right in the middle of one of their locker room showers. The graduate assistant immediately went home and told his father about what he had seen.
Then he and his father told coach Joe Paterno about it. From there, Joe reported the incident to two of his superiors, with one of them being the athletic director. From there it went to the president of the University. And what happened after all this was reported up the chain-of-command? Absolutely nothing. None of these men reported the incident to the local police. They chose instead to try and cover it up so their University and football program would not be damaged and tarnished by this kind of extreme scandal.
What has people upset at Joe Paterno is they felt he should have done more than what he did once he had received the initial allegations from his graduate assistant. Joe has just released a statement saying in hindsight, he wished he would have done more about it at the time he had received these allegations.
As Christians, there is something we can really all learn from this sad and tragic story. Penn State University has one of the biggest football programs in the country. Millions of dollars are flowing through this University due to its big and successful football program. For those of you who know about Joe Paterno, he is considered a legend among college football coaches.
It is quite obvious that the reason no one reported this incident to the police for proper investigation is due to the fact that they did not want their reputation and integrity damaged and ruined as a result of this kind of scandal – especially with the perpetrator being one of their very own successful defensive coaches who had helped lead them to several national titles, along with some of these molestations actually occurring right in the middle of their own locker room showers.
Many feel Joe should have reported this matter to the local police himself once he found out that the athletic director and president of the University were not going to do it. Once he had received those graphic allegations from his graduate assistant, he should have taken the bull-by-the-horns and reported this matter immediately to the local police so they could conduct a proper investigation.
But since Joe did not follow up any further with these allegations, this man has probably molested more young boys before he was finally arrested, not to mention that he himself has now been fired, along with the president of the University and the 2 supervisors he had initially reported the incident too. Joe Paterno was the main man on this campus. He had more than enough clout, power, and authority to properly follow up on this matter if his higher-ups were not going to do it.
As the coach and leader of one of the biggest college football programs in the country, Joe had a duty and a obligation to protect the young boy this man had been molesting, especially since this man was one of his own coaches working directly for him. This was all occurring under his watch, and as the coach and leader of this football team, he should have stepped forward, taken the bull-by-the-horns and did the right thing, which was to report this matter immediately to the local police so they could set up a proper investigation.
As Christians, we are all called to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we need to come to the aid and defense of young boys and girls who are being sexually molested once we have knowledge this kind of heinous crime is being committed.
To turn a blind eye to this kind of evil crime because we do not want to get personally involved, or we do not like the consequences of what this kind of crime could unleash, is no excuse to turn away from it once we are directly faced with it.
The Bible says that the wages of sin will be death. And look what kind of death has just occurred because these 4 men did not do the right thing once they had the knowledge as to what was going on with their defensive coach:
- Head Coach Joe Paterno has just been fired
- The President of the University has just been fired
- Joe’s two direct superiors were let go, along with both of them being indicted by the grand jury for perjury and not reporting this incident to the police
- And the University will now have to deal with the stain of this scandal for many more years to come, not to mention all of the civil lawsuits that will end up being filed against them
And all of this could have easily been prevented right at the outset if these 4 men would have simply done the right thing and reported this incident to the police. Had they done so, they probably would have been looked upon as being real heroes. Now they have all lost their jobs and possibly the good reputations they used to have.
I will leave you with one last thought on this case:
What would Jesus Christ, King David, and Joshua have done had they been in the positions of these 4 men? Do you think they would have kept this crime all to themselves so they could protect the University and their big-time, money-making football program? Or do you think they would have taken this bull-by-the-horns and reported this crime to the local police so they could stop this predator from molesting any more boys?
I think we all know what Jesus, David, and Joshua would have done. They would have immediately come to the aid and defense of these young boys, and would have directly engaged with this man and would have stopped him dead in his tracks so he could not hurt any more young boys.
These 4 men had a chance to become real heroes, but because they did not do the right thing for fear of losing money to their football program and University, they will now go down as moral cowards who did not have the courage and bravery to do the right thing.
And Joe Paterno was really big on teaching his football players about ethics and morality. But when it came down for him to do the right thing on this matter once he had full knowledge of it, he simply dropped the ball. Now people will forever remember how he went out as a coach. His records will now have a black mark and stain on them that will never go away.
As Christians, we have to really be grounded in God’s Word and know how to be led by the Holy Spirit so we can make the right decisions in this life. Not making the right decision on this matter has cost these 4 men dearly. Let this sad and tragic story be a major lesson for all of us.
If any of you ever come across strong evidence that young boys or girls are being sexually molested like what had occurred in this case, again, report this kind of crime to the local police so they can set up a proper investigation. If you do not report what evidence you may have received, you have no idea how many more young boys or girls could continue to be molested by this person – all because you did not have the bravery and courage to at least report this crime to the police.
Again, what would Jesus do if He was down here and had enough evidence of this kind of crime occurring? I think we all know what He would do – and as followers and disciples of Jesus we should all do the exact same thing.
These 4 men did not do what Jesus would have done, and as a result, they will leave this University with a black mark and stain on their careers and reputations that will last for the rest of their earthly lives.
In the meantime, please pray for the children that were molested by this man if these charges end up being true, and all of the students at Penn State University so that healing and restoration can occur for what has just occurred.
If this case does nothing else, it should help raise public awareness of child molestation, and that we not turn a blind eye to it or refuse to engage with it when we do see it occurring in our own circle of influence.
I will now leave you with one verse that will sum up what should have been done by these 4 men at Penn State:
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)
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Michael Bradley
Bible Teaching and Bible Commentary,
Over 150 Free Bible LessonsScripture taken from New King James Version.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005-2012 by Michael Bradley.
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The young boys who were raped, sexually molested, abused and some pimped out, may never recover from the trauma of such aggressive sexual abuse. This is why some men are now gay, because their first sexual experiences were with men. These boys may now have a very distorted concept of what normal sexual encounters should be. This is about young boys 10 years old. Sadly, they had a gay experience with Sandusky! What they endured was 100% evil and vile. I believe the perverted man that inflicted these ungodly sexual acts on these children should get the death penalty…pronto!
“Jesus warned the grownups never to lead a child into sin. If anyone did, He said, “it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Reading this article has brought back the horrors of the discovery of child abuse and infant molestation which my daughter (just 10 months)was subjected to by an evil and vile (occult-practising)nephew of my husband who was a guest in our home at the time – 1996. Sad to say just like the despicable moral cowardice of the characters in the article was my husband – he found it more expedient to protect his lousy job as a probation officer and the interests of his 19 year old male porno-addict-sex perpetrator nephew.
The diabolical child-abuse acts were duly reported to the so-called ‘Children’s Services’ by my self but regrettably they allowed themselves to be fooled and hoodwinked by the perpetrator’s uncle who works in the ‘system’ and so was able to pervert the course of justice and so let the sex-fiend go scotfree to continue in his rampage.
These heinous acts and culture of deliberate failings by the so-called ‘Child-Protection Services’ coupled with Elite Paedophile rings in the Masonic Mafia in both governments in the UK and USA will not doubt be exposed and punished in similar manner to the Catholic Church paedophile-priests scandal.
For those who are sceptical about the scale of ritual child abuse in governmental circles in the UK and complacent attitudes by CPS should simply goole ‘Tony Blair’s elite paedophile rings’.
The time to expose and punish this diabolical evil luciferian practice is long overdue.
It’s not surprising that this kind of thing happened today, in that many argue for the virtue of homosexuality, and many (even Christians) believe that “consensuality” sanctifies any ethical decision. When the ten-year old was seen getting sodomized in the shower, perhaps it appeared that he was a consenting participant. I know Christians who have spoken out against homosexual sins who have been arrested for hate crimes. The consequences of such an immoral climate is what happened in Penn State. What’s amazing to me is that so many people who have never espoused a belief in absolute truth now call this an abomination. Nothing is abominable unless something else (like the God of the Bible) is Holy. And how many (even Christians) believe in the Holy God of the Bible? Joe Pa & Penn State rise up like a modern parable of our times, condemning all those who demur from worshipping the God of the Bible, and his Holy emissary to the earth — Jesus Christ.
I agree with this article but I have to say that the entire time I kept thinking – what about the victims? You recounted what has now happened to the men and their careers, over and over, because they did not act. Nothing really happend TO them! They may have a much deserved dammaged reputation now, but all will in the end, still have a comfortable life and most will go on to work and thrive. The boys will spend the rest of their lives in the wake of abuse. They will struggle with God and authority figures, thier own self worth and sexuality. They will live this horror forever! A crime was committed and covered up. Any one of these men could have called the police or if that was too difficult they could have turned around to one of the policemen keeping them safe on game day each week and told…Police surround these coaches and protect them even as they failed to protect innocent children.
As I follow the Penn State travesty, 2 Timothy 3 is what comes to mind:
1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (NIV)
This verse spells out what is taking place all over the world. However, with Penn State under the microscope, society can get an idea of what it looks like and what is yet to come.
All of the facts have yet to come out about this scandal. One can only hope that the truth prevails, but something so sinister appears to have a stronghold on the situation that may keep us from knowing the truth. The truth gets mangled daily as new revelations come to light; the compromising judge, pedophile attorney, governor in the know, the accused granting interviews on national television, while ten more victims come forward. Still, much more has yet to be revealed; how many victims, how many perpetrators, who knew, and how long has the abuse been going on? The grand jury’s findings releases only what they want known publicly. They have more information that will come out, especially if this goes to trial. Then the trial will expose much more horrific manipulations and abuse. Our stomachs will be in a suspended state of nausea and our hearts forever broken from details the victims are forced to relive. But our feelings of disgust and sadness will never reach the level of what those boys have endured and will go through as this case develops, and for the rest of their lives. May God’s love continue to carry them through these difficult times.
We do not know why these shameful acts were allowed to happen, especially to innocent children, and we cannot presume to know what Jesus would do. 2 Timothy 3 is written for a reason and we are living it. God’s ways are not our ways. And although it is easy to say what we would do if we witnessed the rape in the shower, I am reminded of Peter’s unwavering commitment to never desert Jesus. Peter said he would die with Jesus, but would never deny Him (Matt 26:33-35). Peter spoke with the same assurance we hold in doing the right thing. Later we read that Peter denies Jesus three times!
These are truly perilous times.
Just one or two comments. Homosexuality does not equal pedofilia. Think about all the priests, from all denominations, who have abused young children. Think about all the harm done to them while they were “ministering” to the flock.
Pedofilia is a horrible sin. It is a criminal illness.
Homosexuality, well thats a discussion for another day. However, I can assure you being gay is not a crime. And I betcha, God’s attitude towards homosexuality is way different than what is portrayed in this blog.
Homosexuality is not a crime, but it is a sin and GOD’s word, if you read it, states that. While homosexuality doesn’t equal pedofilia, it can effect a young persons life in that they feel this must be the way they are because of what happened, leading them to a life of homosexuality.
It is a trap that will drag the soul down to hell and any preacher or anyone else who states other wise will have blood on their hands when they face GOD. It is not compassion to tell someone they are ok and pat their back all the way into hell.
Two things I would like to share:
1)It should be known that Joe Paterno and the others were given many, many, many opportunities to “do the right thing” and to repent. By the time this all broke, by the time everything was opened up and revealed, a type of “the day of the Lord” had come for each of these people involved. We serve a merciful God.
2)God is more than able to completely free, heal, restore and prosper anyone who has been misused and abused. HE IS ABLE. The idea that a child victimized will always live with the horror is a child or adult that has received a lie about the ability of God to “make new”. We serve a mighty God who’s justice is always present despite the lies of satan.
I pray that people will give up their sin of homosexuality while it is still called “today”.
Barb & Maizie I do agree with you. Today to many ministers are so afraid they will offend someone they are not preaching on sin and homosexuality as sin and those ministers will one day stand before God and give account.
I have known several homosexuals and they were all abused as children and young teens and they thought that was the lifestyle they had to follow. One woman had been sexually abused by her father from the time she was 3 years old up to age 15 and she went on to marry a man, but even her husband drug her back in the lifestyle by wanting 3 way sex. She divorced him and became a lesbian, but years later found out that she was living in sin and she accepted Jesus Christ and her life totally changed. She is an example of how you do not have to stay in that lifestyle and you can be delivered and set free from the hold that homosexuality has on someones life.
The God I serve IS ABLE to deliver a person from the sin of homosexuality and set them free if they choose to accept his forgiveness and deliverance.
Once upon a time (this is a true story…) ~ a little boy about 11 went to a summer camp (sponsored by a church) his mother had arranged for her 2 sons to go to so they cud “have some safe, supervised fun.” He ended up going alone because his older brother changed his mind at the last minute. Something bad happened to that little boy at that camp. When a man drove him home, he ran into his room and shut the door, got in bed and pulled the blankets over him. When his mother went in and asked, “You ok?”, he said, “Not now, mom.” So, she went back to preparing dinner.
In awhile he went into his dad’s room and closed the door (something he’d never done before). After awhile, he came out and went back to his room. Soon, his dad came out and walked thru the kitchen…looking at his wife with a guilty expression on his face, like he was hiding something from her.
The next day was “family council meeting” (which the dad never attended). The mom asked her little boy what was fun that he had done at camp. He answered something about a boat on the lake, almosts bursting into tears. Then she asked, “Would you ever want to go to camp again?” He cried “NO!”
He lost his usual joyful exhuberance after that and was more serious…and a little sad..
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
30 years later….that mother was on a public bus and saw a man full-body tickling an overwhelmed 3 year old girl in a skimpy playsuit…while she sat on her indifferent mother’s lap, trying to writhe away from the man’s hands…for 15 minutes!. She knew something was wrong with that scene and could not shake it out of her mind, so she asked God what to do. `Enter in the Google search engine of the Internet ~ “prevention of sexual abuse of children”…came the Answer. She did and developed a thoro research of the educational materials of the best organizations and websites and books available on the subject, something she had never even heard of before.
(Then she reported the bus-incident to a social worker at her local Children’s Protective Services, with the perpetrator’s first name, and a description of the mother, 7 months pregnant).
While reading thru her print-outs ~ an article called “Signs That a Child Has Been Sexually Abused” ~ “Something” kept bringing her eyes back to that one sign ~ `a sudden, noticeable change in a child’s personality.’ Then, she remembered that her son had gone to camp that one time…and returned very unhappy…and that he was different, kind of sad, which was not like him at all. In so many of the articles and pamplets this mother had printed out and read, parents were warned that pedophiles (adults that sexually target children) often take work and volunteer positions where young children are, like at camps, so they can molest them there.
The Holy Spirit had been working on this mother’s memories, bringing things to remembrance she had long ago forgotten….because It wanted her to know the truth….the truth that the father of her little boy had kept hidden from her and had told her son to keep a secret from his mother.
When the realization of this horrible truth “dawned” on this mother, she felt a HORROR and GRIEF at the victimization and defilement of her little boy (as if it had just happened in that very moment!)….and a RAGE! ~ at the perpetrator….and at her son’s father (whom she had divorced and who had died just a year before). Stolen from her by her former husband’s SECRETIVENESS was the opportunity to COMFORT her little boy…to EMPOWER her son by taking him to the Children’s Protective Services to get a social worker assigned to the case and bring law enforcement into it….to root out this pedophile…and see how many more innocent children he had sexually abused…to get him charged with the CRIME of sexually abusing a defenseless child…to STOP his abuse of children!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That was my little boy….victimized TWICE ~ first, by a sexual predator, who told him to “keep it a secret”….then, BY HIS OWN FATHER, who told him, “DON’T TELL YOUR MOM.”
(My son went on to marry and have 2 children…but developed a serious 20, possibly 30, year addiction to pornography, which began in his early teen years, thanks to magazines a friend of his gave him).
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
My heart is tempted to hate. But I know now that humans are not the source of evil. They are just the instruments that Satan’s workers ~ evil spirits and demons ~ use to accomplish their stealing, killing and destruction….when they get INSIDE of humans and influence their thoughts, emotions and will to act. Satan wants ALOT of TRANSFERENCE of his workers (unclean, evil spirits, devils) into the innocent….and sexual molestation is intimate body contact, which frightens a child, creating a “hole” in their natural spiritual protection around their body, which gives spirits an entry-point INTO that child! Most people do not understand this, therefore, they do not understand that it is the spirits that ENTERED a molested child during the act of abuse….that later on may cause that child, when a teen or adult, to molest other children. (My own brother was sexually abused at a private Boys’ School and took it out on me).
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The materials that I have printed out off of the Internet about this subjest I am sharing with others in my community. I gave my library a written request to buy several books to read to children of all ages. I contacted Children’s Protective Services and found that they had NO educational program about this for parents. Headstart has a gal come in ONCE A YEAR and give a puppet show. Unity Home (for victims of domestic violence) offers nothing to their clientele. Considering how PREVALENT sexual abuse of children is, this is a SERIOUS MORAL NEGLIGENCE on the part of the local “help” agencies in my area!
My ministry is evangelism. When I have an evangelism center, I will offer all the materials I have printed out for FREE to interested people. And I will give public talks on the subject at my center and at the library )…
on a regular basis. In the meantime, all I know to do is to give out index cards with the websites and book titles on them to people with young children, informing them of the existence of sex offenders registries on the Internet, where they can see photoes of some of the local perpetrators.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
You, too, can be an educational resource in your community.
These are the book titles that I recommend that you give to your local library to PURCHASE for their children’s room :
A. For PRESCHOOLERS :
(a) – For Youngest Child ~
#1 – It’s My Body
(b) – For Older Preschoolers :
#2 ~ The Right Touch
#3 ~ My Body Belongs To Me
B. For KINDERGARDEN and EARLY ELEMENTARY :
#4 ~ The Most Important Rule of All
#5 ~ I Said NO!
C. For OLDER ELEMENTARY and JUNIOR HI :
#6 ~ No MOre Secrets For Me
These are the websites on the Internet that I recommend that you access to educate yourself about the PREVENTION of child sexual abuse. Some of them have whole pamplets that you can print out. :
Darkness To Light – http://www.d2l.org (pamplet = “7 Steps To Protecting Our Children”)
http://www.thejoyfulchild.org (pamplet = “Be Brave, Be Safe”)
http://www.stopitnow.org (pamplet = “Prevent Child Sexual Abuse”)
http://www.goodtouchbadtouch.com
http://www.safenetwork.org
http://www.justtell.org
Audio videos on the Internet are:
“Run, Run, Run, Yell and Tell!” ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOdHB3HWzbY&feature=fvwrel
“Common Ploys of a Pedophile”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3J49ASXAk&feature=related
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Children need a “VOICE” ! Be their “Voice” !
EDUCATE YOURSELF….then others !
Dear Sister V,
I am so glad you shared this. I wonder that your husband had not also been molested as a child and had also learned to just deny it and not tell anyone.
The good news is that no one has to suffer in silence when Jesus is so close to the brokenhearted and you sister V have showed us this.
Maizie, thank you for your appreciation and your validation.
Your comment is healing to me….and others!
Sister V, your story mskes me both sad and angry that your little boy had to go through that at a camp, especially one church sponsored. Devils hide in church too and, the people over it should have made sure all children were safe. I thank you for making your materials free for those who need it, because a lot of times the ones who need it the most can’t afford book store prices. I know that there is a business side to every thing, but too much of the church has become big business instead of the Father’s business. I think dealing with abuse issues that you have faced is a life process, because sometimes you think that you are over it and then you face another issue dealing with the situation, just take it to Jesus
He always cares.