Jerry Lee marries his cousin. She was 13 at the time.

 

Roman Polanski might be the most famous for being the husband of Sharon Tate. I know him as a pedophile who committed statutory rape and fled to France to avoid prosecution.
Elvis Aaron met his bride Priscilla at the age of 13.

 

R. Kelly married deceased R&B artist Aaliyah when she was 15. He has been captured on film having sex and urinating on a 15 year old girl.

 

His first ex-wife was 16 when they met. He was almost twice her age.

Not to have you believe that only rich and powerful men seduce and corrupt young women:

http://www.examiner.com/article/man-charged-after-fathering-daughter-s-three-children

It is not just our daughters who are in danger:

 

Bishop Eddie Long was sued by two men who allege that he coerced them into sex while they were minors

 

And then…..

There is evil that really has no name but it does have a face:

Convicted pedophile Gerry Sandusky. He was found guilty of 45 different charges varying from sexual deviancy to child endangerment.

 

Sometimes it is a wonder that we as parents actually let our children out of the house.   Of course that would not protect them from creepy Uncle Joe who hugs just a little too long.

The grand jury report that delivered Gerry Sandusky to our television screens and newspapers was filled with content that hinted that someone knew about the abuse of boys in State College.

There are at least two incidents that claim that two different people witnessed Sandusky in the act and walked away.

For a very long time, I cried for the boys whose lives have been forever altered.

I cursed the names Sandusky.

I had a punch on sight standing order for Mike McQuery…actually that might still be in effect  I just won’t confirm or deny for legal reasons.

Through it all, I agreed with Penn State’s decision to fire all of the administrators that might have known…as early as 1998.

I chose to stand by the image of a man who I knew by the name of Joe Paterno, Joe Pa to those whose lives he touched and groomed.

It was beyond hard for me to believe that Paterno, who by all reports and encounters was a “man’s man”, would have listened to Mike McQuery describe in detail the anal rape of an 11 year old boy, and #1 not kick McQuery’s ass for walking away #2 not kick Sandusky’s ass for being a pedophile #3 not make sure that legal action happens.

That just did not compute for me.

If it was that hard for me, who doubts everything, I wonder how difficult it was for those less cynical.  I imagine it was difficult.

Difficult doesn’t condone what has now been revealed as a widespread cover up.

I will mourn the loss of the image of Paterno that I had, but I mourn more the lost childhoods of Sandusky’s victims.

On July 23, 2012 the NCAA delivered its judgment on the culture of silence that existed at Penn State.

The NCAA has all types of blood on its own hands for other reasons, but its obliteration of Penn State’s Football program might just be the death of Penn State the college.

The NCAA passed out sanctions that include:

  • a $60 million dollar fine to Penn State. The money will be used to create a fund for victims of child sexual abuse
  • No bowl appearances for 4 years.
  • The number of scholarships the college can offer reduced by 10
  • Any current player or committed recruit has the option to transfer to another school without penalty
  • The erasure of Penn State’s football record from 1998 – 2012.
There was talk that the NCAA might prevent the school from having a football program at all…that would have been a kinder punishment than this decision.  This decision kills Penn State football, and is punitive to Penn State in a manner that almost fits the crime of concealment committed. The crime of cover-up in many ways is worse than the crime of molestation.  The cover-up allows for more people to be victims.   A steep price should be paid and it is…Penn State is not appealing this decision.
I wonder though if they should. Penn State has 40,000 other young people who are getting a higher education.  The penalty handed down today will inhibit the University’s ability to deliver the same education today to those other 40,000 than it did yesterday.  They are not all there on a football scholarship and able to transfer away from the malignancy.   What about them?  There are those who may argue that Penn State showed no concern about anyone but their bottom line…..those people would be right.  Fuck it all though, I still have to wonder if this was TOO harsh.  The decision allegedly affects Penn State for the next 4 years, but in all actuality it cripples the school for a decade or more.  Is the school more than football?  Allegedly.  Then again, Joe Paterno was god, and god said don’t tell the police that my former defense coordinator was a pedophile and the people said okay.  The ripples of evil are still bouncing off the shores of State College.
I re-tweeted something that kind of sums it all up.  What we are up against, and why sadly Gerry Sandusky is not the last of the molesters:

What a world. It’s really getting to the point where you can’t create a culture of child sex abuse without major fall out. – Catholic Church

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