Penn State continues to drop the ball in this sex scandal

Few days ago, I was blogging about a sexual harassment issue within the ESPN enterprise. Little did I know the U.S. would be rocked by a far worse sexual scandal involving the highly regarded Penn State University. Well, at least it used to be highly regarded until this mess officials at the school have created by turning a blind eye to an egregious crime.

I am enraged that such a thing was accommodated by the school for nearly a decade after it was first reported to officials. Penn State is losing more respect as a university with each hour that passes without the announcement of current coach Joe Paterno being fired. He should not even be allowed to retire, he should be fired effectively. However, the university's board of trustees are sitting on Paterno's decision to play out the season and retire at the end? They continue to empower Paterno even after the revelation that he was aware of the alleged sexual abuse between his defensive coordinator and several underaged boys? The school first announced that Paterno would give a press conference, but would only address football-related questions, not the scandal. When word of the backlash got back to the school, the press conference was canceled. Why on earth would anyone be interested in anything but the abuse allegations? Since then, there has been no public address from Paterno except to announce he plans on coaching the remainder of the season? Way to send the message that football continues to be your priority, instead of a moral obligation to the victims of these heinous crimes and their families.

Jerry Sandusky faces multiple sexual abuse charges on boys

If you've somehow missed the biggest news in American sports right now, and certainly one of the biggest news nationwide, former Penn State defensive coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested and charged with 40 counts of sexual misconduct including indecent assault of a minor under 16. The allegations occupy a 15-year period between 1994-2009. Some of the alleged victims are as young as 10. Sandusky is an adoptive father of six kids, who along with his wife, started The Second Mile foundation to help at-risk children. However, he's now accused of taking advantage of these children. Authorities allege there were likely much earlier instances of abuse and details, which went unreported. And now it makes me wonder if he preyed on his own adopted children.

Several grand jury reports have been released alleging many incidents including the following:

The first reported incident involved a boy of about 11 or 12, who revealed physical contact with Sandusky during overnight stays at Sandusky's home. The boy's mother reported the sexual assault allegations to his high school, and Sandusky was banned from the child's school district in Clinton County.

Another accuser, now 27, testified that Sandusky initiated contact with a "soap battle" in the shower that led to multiple instances of involuntary sexual intercourse and indecent assault at Sandusky's hands. The accuser said he traveled to charity functions and Penn State games with Sandusky. But when he resisted the coach's advances, Sandusky threatened to send him home from the 1999 Alamo Bowl.

Another child, a boy between ages 11 to 13, was seen by a janitor pinned against a wall while Sandusky performed oral sex on him in fall 2000.

And in 2002, then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, now a wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, saw Sandusky sexually assault a naked boy, of about 10 years old, in a team locker room shower.

Now this is where the blame game begins. Prosecutors say McQueary reported what he saw to Paterno, who immediately told athletic director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, the school's senior vice president for business and finance. By this time, Sandusky had retired as defensive coordinator (in 1999,) but was still allowed to use the Nittany Lions' facilities to host foundation events. Penn State's decision was to ban Sandusky from hosting youth camps on the campus, however reports are he continued to host events on Penn State's satellite campus in Erie, Pa. Curley and Schultz are now facing charges for lying to cover up the incident, instead of reporting to the authorities. If you're interested in what their responses to the charges are, you can read more here. McQueary and Paterno, despite being aware of the incident, never followed up on the outcome.

Tim Curley

Gary Schultz

As it stands, there are calls for even the university's president Graham Spanier to resign or face being fired.

Here's portions of Paterno's retirement statement, which he announced today.

"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief. I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can. 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. My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this university."

Penn State coach Joe Paterno

Your goal now is football? Really? In hindsight, you would do things differently, however, you currently choose to focus on coaching your team through the remainder of the season? Would he still take the same stance if one of those boys was his son? You accepted the university's decision to ban him from coming on the main campus, but it's OK to go somewhere else to sexually assault boys?

In 2009, I joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization in Virginia. The organization focuses on pairing at-risk children with mentors, who could guide them to become responsible adults. That is essentially what Sandusky signed up for. These children are not necessarily poor kids who are desperate for monetary gifts. They are children who may be products of broken homes or who have been exposed to the kind of lifestyle that could lead to a life of crime. These children look to their mentors to give them the positive guidance that would lead to a productive future. My little sister wasn't my blood, yet I worried that at 11, she had a Myspace account. I repeatedly cautioned her against the dangers of falling prey to a sexual predator online. To hear that a man, who's a father of six, would take advantage of children under his care is appalling.

Which is why I'm disgusted that Paterno and McQueary, as of this moment, are still scheduled to coach Saturday's game; to continue to be representatives of Penn State. The university has already lost respect for not handling this case years ago and preventing the abuse of many more victims. But allowing Paterno to go out on his own terms sends the message that they care more about their legendary coach of 46 years than of the abused victims.