by DeNay Burris

Hillary Clinton pawned the phrase, “It takes a village to raise
a child”. When did this concept become a thing of the past? Currently, one can
honestly say that most of the country has heard of the allegations against the
Penn State Football Coach  Jerry
Sandusky. .For those of you that know not of the allegations, here is an abbreviated
version. 1969 – Sandusky starts his coaching career at Penn State as a
defensives line coach. 1977 – Sandusky founds The Second Mile. It begins as a group
foster home dedicated to helping troubled boys and grows into a charity dedicated
t helping children with absent or dysfunctional families. 1987 – Associated Press
voters select Penn State as college football’s national champion for the 1986
season. 1994 – Victim 7 reports meeting Sandusky at a Second Mile picnic when
he was 7 or 8. 1994 – 1998 5 additional Victims 1998 – Victim 6 is taken into
the locker rooms and showers when his is 11 years old with Sandusky. Victim 6
is dropped off home, his hair is wet. Mother reports incident to university police,
who investigate. Det. Schreffler testifies that he and State College Police Department
Ralston, with the consent of the victim, eavesdrop on two conversations between
the mother and Sandusky. Sandusky says that he showers with boys often and that
he is sorry and will not do it again. Schreffler and Lauro, an investigator
with the Pennsylvania Dept. Of Public Welfare, interviews Sandusky. Sandusky admits
to showering naked with Victim 6 and admits that he is wrong. Case is closed by
the Centre County District Attorney Gricar and decides that there will be no
criminal charges 6/1999 – Sandusky retires from Penn State but still hold emeritus
status. 12/1999 – Victim 4 meets Sandusky Summer 2000 – Victim 3 meets Sandusky
Fall 2000 – A temporary janitor observes Sandusky in the showers with Victim 8
pinned up against the wall performing oral sex on the boy. He then tells his superiors
and the occurrence goes no further. The boy is described as being between the
ages of 11 and 13. Victim 8′s identity is unknown.3/1/2002 – A Penn State
graduate assistant enters the locker room and witnesses Victim 2, who is
estimated to be 10,  naked being
subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky. The graduate assistant tell him
father immediately. 3/2/2002 – The next morning the graduate assistant reports
the incident to Head Coach Paterno. 3/2002 – Paterno calls Curley, Penn State
Athletic Director, and reports what the graduate assistants has witnessed. Later
in the month the graduate assistant is called to a meeting with Curley and
Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. They will look in
to it. 3/27/2002 – The graduate assistant is told by Curley that the locker
room keys are taken from Sandusky. The graduate assistant is never question by the
university police and no further investigation takes place until the grand jury
trial in December 2010. 2005/2006 – Boy known as Victim 1 meets Sandusky through
Second Mile at age 11 or 12. 2008 – Victim 1 is a freshman and his mother calls
the school to report sexual assault. Sandusky is barred from the school
district and the matter is reported to authorities as mandated by law. Early
2009 – Investigation by Penn. Attorney General when Victim 1 tells authorities
that Sandusky has inappropriately Touched him several times over a four year
period. Sept. 2010 – Sandusky retires from day-to-day involvement with Second
Mile. 11/5/2011 – Sandusky is arrested and released on $100,000 bail after being
arraigned on 40 criminal counts. 11/7/2011 – Curley and Schultz have stepped
down from their positions and surrendered on charges that they failed to alert
police regarding Sandusky. 11/8/2011 Possibleninth victim of Sandusky contacts state
police. 11/9/11 Paterno and Spanier, Penn State’s president, were ousted. Approximate
12 years go by from the time that the first molestation of these young boys was
witnessed by an adult other than the predator. Nothing was done. Is that what America
has become? Is this now the country where the strong will survive any way they wish
and the meek shall just take it? These victims were children. They were not
only victimized by Sandusky, they were victims of every grown man mentioned in
the above summary. These occurrences were unreported because of politics. Not
one person above mentioned had a dog in the fight. You see their children and grandchildren
were safe. But they all had something to loose. Fear of loosing their employment
was the motivation for never pushing forward to make sure that what had been
witnessed would never happen again to another child. Not one of these men
demonstrated a sense of responsibility, nor morality. This is capitalism at its
best. What they demonstrate is the current mentality that seems to be the now prevalent
characteristic here in America, every man, woman and child for themselves. For
all those Penn State Students picketing on behalf of Coach Paterno, praying that
he did not loose his job. You must not have children. What about your younger
family members? How would you feel if one of the children would have been in
your family? Paterno had an obligation to those students. Everyone that knew
about the occurrences had an obligation. You can not just close your eyes and
pretend it did not happen and hope that it will go away. That is what children
do. Not grown men.