Paterno, Penn State and Pedophiles

At church last week I watched a young couple busy with their infant daughter.  The little girl had finished a bottle, and Mom had her over her shoulder, patting her back, waiting for that lovely little burp.  As any mother knows, it came with a nice slobber of spit up milk.  Every mother of a new born has a permanent, “spit up” stain on her left shoulder.  We carry it as a badge of honor.  No piece of clothing is worth more than that precious child and their care and nurturing. 

            Mother’s have died for their children.  Are we really that different from the men that make up the football staff and administration of Penn State University?  With apologies for the frankness of the language I am about to use, there is so much ugliness coming from the story of Penn State that it has to be spoken in plain English or it can hardly be believed or imagined.  And at each time, we need to imagine what we would have done if the children victimized by Jerry Sandusky were ours. 

            In 1998 Sandusky admitted to showering with an 11 year old boy.  It was reported to the police.  Nothing was done.  In 2001 a janitor finds Sandusky having oral sex with a boy who was, “pinned against a wall.”  The janitor reports the incident to another employee but they do not tell authorities.  They said they were fearful of their jobs!  In 2002, graduate assistant Mike McQueary walks into a shower room and sees a nude Sandusky having anal sex with a 10 year old boy whom he was pushed against a wall.  McQueary leaves (!!!) and reports the incident to his father, and then Joe Paterno.  Paterno passes the buck to his superiors, never talks to Sandusky about the incident and does not follow up with school administrators or the police.   The school administration tells Sandusky he can never bring boys on campus again!  Nothing happens to Sandusky until this story breaks in 2011, almost ten years and how many victims later.

            Evidently no one in this chain of command was outraged enough to bring legal proceedings against Jerry Sandusky, an observed child rapist.

I have to think that if it had been McQueary’s son in that shower, he might have killed the son-of-a-bitch, but a stranger’s child was not worth even a demand to halt.    How can any of these men look at themselves in the mirror?  Not one man treated these poor boys the same way they would have treated their own children.  That is the indictment against Penn State University.  Could they really believe football was more important than these youngsters?  Evidently, yes.   For that, God may forgive them, but I never will.   

I am certain there is an iceberg of reprehensible behavior that has not yet been detected.  Why?  Because pedophiles are like maggots, they cluster in large, seething groups.  They take strength in one another, and count on a system and culture of silence for protection.  Neither do pedophiles believe they are doing anything wrong.   These sick, disgusting, loathsome animals actually think they are right and the rest of the world is wrong.  Finally, you need to know is that a pedophile never changes, never repents, and never, ever stops.  They belong in prison.  If they don’t like prison they can choose cyanide, but they must never be allowed to roam freely among civilized people.  If they are allowed freedom, there will be more victims. 

           

            Pray for the children, and keep the faith.