As always, the news is full of examples of outrageous conduct. Lately, though, it seems like the world of sports has provided lots of them. The allegations at Penn State are a case in point. A retired assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, is accused of molesting eight boys, using a charity he founded to meet his victims and Penn State athletic facilities to carry out his despicable intent. Others witness his acts in person and report it only to their superiors. As it goes up the chain of command, a cover up ensues. The results? While still developing, Sandusky has been arrested and charged, despite his denials. His victims have their wrecked lives. This is the most tragic result of all. We have all known abuse victims, and we know what carnage abuse produces. The President, Vice President, and Athletic Director have all been fired, along with legendary Head Coach Joe Paterno. The reputation of a great university has been destroyed and will take years to recover. An Assistant Coach, McQuery, witnessed an act in person and told his superiors a day later and did nothing to stop the act in progress. A fine example of outrageous conduct from beginning to the still-to-be determined end. Take your pick of villains in this story. Easily Sandusky is the most despicable of the lot, but what about about McQuery? How is he still working. What about Paterno? Did it not matter that when he was told, he did nothing to follow up on his report up the chain? What about the administrators, why did they do nothing to stop the abuse? Every single on of these people are mandatory reporters by law and each one broke that law. Would the two who witnessed sex acts not be guilty of depraved indifference for not having stopped the activity in progress? Having been a mandatory reporter myself, I cannot comprehend how so many in positions of responsibility and authority could be so callous about the suffering of children.
Later in the week, we learned of allegations that Bernie Fine, assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University molested ball boys for the team over a period of years. Fine has since been fired. If true, his acts are outrageous. He was in a position of authority with these boys and he used basketball trips to carry out his nefarious business. His boss, Jim Boeheim issued a statement calling the accusers liars and defending his friend and colleague. I learned a while ago that defending your friend under such circumstances is bad business. If you are in a position of influence or authority, never say flatly that allegations are not true. You don't know everything, even about close friends and colleagues. They may be. Today he was wiser, saying that we all need to let the investigation and legal system run its course. He toned down his rhetoric in the face of new allegations and the "discovery" of an audiotape of a telephone conversation in 2002 (important detail) between one of alleged victims and the wife of the accused. In the audiotape, she states that she knows all about her husbands behavior and that he has issues. Clueless. Was he thinking that these actions were some sort of benign, victimless crime? Now for the really interesting part. The victim, Bobby Davis, gave this audiotape to ESPN (yes that one) in 2002. They felt that it wasn't enough to run a story. OK. But they also did not pass the information along to law enforcement at the time. They sat on the information in this audiotape for 10 years. Ten Years! When asked why, their spokesman said that they did not see it as their job to turn over evidence they uncovered. Really? This isn't a sports story we are talking about here. It's a story about a coach using his influence and authority to get sex from young boys associated with the team. Talk about depraved indifference! Casually dismissing the possible suffering and exploitation of children because it's not their job? ESPN's conduct is outrageous and worthy of scorn, just like the abusers. Hey ESPN, it is all of our jobs to protect our children from abuse. Got it?
As these stories develop and new ones emerge, as they surely will, I want to see how all these characters pay for their apathy towards the victims of these alleged crimes.
