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	The Silence of Collusion Is Deafening: Penn State Scandal, Part II Chicago Now November 12, 2011 http://www.chicagonow.com/south-side-sports-chick/2011/11/the-silence-of-collusion-is-deafening-penn-state-scandal-part-ii/ When I was working on my research for my PhD. at Loyola University of Chicago, I studied families who were court-ordered for molestation and abuse of their children. They received therapy for a minimum of one year, in a suburban agency, specializing in this issue. Several of the teenagers, who were molested by their fathers or step-fathers, all reported: they held their mothers, their own mothers, just as responsible for the sexual abuse. “How so?” I asked. One 16 yr. old teen looked at me with anger and said, “Because she colluded. They all colluded.” My eyes said it all. I wanted more information, but didn’t have the words. My mind was racing. Motherhood. I was a Mother. My friends were mothers. I had a Mother. My sister was a Mother. My 12 aunts were mothers. I knew all the Mothers on my block at 89th and Clyde. Mrs. Rubicek had me over for cookies after Bobby Rubicek and I played ball together. Mrs. Schechter had me over for roasted chicken when my parents weren’t home. Mrs. Zilokowski made the best blueberry pancakes when I slept over at Lynette’s house. I sat in silence, and they spoke up, one by one. Teen Girl, age 16: “My Dad slipped into my bed at night, pulled down his pajamas, and rubbed his penis on me till “he came.” And that was when I was 8 yrs. old. He did it till I got to 7th grade. And then he stopped.” “So how do you think your Mom would know?" I queried. “She did the laundry. And she kept complaining that I went through ‘so many pairs of pajamas every week.’ I’m not dumb. That stuff from my Dad stinks and makes my pajamas get sticky and dries up – so she knew.” Teen Boy, age 17: My Mom worked swing shift as a waitress from 3 – 11 pm. So our step-dad put us down at night. When he read me stories at bedtime when I was 5, he came into my bed and rubbed his hands up and down my legs and fondled me everywhere. I even told my Mom that I didn’t like him reading in bed with me and touching me . She scolded me, and said I was just jealous of him because I wanted my own Daddy back. And she said I was just making things up anyway – because that’s what 5 yr. olds do. Teen Girl, age 15: My Dad began “eyeing me” once I got a bra. It was weird. Then I hit 8th grade & he came into my bed at least 3 -4 nights a week and felt me up, especially my breasts. I could feel him "getting hard down there." It was disgusting. But he was real nice and gentle, and said “this is the way girls and Daddy’s show their love for each other once you get to be a woman. And now I get to show you what it will be like for you when you get married. You’ll know what to do with your husband.” And I believed him. So one day I told my Mom about it, and she slapped me around real good. She told me to stop lying to her, and said he’d never do that – and that I’d better be a virgin when I got married, and all that. She grounded me for 3 weeks, and I missed our volleyball tournament. I was real upset and didn’t know what to tell our coach or the team. What would I say? Collusion. I got it. And now, you got it too. How many people colluded in the Penn State scandal? I’ll run it down, as reported below by the Associated Press on November 7 and 9, 2011. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1998 — Victim 6 is taken into the showers with Sandusky when he is 11 years old. When Victim 6 is dropped off at home, his hair is wet. His mother reports the incident to the university police, who investigate. Detective Ronald Schreffler testifies that he and State College Police Department Detective Ralph Ralston, with the consent of the mother of Victim 6, eavesdrop on two conversations the mother of Victim 6 has with Sandusky. Jerry Lauro, an investigator with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, testifies he and Schreffler interviewed Sandusky, and that Sandusky admits showering naked with Victim 6, admits to hugging Victim 6 while in the shower and admits that it was wrong. The case is closed after then-Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar decides there will be no criminal charges. Fall 2000 — A janitor named James Calhoun observes Sandusky in the showers of the Lasch Football Building with a young boy, known as Victim 8, pinned up against the wall, performing oral sex on the boy. He tells other janitorial staff immediately. Fellow Office of Physical Plant employee Ronald Petrosky cleans the showers at Lasch and sees Sandusky and the boy, who he describes as being between the ages of 11 and 13. Calhoun tells other physical plant employees what he saw, including Jay Witherite, his immediate supervisor. Witherite tells him to whom he should report the incident. Calhoun was a temporary employee and never makes a report. Victim 8’s identity is unknown. March 1, 2002 —A Penn State graduate assistant enters the locker room at the Lasch Football Building. In the showers, he sees a naked boy, known as Victim 2, whose age he estimates to be 10 years old, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky. The graduate assistant tells his father immediately. March 2, 2002 — In the morning,the graduate assistant calls Coach Joe Paterno and goes to Paterno’s home, where he reports what he has seen. March 3, 2002 — Paterno calls Tim Curley, Penn State Athletic Director to his home the next day and reports a version of what the grad assistant had said. March 2002 — Later in the month the graduate assistant is called to a meeting with Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. The grad assistant reports what he has seen and Curley and Schultz say they will look into it. March 27, 2002 (approximate) — The graduate assistant is never questioned by university police and no other entity conducts an investigation until the graduate assistant testifies in Grand Jury in December 2010. Spring 2008 — Victim 1 is a freshman in a Clinton County high school. After the boy’s mother calls the school to report sexual assault, Sandusky is barred from that school district and the matter is reported to authorities as mandated by law. Early 2009 —An investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general begins when a Clinton County, Pa. teen boy tells authorities that Sandusky has inappropriately touched him several times over a four-year period. Nov. 5, 2011 — Sandusky is arrested and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, I count at least 14 different “authorities” who knew of the allegations of the sexual abuse performed by Sandusky, yet it took over 13 years to finally arrest him. When money, politics, power, college athletics, national reputation, college alumni, and Division I football makes millions for the university, a few abused boys are trumped by 409 Collegiate Football wins and TV ratings. Why bother taking any legal or moral action? Father, Where Art Thou? A line in the sand has been drawn, period. And as David Haugh says: Paterno deserves no pity. His Wikipedia should begin with just that. Paterno knew what was going on for 9 years, and never followed up with his one meager report. So let me finish by returning to the Mothers from my research, and all the Mothers whose children remain confused by their Mother's inaction of not protecting them when knowing of the abuse. In my 30 years of work, my empathy goes out to them also, since nearly all of these mothers were victims/ survivors themselves. These Moms suffered the same fate as their children, in one form or another. They had no where to go, no one to talk to, and the only way to escape their own abuse was to marry the first guy who came along at 16 yrs. old; to take them away from their own monsters. And for the scores of victims/ survivors of Penn State, the monster is not just Sandusky. He may be at the head of the class, but it's the multitude of the other 14 monsters who should have done their job, but didn't. It's Classless. And Deafening. And Colluding in Silence. And in this case, the Silence is Cowardly.
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