[Updated at 4:18 p.m. ET] Mike McQueary - the Penn State coach who told head coach Joe Paterno about a child sex abuse allegation involving a former coach in 2002 - has been placed on administrative leave, interim school President Rodney Ericson said Friday.
The leave is "indefinite," Ericson said.
McQueary, who coaches the team's wide receivers, was a 28-year-old graduate assistant when he told Paterno of the allegation in 2002.
The scandal revolves around Jerry Sandusky, the football team's former defensive coordinator who is accused of sexually assaulting children. The scandal has led to the departure of four top university figures, including Paterno, amid widespread outrage over their perceived failure to contact police.
[Updated at 12:19 p.m. ET] Officials on Friday picked the leaders of a special Penn State University panel to investigate allegations that a former assistant football coach sexually abused children.
Kenneth Frazier, a Penn State trustee, will chair the university's special committee looking into the child sex abuse allegations. Frazier told the board of trustees on Friday that the inquiry will be "rigorous, objective and impartial."
State Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis will be the vice chairman and other committee members will be determined later, it was announced at a board meeting.
[Initial post, 10:16 a.m. ET] The interim president of Penn State University said Friday the board of trustees will vote on a proposal "to form a special committee to undertake a full and complete investigation of the circumstances that gave rise to the grand jury report" into child sex abuse allegations against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Rodney Erickson said it has been "truly difficult to comprehend the terrible nature of the allegations" of child sex abuse. He told the board of trustees his "heart aches" for the victims of the abuse.
Singling this guy out is a perfect way to encourage future employees to pretend they don't see anything, and to keep their mouths shut, especially if it involves reporting the behavior of someone senior to them. Why is the one person who did something halfway responsible being singled out?
absolutely. Having worked in government for 30 years, it is obvious that if you want to keep feeding your family, you don't report anything outside the "chain of command". This again confirms it. People may not like it, but it's a fact.
Couldn't have said it any better.
Keep in mind folks that this guy saw a 57 yr old man raping a 10 year old boy. I don't need to tell anyone anything if I walk in on that, I march straight over and knock the f'er out. Period. Then I call police right then and there. He should be fired and then sent off to jail. I suspect he enjoyed watching. Sicko.
you guys are all nuts. what if this where your son/daughter, grandchild? i'm sure putting him 'on leave' would not e enough for you.. he could have prevented this mess by calling the place. now liook what has happened.
They had the chance to go to the police after they knew nothing was being done, they chose not too and sweep it under the rug. He continued to coach next to this man knowing exactly what he did. How could you do that especially when your the one that saw it and make a conscious decision to let him still walk around free? Maybe it will encourage people to call the police instead like they should have.
JNO you just don't know how the world works. If you physically attack Sandusky you will be charged with some felony and probably in a civil suit as well.The kid probably denies anything happened. Even if he wants to testify, his parents don't want the embarrassment, and won't allow him to testify. It ends up being your word against Sandusk's, except he has obviuosly been beaten up. Best case scenario for you is that you are acquitted (but probably not) after months of litigation and tens of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees. Not a proper outcome, but likely the best one you can hope for.
@ Cornholio This is a very sad world indeed if its okay to allow children to be molested.
LILY, I agree. I'm just projecting what effect an attack on Sandusky would have had on JNO. I agree that Sandusky certainly should have been "interrupted".
@ Cornholio okay good because for a second there I was wondering=)
Jerry Sandusky is married with several grown kids. Hard to believe that no one in his family knew about his deviant life.
Especially his wife.
oh she knew...don't be naive
He had 6 adopted children ....... is anyone checking to see what he has done to them?
I would be willing to bet they are, if not than they are again dropping the ball on this!
Mike and his father made a mistake thinking Joe and the bunch at PSU would handle the issue. Little did Mike and dad know that PSU already was aware of Sandusky's problems since 99 and wanted to prevent just what has happened this very week. Joe and his group have ruined the life of Mike as well as others trying to keep the lid on the mess.
To a certain extent that's true..but a some point you need to take responsibility...both Mike and his father had 9 years to correct Mike's inaction on the faithful day..and it certainly appears they they chose a secure job with Joe Paterno instead. You can't regret it now.
That's what the grand jury investigation was. If you read it, you will see they have definitely determined that there was illegal activity on the part of not only the accused, but his superiors and that there was definitely a cover-up, failure to act and that false statements were given to the grand jury. What does that mean? It means this will be pursued legally in criminal court. Unfortunately, these things take time and who will be charged remains to be seen. Hopefully, all those who put the university's reputation above the welfare of the those children will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
AMEN!
People who are faithful to Paterno and Penn State could care less about that. They just wanna win football games....who cares if a few kids get molested=(
A crime was alledgedly committed. This now is out of the Universitys hands and in the hands of law enforcement. Anything else is a sham.
Everyone who knew and did not call the cops should be fired, including McQueary. The football program at Penn State should be shut down for five years, just to show that there are some things more important than football. I refuse to believe that the other coaches on Paterno's staff did not also know about this, and if so, each of them should also be fired.
Erickson said in another interview that no one should be afraid of doing the right thing. Well, McQueary did what he thought was the right thing but look where it's getting him. "Administrative leave" in this day and age is a euphamism for "about to be canned." Apparently, in the eyes of the administration and the media he didn't do the right enough thing. If society adapts this "off with all their heads" policy, some might take the Sergeant Schultz approach and say " I see nothing, I hear nothing" and run, if not walk, the other way. I can't say as I blame them. It's hard to have children suffer at the hands of adults like this but at the same time self preservation comes first.
McQueary should be fired, period! How could anyone walk in on a child being sodomized and not do anything about it, except tell his father and a coach?! Like everyone else who knew about it, he also did not report it to the authorities. Sure, he testified to the grand jury, but years later, so he is no "whistleblower", as perhaps some may attempt to describe him. Besides the actual perpetrator, no one else here is more culpable!
Let's just close down the whole d@mn school while we're at it. After all the school had the facilities where the dirty deeds where done.
I agree totally, not sure why some people believe he did the right thing. The right thing would have been......1st remove the kid from the situation (maybe or maybe not at least punching this guy) 2nd taken the kid to the hospital and calling the police...that would have been the proper way to handle a situation where a kid is being molested by a adult.
You are spot on.
If McQueary reported this, why would they put him on leave, unless he knows more than is being reported, it's his bosses that should be fired all around
Wow. Tried to post and it was killed. I guess you need to talk around the subjunctive here. He was in the locker room, Hedge. He chose not to intervene, but let the abuse of that little boy continue. Then he passed on the responsibility (he thought) to Sandusky's superior. It's obvious to anyone with morals.
...subject
Drat you autocomplete.
At least 3 people admitted knowing and doing nothing. All grown men so far and some probably had children.....sad
"Leave" ain't good enough. Prosecution might be.
I think they should fire the whole board too. They created the climate that led to the abuse. Fire them all. Why not. Fire the whole school.
Yeah, close the school. Close the state where it happend. Close the whole friggen country.
There are many frauds and cowards in this horrific affair...but one can only wonder why both Mike and his father chose to remain silent for 9 years after that faithful day in the shower. Maybe they were afraid of a backlash from Mike not dealing with it aggressively right there in the shower..or maybe they just felt a secure job next to their idol Joe Paterno was worth more those kids' lives.
I feel bad for this guy. He was 28 years old when this happened. Paterno and Sandusky were father figures to McQueary for 10 years. McQueary walked into a scene that was unimaginable. He freak out and left the scene. After talking it over with his dad, they decided the best course of action was to tell Paterno(at this point it was McQueary's word against Sandusky).............In hindsight, I think McQueary would have done things differently.
would you 'feel sorry' for this guy if it were your child. think not.
if only you people can show this kind of rage towards the churches,....then maybe we can get somewhere with this sleeping with boys thing.....