A Good Start

Jerry "The Tickle Monster" Sandusky, has been found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual molestation. He faces up to 442 years in prison, and his official sentencing will take place 90 days from now. The jury concluded that by using his status as Penn State Defensive Coordinator, Sandusky had molested and raped (at least) ten at-risk children placed in his Second Mile Charity during a 15 year period.

I sincerely hope that each of the ten victims in this trial, and all the other victims of Jerry Sandusky that we don't yet know about - the latest of which appears to be Jerry's adopted son Matt - also take solace that Justice IS being done.

I use "IS" in the previous sentence because while Jerry is one of the worst carbon-based lifeforms (I refuse to call him a human being) the planet has ever known....there is no denying that Jerry was enabled from high places during his reign of terror upon children.

As for the trial itself, to call the testimony of the victims "harrowing" would be an understatement. Each victim's detailed recounting of the horrors at which they suffered, and their staunch conviction in the face of cross-examination, became too much for the jury to ignore despite 9 of the 12 serving jury members' ties to Penn State University.

Despite the jury's environment and location, they managed to show that justice truly is blind, and rendered the only sensible verdict possible for this trial, and I salute them.

While it would be nice to say this is over, unfortunately we still have a ways to go in terms of administering justice to all those who enabled Jerry Sandusky to commit these unspeakable acts. Former PSU Athletic Director Tim Curly, and Vice President Gary Schultz are next on the menu, so to speak. They are both being tried for Failure To Report A Crime, and Perjury. While Curley and Schultz will have their day in court, unfortunately the late Joe Paterno will not, as he has deprived us of his company by dying of lung cancer a few months ago.

There are still way too many people out there (mainly a certain Mens Basketball Coach at Duke University) who refuse to believe Joe knew about Sandusky's predatory and deviant behavior. There's still way too many people who believe Joe Paterno was wrongfully terminated for not doing enough to stop Sandusky. If you are one of those people who refuse to believe he knew of it ten years ago and did next to nothing to stop it, here's Joe Paterno's grand jury testimony regarding what he knew and when he knew it.

So please stop making excuses that Paterno didn't know, and/or that he took the appropriate steps to stop it because it's just not true. Want to know why it's not true? Up until the first Grand Jury report which was released in November 2011 Jerry Sandusky still had keys to the Lasch Building, he still had an office in the Lasch Building, and he had full access to all Penn State Football facilities and was seen working out there THAT WEEK.

If you were told that a former employee who has full access to your office and locker room facilities was seen doing something of "a sexual nature" to a young boy in that very same building, and you told your supposed superiors about it (without calling the police mind you)...would you want that former employee still hanging around your building ten years later? I certainly wouldn't....but Joe Paterno obviously did. 

That is why this saga must continue. There are more people that must be held accountable, for they could have stopped Sandusky numerous times and chose not to. I'm of the believe that they will be further exposed as time goes by, and justice will once again be administered.

Whether they are aware of it or not, Penn State has only one more chance at redemption. They have one more chance to atone for this unspeakable exhibition of self-denial. They have only one more opportunity to find any semblance of character and integrity, by admitting that their beloved football program created and facilitated a monster, for which the slate must be wiped clean. They must disown their history by removing the administrators responsible for this scandal, settling with any future lawsuits that are destined to arrive in Happy Valley, and ultimately remove the Joe Paterno statue.

Unfortunately much of that is not likely to happen on it's own, given what we've seen from the Penn State students and alumni hardliners. Fortunately, we can still hope the NCAA will administer the Death Penalty.

"May No Act Of Ours Bring Shame"? Same goes for inaction as well.