The Nittany Nightmare: Paterno Fired- Sandusky’s Recorded Sting With Victims Mother Went Missing With Prosecutor Ray Gricar In 2005
WE ARE.. PENN STATE
The thorn in the paw in the largest criminal scandal in recent NCAA history, feels more like a railroad spike today.
The winningest collegiate coach in American history got sacked yesterday in his 46th year.
The iconic former Penn State University head football coach leaves his legacy shamed by the alleged sexual assaults by Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator of 23 years, on his watch.
Graham Spanier, president of PSU was also fired.
According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General, Paterno is not facing criminal charges, no word yet on Spanier.
Charged in the scandal to date are:
Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky- 40 counts of felony child sexual abuse, released on $100,000 bond
Tim Curley- PSU Athletic Director and 1976 alumni- charged with perjury and failure to report
Gary Schultz- PSU Senior VP of finance and Business charged with perjury and failure to report
Not charged, but in my opinion, should absolutely be under moral indictment:
Mike McQueary- Current PSU recruiting coordinator and wide receiver coach who witnessed the sodomy of a child by Sandusky as a 28 year old grad student. He ran home and called his daddy instead of police,leaving the child in the clutches of that monster.
(UPDATE 3:37PM The PSU Board does not plan to fire McQueary, but want him off the field although interim coach Bradley says he will be on the sideline. Are you people nuts? I really think the players have enough concerns without wondering if some radical will rush the sidelines to get at McQueary. Not worth the security breach.)
Yes, that is correct, he witnessed the act in progress of the rape of a child and did nothing to stop it.
Earlier in the week, Jopa announced through a prepared statement that he would be retiring at the end of the season after 46 years at the helm of the Nittany Lions Division 1 dynasty.
While PSU alumnus roars turned into wails for the past week, it appears this nittany nightmare is just the beginning of the story.
The sexual assault of a 10 year old boy by Sandusky in the shower of the Lasch Football Building during Spring Break 2002, witnessed by a graduate student was never reported to Ray Gricar , Center County Prosecutor on the record.
But was he made aware of it under the radar?
Anthony DeBouf, a district attorney working under Gricar, says Gricar reviewed evidence and files privately and did not share any of the information with him, in 1998.
You read that correctly, in 1998, when the first alleged incident of Sandusky in the field house shower with a young boy was reported to University Police and the Centre County DA’s office.
According to Graham Spanier, recently fired PSU president, an investigation was completed by a “child protective agency” and University Police with the blessing of then PSU counsel Wendell Courtney.
Courtney was and is still an attorney of record for Second Mile.
Spanier said he thought the director of Second Mile, the grass roots charitable effort founded by Sandusky, was alerted through those efforts.
In 1999 Sandusky was offered and accepted an Emeritus status retirement package from PSU where he held full campus access privileges and an office in the very building of the alleged 1998 and 2002 incidents.
The 4th victim named in the indictment against Schultz, Curley and Sandusky claims that decision by Sandusky was precipitated by a private meeting between he and Paterno.
Sandusky was bitterly upset after a meeting with Joe Paterno in which he was told by JOPA he would never be his replacement as head coach, and that he should retire.
Tony Gricar, Ray Gricar’s nephew, has since revealed that Ray participated in a sting with police where Sandusky admitted showering with a boy whose mother called University Police when Sandusky dropped her son off with wet hair and asked for forgiveness from the family, with the entire meeting surreptitiously recorded.
Gricar viewed police reports and two recorded conversations that Sandusky had with the juvenile victims mother and for reasons that have never been made public, elected not to file charges in the incident.
Approximately 6 weeks later, the case was closed without enough evidence to prosecute. It is believed the victim had decided to refuse to testify against Sandusky and his Mother believed he would be persecuted in efforts to protect Sandusky and the elite PSU football program.
According to then University Police detectives Ronald Shreffler and Ralph Ralston, following a meeting with Jerry Lauro, investigator with the PA Dept of Public Welfare, while the behavior was certainly inappropriate, neither victim made allegations of sexual contact rising to the level of criminal activity.
Gricar had nothing to work with.
So.. Was this the case Ray Gricar saw as “the one that got away” he wanted to pursue prior to his retirement?
Sandusky remained with Second Mile, in some cases recruiting it’s board members through last year.
Sandusky founded the Second Mile charity in 1977, a foster and group home environment for disadvantaged boys in various underprivileged social circumstances. It is believed this was where Sandusky began the lure to prey on his child victims. Sandusky retired from Second Mile in 2010, while the grand jury investigation into his victimization of young boys got underway.
The current honorary board of Second Mile reads like the who’s who of ESPN including Andy Ried, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Matt Millen, ESPN sports analyst, Lou Holtz former head coach of Notre Dame University and yes, “Marky Mark” Wahlberg.
Only yesterday did I realize I was on their advisory board. I have had no contact or correspondence with Second Mile or Jerry Sandusky since 2009 with the exception of thank you notes for one of their most successful events.
If the allegations are true, I, like the many good people who support Second Mile, am upset over being misled. However, the pain and sadness I feel for the abused children fills me with rage and anyone who enabled this to happen should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Coach Holtz
The development of charitable organizations as a means to not only groom victims but to take advantage of government funding and tax breaks for the privilege came under extreme scrutiny in the late 1970′s with the discovery of Brother Paul’s Children’s Mission on North Fox Island among other organizations. It is not known if the charitable practices of Second Mile are under investigation at this time.
Second Mile posted a statement on their site, claiming Sandusky has had no interaction with them since he alerted them to an investigation involving a boy in 2008. Someone should have them review their annual report and the Sandusky society named after his parents that he and wife Dottie continue to donate to.
Every one of Sandusky’s alleged victims, were “Second Mile” children as far back as 1994. One of the victims, was contacted by phone prior to his appearance before the grand jury by Sandusky, his wife, and a family friend leaving the message they needed to talk to him regarding an “important matter”.
Victim 7 did not return the call, but this editor would seriously like to know the intent of the call from Mrs. Sandusky, who has not been charged with any crime.
In several alleged incidents, and 8 victims named in the indictment against Sandusky, the only person to ever call police to report him was the mother of a victim whose incident was found to be unchargeable under the law, in 1998.
Ray Frank Gricar
A dedicated and successful prosecutor on the cusp of enjoying retirement, Ray Gricar disappeared from an impromptu trip to “clear his head” on April 15, 2005. Gricar called his live-in girlfriend he met as a clerk in his office Patty Fornicola that morning and said he was going to take a drive in his mini Cooper to Lewisburg, a town he was known to frequent to purchase select antiques.
Although Gricar was scheduled to take a half day’s vacation previously, he called Patty from his cell phone at 11:30 am and told her he would be taking the entire day off.
When Gricar failed to return that evening, Fornicola was concerned and phoned Bellefonte Police. The next day Gricar’s “mini” was found locked with his cell phone inside in a Lewisburg parking lot. His keys and wallet have never been recovered.
Two months later, his work laptop was located in the Susquehanna River and without it’s hard drive against a bridge support, and the hard drive a few months after that on the bank by a woman walking her dog.
In 2009, on the 4 year anniversary of his disappearance, Bellefonte detectives releases startling information.
On his home computer, which was reviewed by a forensic analyst, showed searches including how to delete a hard drive were found in the weeks leading up to Gricar’s disappearance.
A small amount of cigarette ashes found just inside the driver side window of Gricars car leading investigators to believe he met with someone, spoke briefly through the window, and parked his car.
Subsequent possible sightings of Gricar in Michigan have never panned out and his case is still open.
Tom Bradley, Jerry Sandusky’s successor as defensive coordinator upon his retirement, is acting PSU head coach will lead the team in their last home game against Nebraska this Saturday.
“We’re in a very unprecedented area,” Bradley said Thursday. “We have to find a way to restore the confidence [in the university] and start the healing process.”
Recommended reading by Rick Reilly.
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Penn State has two child care centers on campus, plus one in the industrial park. This is a new center, opened just this fall, replacing the oldest of the centers.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/11/11/schultz_sign_torn_down.aspx
This is just me, but I’ve thought about this and I know what I would do if I were captain of the Penn State football team. I would tell everyone on our team, that in respect for the victims in this case, little children who were raped, right here on our campus, right here in our shower and locker rooms….we are going to suit up, go out on the field and then turn and walk away…..may the best team win. End of Story. I would also be encouraging all my teammates to pray and pray hard for next season and pray for all who were impacted by Sandusky’s vile behavior and all pray for justice.
There is no way Paterno did not realize the full extent of the foibles of his heir-apparent Sandusky. IMO he sloughed it off to rake in his millions – I could not believe how he shrugged off what happened to those children earlier this week. There is no proof yet that the boys were pimped to wealthy donors, yet those who know the inside reality of Boystown … that was just the tip of the iceberg…of child and human trafficking which is financially bigger than the global drug trade. I do believe Gricar might have had more than an inkling of the alleged pimping side of Sandusky’s operation. There is the inevitable childporn that accompanies pedophilia, pimped or not, and nevitably ends up on video. In 2005 I researched an ISP in that area of PA linked peoplewise to others under investigation serving pedo porn abroad, connected with some high rollers/high profile cases. If I and others knew, I suppose Gricar would know. I wonder if he was given any links to Sandusky’s boys in all that.
PS Good article, best information yet.
I’d like to see some reputable professional football players coaching that team for the last game. Who cares if they’re prepared – it’s not about winning.
NO ONE affiliated with Penn State, but some retired pro players determined to show the school and the players that football didn’t do this – corrupt officials did .
I’d also like to see Penn State donate ALL the ticket sales to an organization to help children.
You read my mind.
http://blinkoncrime.com/2011/11/12/ending-the-nittany-nightmare-penn-state-pre-game-plea-an-open-letter-to-president-rodney-erickson/
Something is definitely fishy with Second Mile. The dates are just not adding up and it makes me very suspicious that they are somehow involved in this whole ordeal. Either that or they knew everything and completely turned a blind eye for years. According to them, once they were informed by Sandusky of the Grand Jury investigation in 2008 they had no interaction with him. Well, according to Coach Holtz, his last contact with Sandusky was at a Second Mile charity function in 2009. In Holtz’s statement linked by Blink, he states his contact with Sandusky that evening was limited to taking pictures with him and other sponsors, so we know for a fact Sandusky was at this function. The “charity” continued to have further contact with Sandusky in 2010, with him retiring from the organization that year. Why would he need to retire from an organization that he has no contact with? Hmmm… Furthermore, we know Sandusky still had his hand in the cookie jar per se with his helping to recruit board members and donating to Second Mile through the society named after his parents (ew gross).
I also find it very hard to believe that Second Mile was never informed prior to 2008 of Sandusky’s actions. In 2002, the exact same lawyer that allowed “the child protective agency” to investigate Sandusky was one of the lawyers on record for Second Mile. Although charges were never brought against Sandusky it was deemed his actions were definitely inappropriate. You would think a charity dealing with at risk minor children would be informed of the incident somehow.
I remember reading somewhere that complaints filed from Second Mile parents are soon to be released. It should be rather interesting to see how Second Mile tries to weasel out of this one. Multiple complaints about one man, yet they still allow him to “mentor” minor children for many years. Disgusting!
Thank you for sharing this and your perspective with us Lizzy.
(snipped)
lizzy says:
November 11, 2011 at 7:45 pm
Dear Penn State community,
3. Penn State is committed to transparency to the fullest extent possible given the ongoing investigations.
4. We will be respectful and sensitive to the victims and their families. We will seek appropriate ways to foster healing and raise broader awareness of the issue of sexual abuse.
5. My administration will provide whatever resources, access and information is needed to support the Special Committee’s investigation. I pledge to take immediate action based on their findings.”
_____________________________________________
I look forward to this transparency. For instance, I would like to know the TRUE chain of events and what pp. were involved in the decision to retire Sandusky at the ripe old age of 55 (yet allow him access to campus facilities, events, etc. as well as his perv grooming football camps.
What is PSU going to do for Sandusky’s victims besides being respectful and sensitive?
Who is on the “Special Committee” and exactly what are they investigating? Are they going to determine exactly who knew what and when? Why haven’t they already fired McQueary (not just adm leave)? FGS, his own grand jury testimony shows he was guilty of the lack of morals and ethics, not to mention he didn’t intercede to help the poor boy, much less call 911.
On another note…I hope LE confiscated Sandusky’s computer. No telling what they would find.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/penn_state/133727253.html
“Jerry Sandusky’s home vandalized”
Sandusky victim: You can’t tell Jerry ‘no’
Published: Nov. 11, 2011 at 4:53 PM
http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/College-Football/2011/11/11/Son-denies-Paterno-hired-defense-lawyer/UPI-44891321002000/?dailybrief
(snipped)
The victim’s mother said she became more aware of the abuse as her son began to act out violently to purposefully get grounded to avoid seeing Sandusky, the New York Daily News reported
Meanwhile, Joe Paterno’s son denied the fired head coach hired a top Washington criminal defense lawyer to represent him in the child sex-abuse case.
“To be clear, no lawyer has been retained. Not sure where that report originated,” Scott Paterno wrote on Twitter Thursday.
NBC News reported Paterno advisers had contacted J. Sedgwick Sollers of the Washington office of Atlanta’s King & Spalding law firm Thursday, a day after the university’s board fired the longtime coach and forced university President Graham Spanier to resign.
Has everyone seen the Reuters article with one take on why it took so long for the media to break it? Esp. of note is that the local community got angry responses from their readers when they published negative press about Penn State.
Headline: Penn State scandal: what took the media so long?
Link:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/us-media-pennstate-idUSTRE7AA4YJ20111111
____________
Not my area, so I don’t know, do the programs for survivors of these crimes include a component that encourages/supports adults confronting their perpetrators? Sort of like AA’s making amends to those the alcoholic hurt, but the reverse? Well, they should, because it could be extremely helpful to the survivors. Not to mention for future/ongoing potential victims, if the perp is still active.
____________
Blink: I don’t know how to say this without sounding–IDK–presumptuous or something. But I’m worried about you and others who ARE taking the risks of putting the faces out there. I’m very nervous about safety here. Hopefully there’s safety in numbers for all of you. Take care.
I just read a comment to a news article that indicated former President Spanier is STILL employed at PSU in the College of Liberal Arts and Health and Human Development. Someone tell me this is not true.
(sorry for so many posts…)
Interesting article:
Penn State Officials, Including Paterno, Could Face Civil Lawsuits
By BILL PENNINGTON
Published: November 11, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/12/sports/ncaafootball/penn-state-officials-including-paterno-could-face-civil-lawsuits.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
There will be many.
http://blinkoncrime.com/2011/11/12/ending-the-nittany-nightmare-penn-state-pre-game-plea-an-open-letter-to-president-rodney-erickson/
@lizzy and others: do you know of currently in-print books for children that might be helpful for parent and/or helping professions who might use this scandal as a teaching moment?
Here’s one I just saw recommended, but I haven’t read it:
“My Body Belongs to Me is a great resource that gives parents a great start on approaching this conversation with dignity and honesty.”
at this link:
http://richmondmom.com/2011/11/12/the-penn-state-scandal-means-we-must-say-hard-things/
@tulip, there may be a whistleblower statute problem with firing McQuery at this time.
The internal investigation by the BOT will be led by the president of Merck. Independent counsel will be retained and given free rein for the investigation.
@beejay, these are for the adults, not for the children, but they are some of the best independent materials produced for the US Catholic Church over the past decade, imo.
http://www.virtus.org/virtus/ParentHandbook.pdf
http://www.stmarysrep.com/TeachingTouchingSafety.pdf
the victims voices must be heard ,in detail, or no one heals,part of the healing process is voicing in your own words what pain was caused to you,and who caused it and if you get to say it to the actual abuser, even better healing , . most children wont heed the warning signs and wont have the chutzpah to defy an adult unless they hear the cautionary tale from the victims themselves,most kids would just roll their eyes at their parents and then fend for themselves in the situation ,and then keep it a secret from their parents . if the mother knows ,and ignores the intuition, and /or accepts money or gifts from the abuser, you are creating a full blown misoginist.happened to an ex , ruins their relationships with women,furious his mom was so weak ,she would sell him under the bus to an abuser.
@lizzy: thanks for the references. I am also hoping to locate books for children, down to preschoolers, too. So often I’ve found parents can’t get a discussion started, but a story book was an icebreaker, a prop. And can always be pulled out and re-read.
I just read that Sandusky lives right in front of Lemont Elementary School and a playground. (his house has been vandalized this week)
Really? That put another whole slew of kids at-risk, despite the fact that he seemed to have an “adequate supply” thru other means. Thanks, again McQueary and your dad and the rest of you guys.
lizzy says:
November 12, 2011 at 9:20 am
@tulip, there may be a whistleblower statute problem with firing McQuery at this time.
The internal investigation by the BOT will be led by the president of Merck. Independent counsel will be retained and given free rein for the investigation.
__________________________________________________
Thank you Lizzy!
If McQueary is considered a whistleblower then there is something wrong with the Whistleblower Statute in PA, IMO. I hope that doesn’t stand.
I hope and pray the victims of the monster and his enablers will be able to move forward and heal.
I don’t believe anyone, regardless of their status, should be able to establish charities, especially involving interaction with children, without going through some sort of interrogative screening. It’s so easy for these soul-less bodies to finds ways to get their fix. As parents, we cannot trust our children with anyone, even in charitable hands. I understand there are many families who need these kinds of resources to help build character and inspiration for their kids. It needs to be family oriented experiences.
My heart, my prayers are with all victims.
Thank you for maintaining a blog with INTEGRITY! It’s not about the followers, IT’S ABOUT THE VICTIMS. Convictions live here.
~only love~
Penn State Abuse Scandal: A Guide And Timeline
by Bill Chappell
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/142111804/penn-state-abuse-scandal-a-guide-and-timeline
(snipped)
Wendell Courtney:
The former general counsel for Penn State University is also the longtime lawyer for Sandusky’s charity foundation, The Second Mile. He was working for both organizations when, according to Schultz, he reviewed the 1998 university police report about Sandusky’s behavior with boys.
_____________________________________________
despicable…..
McQueery is out. Now bring on the justice.
Espn put up a timeline for the case:http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7212054/key-dates-penn-state-nittany-lions-sex-abuse-case
Huffpo put out a timeline for key dates in the Sand usky case. Their article is a little more fleshed out (sorry) and includes a photo of Sandy being put into a police car on 11.05.11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/penn-state-scandal-timeline-jerry-sandusky_n_1084204.html
IMO the custodian, James Calhoun seems, according to reporting to have been the most taken aback by what he witnessed. It would not be surprising imo to learn that Mr. Calhoun was threatened. Hopefully, the persons who witnessed Sandusky’s vile acts will all come out of the woodwork and tell exactly what they saw….they at least reported to a superior. This has literally made me sick at my stomach ever since it came out. Even down here in the deep south where LSU and Alabama rule…this makes one realize that if it can happen at Penn State it can happen anywhere. How any one of the persons who ever helped hide this disgtusting man’s deeds could have ever slept at night is beyond me. There could have been far fewer victims if only….someone had reported it until someone listened. Change is hard, but it is good and necessary….hopefully Penn State will take this forced change and turn it around to the good. Start with Blink’s advice.
Interesting to tead about Pamela West’s book, seems like a very cold case may be involved. There exists the testimony of another young super sports athlete from the area, who was entrapped in all that back then. His crazy ramblings is evidence of the damage happens to young boys after being brutalized. These 9 boys are the tip of the iceberg. This is as close as an opportunity that will ever exist to really do some good to expose and shut down major pedo rings, in which Penn State seems to have played such a central part for so long. Need to let the leads go where they should go.
So, how well did Gricar know Patty? And just who all had access to his home at the time someone was alledgedly doing computer searches to learn how to destroy a hard drive?
Because the cohort I read discuss it presented it as if Gricar was trying to learn how to destroy the Sandusky info on his own (?) computer.
There are other possibilities. Did someone want it to look that way?
And, of course, did someone in Gricar’s home do that computer search? That seems too obvious, though possible.
My mind is already on the assorted coverups and fall guys to come.
In trying to nail down the Second Mile staff, I found this. Should we stay here, or move to the Open Letter thread? Wasn’t sure.
——————————————————————-
At the beginning of the segment, host Chris McKendry introduced Millen as “a board member of The Second Mile charity.” An accurate statement, regardless of which board she meant. But every indication from ESPN—including the language on ESPN’s in-house blog on which the video segment appears—suggests she meant the honorary board.
That may seem like a minor distinction. It’s not. A director on the state board decides the overall direction of The Second Mile, votes on who gets booted off the board, and is, ostensibly, privy to the inner workings of the organization. You have to wonder if Millen was forthcoming with ESPN about the extent of his involvement in The Second Mile.
http://deadspin.com/second-mile-tax-returns/
A Second Mile Board member, who asked not to be named, said Sandusky informed the board of the allegations against him and the investigation. At that point in time, Sandusky distanced himself from the kids but continued fundraising for the organization for a period of time before he finally retired, the board member said.
“We all know there’s an investigation going on,’’ the board member said.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/03/jerry_sandusky_former_penn_sta.html
The football team should be the LAST thing that the Penn State officials should be worried about right now, and hiring a PR firm reeks of CYA.
The program should have been shut down for the remainder of the year until ALL facts about who was involved in possibly the same behavior, or the cover-up.
They simply don’t know at this point – I would NOT rule out any of the trustees either. All need to be investigated at this point.
We simply don’t have all the facts yet, and a “coach” should be the LAST thing they should be worried about now.
They should NOT have allowed an existing coach to coach today – he worked with Sandusky too…too many variables unknown.
One thing that bothers me is WHY Sandusky was allowed access to the athletic department, and able to keep an office there after he was effectively retired? Maybe he had no fear of anyone telling on him – maybe others in the athletic department or other officials with the university are involved in either the same behaviors and/or the coverup? I find that interesting.
You may say that it punishing the football players, but I can tell you that if my child played for Penn State, he would not have been allowed to suit up today. Life isn’t fair, but it would have shown these young men that THIS issue counts for far more than a football game any day of the week.
Child rape trumps sports EVERY TIME.
Just MHO, but i have a bad feeling that the arrests are not over – by a long shot, and there is at the very least going to be a long list of those that turned a blind eye to this behavior…in my mind it’s systemic.
beejay..my thought as well. Someone planted the search. Could he have discovered something else and this time he could not let Sandusky off. Did he need to be out of office in order to pursue. The 1998 decision hanging over the office. Did his retirement make others nervious. I have to say I would think it odd to keep something from 1998 still on a laptop I was using in 2005. I can just see how the “Law and Order” writers will take this. Information kept as protection?
I don’t think the Elm Circle ponied up anything for the $20K raised at the game today for victims of child (sexual?) abuse, because they don’t mess around with petty cash. Besides, these people have to be either royally pi$$ed off, scared chitless or rehearsing their stories. How or if these people overlap with Second Mile is still something I am trying to figure out.
If someone wants to climb the philanthropical ladder at Penn State, getting into the Mount Nittany Society (founded 1977) is the first big step on the rungs that seem to matter, donations above $250K.
http://giveto.psu.edu/s/1218/index.aspx?sid=1218&gid=1&pgid=302
In 1996 the Laurel Circle was formed for donors giving $1M and then in 2008 the inner-inner-inner sanctum called the Elm Circle was formed for the $5M+ donors.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:CLeSxv-T_usJ:giveto.psu.edu/s/1218/images/editor_documents/Media_and_Events/Publications/Recognition_Societies/Mt-Nittany-Society-fact-sheet.pdf+mount+nittany+society+laurel+circle&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESijS6DyYoM2XHIduLqTNVyhrjwScBLNSxokYCaKc9ZO9IXfEnYtt3PyFFINbNFEJ7jzpxNAfl6QvFh6sgn9agm4I-u1lLJhCWsAGX_dbj0sU-8EYpSgLD9-mO6Dj8lbF1Uh2Oxz&sig=AHIEtbTziCtn4Bzfl-YEQYC5OusdLaa33w
Here is a link (which conflicts by one year with the previous link when the Elm Society officially started) and the list of members along with their significant areas of contributions.
snip>
The Elm Circle of the Mount Nittany Society was created in 2009 to honor those patrons whose contributions represent the most enduring commitments to Penn State. Members of this group represent the very pinnacle of philanthropy at Penn State, with cumulative giving to the University at and beyond the $5 million level. An invitation to join the Elm Circle is extended only by the President of the University.
http://giveto.psu.edu/s/1218/index.aspx?sid=1218&gid=1&pgid=451
I will post one member we are familiar with and I have to say it, I think this was their social club. How close they share information with their BFF’s is any ones guess. Maybe Joepa just got an honorary membership, since he held the key everything, and maybe he can’t stand any one of them, IDK, but rich people IMO talk smack too, they just don’t call it that.
Sandusky is noticably absent from the list, but was probably donating his money to Second Mile, when he wasn’t busy cashing his paychecks.
Neither the Elms or the Laurels existed prior to his “retirement” so perhaps he was a Mount Nittany Society Member back when everybody liked him. Again IDK.
Joe and Sue Paterno
Just as he has helped hundreds of players over the last six decades to become well-rounded students and human beings, the gifts that he and Sue have made to Penn State have helped us to become a well-rounded University. The Paterno family’s support of the University Libraries may be their most widely known, but they have also supported faculty positions and scholarships in the College of the Liberal Arts and the Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and fueled important building projects, including the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center and the Penn State All-Sports Museum.
The Four Diamond Club is a student driven charity for the children’s hospital and in my lay opinion, do not see this endeavor tied up in the scandal, but worth the mention since 1977 was a big year in Penn State History on many levels.
snip>
House Resolution 1112, introduced by Rep. Glenn Thompson (PA-05), noted THON as the largest student-run philanthropy in the world and the largest single contributor to the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, having raised a record $7.83 million in 2010 and $68.9 million overall since the two first became affiliated in 1977.
Four Diamond Link
http://giveto.psu.edu/s/1218/base-template.aspx?sid=1218&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=1796&ecid=1796&crid=0&calpgid=571&calcid=1798
If this is the same woman, it must be tough for her to free the man on unsecured bail who’s charity she volunteers. I think I would react just the opposite. I would be so outraged that I had unknowingly participated in anything remotely connected to his actions that I would recuse myself.
—————————————————————–
Ms. Dutchcot is Vice-President of Centre County Meals on Wheels, a counselor at Centre County Law Enforcement Camp Cadet, Inc., a member of the Nittany Valley Running Club and volunteers for the American Heart Association, The Second Mile and Centre County PAWS.
Ms. Dutchcot makes her home in State College with her husband, Art Entz, and their Yorkies, Barkley and Sam
http://www.centrelaw.com/attorney-profiles/detail.php?id=1
snip>
At a preliminary arraignment, officials with the state Attorney General’s Office said that sentence is possible based on the severity of the felony charges, and requested $500,000 bail and an electronic leg monitor.
Instead, District Judge Leslie Dutchcot ordered Sandusky freed on $100,000 unsecured bail — meaning he won’t have to post any money unless he doesn’t show up for court. She also ordered him to have no contact with children.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/sandusky_could_face_life_in_pr.html
1982
snips>
This goes a long way toward explaining why their son, now the Penn State football team’s defensive coordinator, is, at 38, the founder of The Second Mile, a charitable organization that recently opened a group home for six troubled boys in the State College, Pa. area. The home’s name comes from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:41—”And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.”
Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, who couldn’t have children of their own, adopted a son in 1969. Since then they have adopted four more children—current ages five through 19—and have helped raise three foster children. For a time they were a host family each summer for children placed by the Fresh Air Fund of New York City. “After we had taken in some foster children,” says Dottie, “we saw the opportunities that some kids just hadn’t had.
The Sanduskys incorporated The Second Mile in 1977. With legal help donated by a Penn State professor, they were granted tax-exempt status, and by 1980 they had raised enough money, $64,000, to buy 20 acres of farmland two miles from Beaver Stadium. Several businesses agreed to chip in the supplies for building a house, and a local contractor agreed to build it for the cost of his labor.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126185/index.htm
Five of Paterno’s assistants (including his son, Jay) played under him in Happy Valley, four have been on his staff for more than 20 seasons, and two turned down major head coaching jobs to stay in State College. So when someone from the fold takes his leave, it is big news. When that someone is Jerry Sandusky, four years a Penn State player, 32 years a Penn State assistant and 23 years the defensive coordinator at Linebacker U, it is worth a standing ovation.
That’s what Sandusky, 55, received from 96,480 fans before the Michigan game on Nov. 13, when he ran onto the Beaver Stadium sod for the last time as a Nittany Lions coach. Among the players who embraced him at midfield was his son Jon, a reserve defensive back. Among those cheering from the sidelines was another son, Matt, a Penn State manager.
Matt Sandusky, 20, used to have a different last name. He was a troubled kid from a town near State College. When he was eight, he got involved with a program called the Second Mile that Sandusky had started in 1981 to help kids like Matt.
With the proceeds from his book, Developing Linebackers the Penn State Way, and a lot of hope, Sandusky started the Second Mile, which began as a group foster home. Today the organization has 20 full-time employees, hundreds of volunteers and a fund-raising machine that rustles up about $1 million per year; through a network of school-and community-based programs it reaches about 100,000 at-risk youngsters. Jerry and Dottie have done more than their share of personal reaching, too. All told the Sanduskys have six children, all adopted, three as infants, three after having had them in foster care. Besides Matt and Jon, 22, the Sandusky lineup consists of Ray, 36, a businessman in Nashville; E.J., 30, who played center for the Nittany Lions and is the football coach at Albright College; Kara, 27, a Penn State grad who is married and works at the university; and Jeff, 24, a Marine who is stationed in North Carolina. “Who knows how any of us would’ve ended up if we hadn’t become Sanduskys,” says E.J.
If Sandusky did not have such a human side, there would be a temptation around Happy Valley to canonize him: Saint Sandusky, leader of linebackers, molder of men.
Because Sandusky is so respected, as a man and as the dean of Linebacker U, there’s the impression that it’s just fine with him that he has never been a head coach. It’s not. “I wouldn’t call it devastating,” says Sandusky, choosing his words carefully, “but I would call it a little disappointing. That was definitely a goal of mine when I started.
********************************************************************
If I hadn’t had the other part of my life—my family and the Second Mile—I would’ve been a head coach.”
********************************************************************
On July 1, when Sandusky announced his intention to retire, one of the first calls he received was from Matt Millen…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1017979/index.htm
snips>
Still, Paterno is the boss—Sandusky doesn’t expect Paterno to solicit his opinion about who should follow him as coordinator—and no doubt part of Sandusky’s reason for retiring is that he’s tired of being second banana. He’s not even coy about his desire still to run a program, any program, perhaps a Division III team or, don’t laugh, a midget league basketball team. Sandusky’s parents, Art and Evie, ran a recreation center in Washington, Pa., and at heart, E.J. says, Sandusky is “a frustrated playground director.” E.J. remembers the kickball games his father organized in the backyard. “Dad would get every single kid involved,” says E.J. “We had the largest kickball games in the United States, kickball games with 40 kids.”
Says Millen, “A lot of people were surprised when Jerry said he was retiring. Me? I was surprised he stayed that long. Jerry has so many passions and so many gifts besides coaching football—a gift for teaching, a gift for helping, a gift for guiding kids. This is a man with a lot to do.”
Here’s the best thing you can say about Jerry Sandusky: He’s the main reason that Penn State is Linebacker U…and linebackers aren’t even his enduring legacy.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1017979/2/index.htm
I’ll say.
I agree totally with what Sweetie Pie says-
_____________________________________________
Sweetie_Pi says:
November 12, 2011 at 12:30 am
There is no way Paterno did not realize the full extent of the foibles of his heir-apparent Sandusky. IMO he sloughed it off to rake in his millions – I could not believe how he shrugged off what happened to those children earlier this week. There is no proof yet that the boys were pimped to wealthy donors, yet those who know the inside reality of Boystown … that was just the tip of the iceberg…of child and human trafficking which is financially bigger than the global drug trade. I do believe Gricar might have had more than an inkling of the alleged pimping side of Sandusky’s operation. There is the inevitable childporn that accompanies pedophilia, pimped or not, and nevitably ends up on video. In 2005 I researched an ISP in that area of PA linked peoplewise to others under investigation serving pedo porn abroad, connected with some high rollers/high profile cases. If I and others knew, I suppose Gricar would know. I wonder if he was given any links to Sandusky’s boys in all that.
__________________________________________________________
Her comments go right to the heart of this sordid matter.
By “Boystown” she is referring to the Franklin child abuse case
involving BCCI connected savings & loan mogul Larry King and a host of other notables back in the 1980′s. Shame on you if you don’t know
at least something about this. An Omaha, NE child sex ring that involved locals like the police chief, newspaper editor and wealthy businessmen.
Gary Caradori, a private investigator hired by the grand jury, was about to fly back to Omaha with evidence from Chicago that would prove
the existence of this pedo ring. His private plane was mysteriously
brought down (with his 8 y.0. son aboard) and his briefcase was never found in the wreckage.
My point – this is a scary parallel to the Penn State case with the
disappearance of Gricar just as he was about to get the goods on someone.
My 2nd point – Sandusky was, just as Larry King was, a procurer of children for other powerful people there in that small town and surrounding area. A pimp if you will. For important people who can’t afford to get their hands dirty scouting for boys.
Sandusky certainly did not make Gricar disappear. He is no professional killer. This was a professional hit to make a problem go away. And it means that there were and are some very powerful and very scary people involved in this pedo ring in that area. People that have a lot invested in their “cover life” as upstanding citizens.
This abuse by Sandusky had gone on too long and been covered up by
too many people for it not to be part of a larger operation.
For many of us who work with childhood abuse victims, or do research in this field – this Penn State case may wind up being the answer to our dreams. The case that finally breaks wide open the truth about child abuse networks. The money, the power, the blackmail and the
cover ups and the persons behind it all. Maybe.
We can only hope and pray. No need for tinfoil hats, folks. This conspiracy is real. And if you live in a city larger than Podunk, it’s likely happening right in your home town.
Sherlock
I sincerely hate to agree with Sherlock, but I do.
A link to the Boys Town Scandal:
http://franklincoverup.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=10006
In that vein however, it is likely that Gricar was investigating an insider of some capacity in the Centre County system.
I can tell you as a fact I have already received docs involving investigations that are not “on the books” wrt to Sandusky. I chose not to release them because it is my strong belief that victims are to be protected without fail, and they could quickly lead to their identification. Unless they come forward through some other means, nobody is going to read that here.
B
1997
snips>
By the time McQueary moved to State College in 1981 as a six-year-old, he had already fallen in love with college football’s legendary unadorned helmets—those of Notre Dame, that is. To this day he wears number 9 in honor of the Irish’s national championship winning quarterback from 1988, Tony Rice. It’s a good thing the 6’4″, 222-pound McQueary has always been big for his age. Life can be tough for a Notre Dame fan in Happy Valley.
Because no local boy had ever been the quarterback at Penn State under Paterno, McQueary’s decision came as a surprise. “No one ever thought Mike would play here,” says his high school center, Matt Rhule, a Penn State linebacker.
For three seasons McQueary waited patiently behind Kerry Collins and Wally Richardson, accepting his role as backup while hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the team. Whenever the Nittany Lions have played on the last Saturday in November, McQueary has invited as many as 25 teammates to his parents’ house for turkey and—don’t tell Paterno—touch football. Two years ago John and Anne McQueary went through two turkeys, one ham, 15 pounds of mashed potatoes and 10 pies.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1010604/index.htm
Sorry all, for being such a blog hog. Such a wealth of unfortunate information. Thought the history might help some of us that didn’t know this Happy Valley world existed a few weeks ago.
I don’t know which thread to comment on now either. Usually we move to the latest one, but I’m not interested in that topic.
Did some reading last night. If I’ve got this right, Patty was at work the morning Gricar disappeared–not at home as I’d thought. So, access to their home–forced or otherwise–was available.
At some point investigators and Patty (or Patty first?) went to the closet and looked inside Gricar’s laptop case. Found the laptop gone. But its case was not dusted for fingerprints.
Also, a close coworker swore she saw Gricar in the courthouse parking lot that afternoon. Though LE couldn’t find that on parking lot surveillance tapes. She maintained her belief, however.
I’m going to post separately about my fears about fall guys.
Decades ago the financial services division (primarily making small loans to consumers) of a major national bank had RICO charges against it. One man was convicted (the fall guy) and did a few years in a country-club prison. The rest of those involved (high level officers), and those having knowledge, went scot-free.
In exchange for that, I was told much later, the fall guy received monthly checks for the rest of his life. It was a nice size “salary” for his “consulting/brokering” services. I asked what did he do (meaning to earn his pay) and was told “whatever he wants”. In fact, nothing; he’d already earned his pay.
IDK who supported his wife and kids during his imprisonment, but someone did. IDK what other financial benefits the fall guy received. It appeared he was set for life.
That sort of thing is not unusual. It makes me wonder if the purported wealthy donors to Penn State who might have been abusing the Second Mile kids (or others in Sandusky’s various football camps, etc) will ever even be named.
And who else will go missing, or be intimidated into silence. Some of these folks will stop at nothing, including threatening one’s family. Evil so often triumphs, and we never even know it. I’m sure someone(s) will get away with–well, one or more crimes. Up to, and possibly including murder.
Meant to say something about how the RICO fall guy’s lifelong “salary” was hidden. His checks were not processed through the payroll dept, as everyone else’s were. They were hidden in the various expenses of the corporate Legal Dept’s budget and paid through the head of that dept. All fine, upstanding citizens, members of old-money country clubs, etc.
It’s just how business is done.
Sandusky ran football camps thru his own company, Sandusky Associates, and Penn State has, I believe, denied any connection with the school. So, he had another pool of young boys aside from Second Mile.
Sandusky Associates was recently dissolved, per PA Sec of State, on
12/17/2010. Only Jerry and a Jon Sandusky (Treas) were listed as officers.
https://www.corporations.state.pa.us/corp/soskb/Corp.asp?1806064
I have to wonder if other employees of Penn State also abused any of the Sandusky-facilitated children.
No, those camps took place at PSU, they stated they were run by Sandusky.
B
Blink: Aha. PSU was confused? PSU said they were run by Sandusky (and others reported they were run under his own name, and/or through Sandusky Associates)? And PSU said they “merely” provided the facilities?
Got it. Penn State did NOT deny any connection. They admitted providing the facilities for this separate individual/company to use. Not responsible for what he did then, huh?
One place I was getting info, said, in part:
“Sandusky held summer football camps through his Sandusky Associates company at the satellite campus just outside Erie from 2000 to 2008, Penn State Behrend spokesman Bill Gonda said.
“We provided the facilities for it,” Gonda said Monday. “There were no allegations, no complaints during his tenure here.”
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/ncaa/11/07/penn.st.sandusky.ran.camps.ap/index.html#ixzz1dbRDDte8
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060914/Jerry-Sandusky-Penn-State-sex-abuse-Why-did-Jerry-wife-abuse-victim-weeks-testimony.html
The Daily Mail, which I realize is considered a rag of sorts, but often gets a unique side of a story happening in US is reporting this article today. I have read nothing to suggest such, but one can’t help wondering if Sandusky molested any of the children he adopted-five boys and a girl. I think Mrs. Sandusky knew everything.
erose – thank you for all your great research.
We’ll see if we become more familiar in the future with some members of PSU’s philanthropic Mount Nittany Society… As far as Second Mile and PSU, no question there is tremendous overlap – all the more people who more than likely knew there was a child pedophile in their midst.
Also, thanks for the info on District Judge Leslie Dutchcot (was/is volunteer for Second Mile) who, instead of recusing herself, ordered Sandusky freed on $100,000 unsecured bail.
____________________________________________
beejay said:
(snipped)
And who else will go missing, or be intimidated into silence. Some of these folks will stop at nothing, including threatening one’s family. Evil so often triumphs, and we never even know it. I’m sure someone(s) will get away with–well, one or more crimes. Up to, and possibly including murder.
I’m am very concerned this will happen Beejay. e.g. a few more heads will roll (as far as PSU firings)and the Second Mile dissolution.
I would like to throw this out there for consideration. When McQueary moved to HV he was six years old, in 1981. If he started playing organized football at nine, it would have made him in the target group for Sandusky. I am not aware if he ever had any dealings with Sandusky as a minor but am curious if a link has been established.
McQueary was four years after his playing time, and playing weight, when he observed Sandusky assaulting a ten year old. This probably puts him around 6’4″, 240 pounds. He is a large and physically strong individual with an extensive background in a violent sport. He would not be physically afraid of an elderly pervert.
We are lead to believe that he walked away, doing absolutely nothing to stop the rape of a small boy. This can only mean that Sandusky had some form of mental hold on him. Is McQueary a Sandusky victim who is yet to come forward to tell his tales?
We are also led to believe by Joepa that Mcqueary came to him, told him some unspecified event happened. (Joe said he never knew what supposedly happened in the shower) Joe claims to have gone to school officials and reported that some event that he has no knowledge of happened in the school showers. I reckon school officials were left to guess if it was a towel snapping contest or a shortage of hot water.
Shut the front door. Joepa had to have known more than he is claiming. Was he also under the assumption that school officials were LE? He had no fear of reprisal for PSU’s damaged reputation if he actually had called LE. He was an untouchable deity in the Happy Valley.
He spent about 62 years weaving the finest pair of silk underwear ever known to mankind, only to leave one hell of a skidmark in them while continuing to wear them,unwashed, for another ten years. He is to be shunned, not praised.
There you are. Your like a big ole superhero (or as my Blink Jr used to say when he was a sprout
SUPE- ah- HEEWIO). You show up when it is most needed.
I am going to do you one better on your thoughts about MCQueary- her was best pals with an older Sandusky growing up, and his dad was tight with Jerry.
I actually watched an interview with a recruit of Sandusky’s- John Ritchie, who up until the point he says he likely would have been too bewildered or in shock like McQueary to do anything, I thought made sense.
Maybe he had not heard the Governor publicly call McQueary out yet.
I have looked through posts I need to moderate and as I would expect here, posters are all over the connections and there is a far bigger dynamic going on in this case than.
Let me be the first to say publicly, shame on you Dottie Gross Sandusky- as a mother, you simply sicken me beyond description. You suspected, you ignored, and then you flat out knew.
I don’t know that your participation will ever be chargeable, but I do know the list is very long intending to insure the concept of “public incarceration.”
B
I have copied the Second Mile Annual Reports 2005-2009 to a file to keep, I expect it is only a matter of time before they are taken down. The nerve of this guy.
snip>
This year, I’ve spent a lot of my time doing two things—working with adults who care about Second Mile children to raise funds for our programs and working with the children who then benefit from those programs! Both types of experiences have made this a memorable year.
- Jerry Sandusky
Founder
http://www.thesecondmile.org/pdf/AnnualReport2005.pdf
snip>
When children who have been disappointed by adults many times in
the past come to count on us, we feel a responsibility to keep our
promises. But we can maintain our commitment to children, and
reach out to others still in need, only if we have the funds to provide programming and the facilities in which to do so. In that regard, I believe we’ve reached a critical juncture for Pennsylvania’s kids and for The Second Mile.
- Jerry Sandusky
Founder
http://www.thesecondmile.org/pdf/AnnualReport2006.pdf
For children who have learned to distrust adults—
an honored promise,
For those youngsters who lack permanence—
a sense of stability,
For those who live in squalor and poverty—
a place of cleanliness and beauty,
For youth who experience danger—
an atmosphere of safety,
For kids who live with limits and in isolation—
the opportunity for wonderful experiences,
For the child standing outside of our gates—
an open door, and
As a member of The Second Mile family—
a place to call home.
- Jerry Sandusky
Founder
http://www.thesecondmile.org/pdf/2007%20Annual%20Report.pdf
Sandusky is all business.
http://www.thesecondmile.org/pdf/2008%20Annual%20Report.pdf
No Sandusky.
http://www.thesecondmile.org/pdf/AnnualReport2009.pdf
I know, how unbelievable. This effing guy.
B
Don’t know when Sandusky’s abuses started, but I think an investigation of the Brownson House starting in 1953 is in order and then The Fresh Air Fund from about 1969. IMO, He didn’t just start behaving this way in 1977.
snip>
So they [Sandusky’s parents] signed up as live-in directors of the Brownson House, a local recreation center that was on the verge of being closed. After the Sanduskys and their 9-year-old son, Jerry, moved in, they persuaded the town fathers to keep Brownson House going. That was back in 1953, and they have been there ever since.
For a time they were a host family each summer for children placed by the Fresh Air Fund of New York City. ”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126185/index.htm
The Brownson House and Vernon C. Neal Sportsplex provides quality youth and adult recreation, education, and character development through team effort in Washington, PA and the Tri-State Area.
http://www.brownsonhouse.org/
Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund has been giving inner-city children the joy of a summer vacation with volunteer host families and at Fund camps, creating unforgettable memories and fresh possibilities.
http://www.freshair.org/
Got that wrong on the Fresh Air Fund. He may have been involved as early as 1961+.
Finding all the victims: I think someone needs to look into possible suicide(s) of young, and older boys who may have had contact with Sandusky in some way shape or form. Boys that lived in the area over the entire period (several decades). Suicide is often the only way out for children when confronted with a power-pedophile-cabal – case in point, this recent heartbreaking story in TX, of Ashley Billasano who committed suicide last Monday because no one (police etc.) either believed or felt they had enough proof that she was raped and pimped out by her stepfather. See: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Tweets-before-suicide-point-to-sexual-abuse-2261520.php.
Pedophile rings at high levels are linked, acros sthe county. Evidence of the Penn State ring shows up in FL and CA…among other places. I would say that to prevent any local “staunching” of evidence, which often takes place with a well publicized showing of support for a few identified victims, rah rah rah, they got some compensation, end of story…I think the Feds should also launch separate investigations. Course we run the risk of a higher level coverup, but I think the country is sick of what is making this country so sick. Or something like that.