A status crime does not require mens rea.

in 2003, Baylor basketball nearly got the death penalty, one player murdered another and the coach tried to cover it up and paint the victim as a drug dealer to hide the fact he was giving the kid cash. probably the worst scandal in ncaa basketball history.

in 2010 they were in the Elite 8 and they're now getting top recruits and #12 in the preseason poll. and that's Baylor, not a place with a lot of tradition of athletic success.

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The only reason JoePa wasn't arrested/threatened with perjury like the others, from what I have read, is that he was never asked to give a statement under oath. Was he? The fact he didn't report this to OUTSIDE authorities, as is apparently REQUIRED BY PENNSYLVANIA LAW, makes him culpable of a crime here. So to answer your question about what should JoePa do...CALL THE ****ING POLICE or at least instruct your grad assistant who apparently, laughably, worships you to report this to the police.

Not relevant to my point.

Yeah that was my initial take on it, though it's hard to argue with the shouts in this thread that he should simply have picked up the phone and called the police himself.

Either way, if he just washed his hands of it once he reported it to the AD and never followed up it is pretty indefensible.

yeah, not to mention, if you're an elected official in central Pennsylvania, and you want to charge living legend Joe Paterno with being complicit in a child rape case, your evidence has to be air ****ing tight and completely indisputable or your career is over

How's that? I thought you were wondering about the "intent" element of the crime of failure to report. I guess I read it wrong; what were you referring to?

Looks like Sandusky is going to get to spend plenty of time with younger men as a result of this one; here's hoping everyone else involved also gets a pounding although it's more likely they'll get a slap on the wrist since that's how these things go.

Penn State is done for the near future - they will be known for years as the "young boy raper" program. I am an alum from grad school and the conversations with random ppl inevitably end up being about Paterno and football when you mention the school. Now they'll probably just end up in awkward silence.

Imagine the recruiting battles. "I'd like to remind you that their assistant was a pedophile and a dozen people knew about it including the coach and the AD yet the police didn't find out for 10 years. We run a clean program over here at Podunk U."

Yeah, well I mean I realize JoePa isn't going to be indicted for anything regarding this whole matter. I am just saying that if the law that I read from one of the links is, in fact the law in PA then JoePa broke that law. But yes, like you said, nothing is going to happen to him because zomg he is the coach of Penn State FOOTBALL. ****ing backwoods hypocrites.

I'm not contending the man didn't violate the law because he didn't know what the law was. I'm arguing that the man isn't a horrible person who deserves to spend years in prison because he had no preparation for this situation and immediately reported it to somebody. He didn't cover anything up. The people above him did. Prosecutorial discretion exists for a reason, and this man doesn't deserve to be charged based on what I know.

I've seen way too many people come in with their infant who has a femur fracture claiming complete ignorance to want to stick this guy in prison. He tried to do right, he just didn't execute well. The others didn't even try.

How about not let the guy bring an 11 year old to practices a few years later?

I'm not sure. I didn't read anything that stated JoPa witnessed anything. I guess, from your interpretation of the law, after the grad assistant and her father (? or someone who came along to report to JoPa); JoPa; AND the AD all should have gone to the police to report the matter?

I haven't seen the law in question, so I don't really know who would be criminally culpable here. I would think that what the grad assistant and JoPa did (report to the AD) would be sufficient under the law.

Indeed, neither JoPa, nor the assistant seem to be in any criminal trouble. If the law was as cut-and-dried as you say, there is an easy case there. Yet, nobody has been charged under this alleged "failure to report" law.

I suggest we have someone present the law in question and then we can debate whether it was broken by JoPa. Until then, I think calling for JoPa's arrest, etc. is too much.

Yes, but at the end of the day it is in the hands of the fact finder and what a "reasonable person" would do. I think that when a "reasonable person" walks into a football locker room and sees a 60 year old man pinning a 10 year old boy up against a wall and engaging in anal sex with that boy they report it to the police, not Joe Paterno. I am not saying the grad assistant is a "horrible person" but in this case he broke the law and should be punished for doing so.

And I know you or others will come back with the whole "well he reported to a higher authority in JoePa." I mean, come on. A FOOTBALL COACH isn't higher authority imo when it comes to a situation like this. There isn't a defense to stupidity.

All of this JoePA should he have reported it blah blah stuff is all bull**** anyway.

He saw a grown man, who he had major evidence of sexually assaulting a 10 year old boy, bring an 11 year old boy to practice a few years later and didn't ****ing kill the guy. He deserves to be fired. That's ****ing insane.

wow.....

Going to the person and organization you trust most is not unreasonable. Covering up the act is unreasonable.

I agree here. So, essentially, you are saying whatever the law may be, it would be a bit harsh without exploring the person's mindset behind his failure to act properly.

Yet, with status cases (like filing a false tax return, speeding, trespassing, etc.) mens rea is not an element.

To further your point, the law seeks to avoid putting otherwise innocent people in a moral quandry. This is the entire purpose of the "bystander laws." You have a right to ignore something, but once you get involved you have a duty to perform as a reasonable person would.

I don't think a reasonable person considers a college football program a more trusting organization than the police or FBI...

God...I don't even know why I am still opening this thread. This **** is so true...yet I get more sick thinking about it.

I haven't read the actual law being cited by some articles here but what I get from it is that anyone with an eyewitness account of a sexual assault must report it to authorities and authorities is not defined the athletic director of sports at a university or the head football coach. This is only based on how it is being described in these articles though so you can go through the PA Code at your leisure if you wish....

I didn't see where this happened. Could you provide a quote or link? Indeed, if that happened, JoPa should certainly be fired.

You think it's irrational to place more trust in an organization that you spend nearly every day instead of an organization where you probably know nobody? I get that going to the police is the right decision, but that doesn't make the GA the supreme *******. He's clearly trying to do right and is in completely over his head.

You'd be surprised how many people wouldn't even do the things he did.

@SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS
After all of that, in 2007, Paterno allowed Sandusky to bring 11 yr old boy, who he was raping at the time, to multiple practices.

Also, reading the Grand Jury report is seems that:

The graduate assistant
Father of the graduate assistant
Paterno
Tim Curley A.D.
Dr. Jack Raykovitz of The Second Mile
Gary Schultz
Graham Spanier University President

All were told about the matter and did not act.


Another relevant excerpt from the Grand Jury Report:

Leaving aside how damning this is overall, the bolded does seem to indicate that Paterno was not legally obliged to make a report to the police himself, that responsibility fell upon his superiors.