SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 285
A Monumental Scandal
By
Roger Behra
A prestigious and famous university in America is glaringly in the spotlight of a horrendous scandal of great magnitude and concern. Penn State University is being raked over the coals because of a very serious sexual abuse situation that has been covered up, because it involved an assistant coach and other important university officials, for many years. The sexual abuse situation involved the assistant coach who was seen in the act of sodomy with a 10-year-old boy in a locker room shower on the university campus. As the details unfolded, it became know that several people became knowledgeable of the crime and failed to take and firm moral action. Instead, a cover-up was in effect for thirteen years. Everything began unfolding when the assistant coach was indicated and charged of sexually abusing a total of eight boys.
The wrong doing in the campus locker room shower was discovered by a graduate student, who did not notify the police after he failed to stop the criminal action. Instead, the graduate student notified only his father who told his son to leave the campus. The father and son did tell the university football coach, however, and the football coach did tell the proper officials, but he did not follow up when no official action was taken. The police were never notified. The whole sordid situation came to light after the assistant coach was in custody of the police on other charges of sexual abuse of young boys.
As a result of the cover-up becoming common knowledge, activities at Penn State University are in turmoil. Several careers are over and done with: the head football coach; the university Vice-President; the Athletic Director; the football Offensive Coordinator and assistant coach are all gone. And nobody knows how the three remaining football games are going to be affected, and how the numerous lawsuits are going to turn out during the coming years.
The whole episode of Penn State University should be firm in people’s minds. So much moral obligations were not exercised in the scandal. Only one person exercised weak moral action: the graduate student. Has he not notified someone (his father), there is the real possibility that the sexual abuse of the 10-year-old boy and the resulting cover-up would never have come to light. What was also very extremely bad was the fact the assistant coach was sodomized the boy in the shower was allowed to continue to be part of campus life over the years as he sexually abused seven other boys. The whole situation at Penn State University was a monumental travesty that has led to a monumental scandal that the university may never recover form. At least justice is presently taking place as the bankrupt morality is being exposed and the wide and far fallout is being contended with as the long and dark future unfolds at Penn State University.
R. B.
11-11-11