Sunday, May 6, 2012

Jerry Sandusky Was Running An Overnight Football Camp For Kids On Penn State Campus in 2009



Oops, my bad...this actually isn't "breaking" news at all. It was reported by the website Deadspin on November 6th, 2011 and for whatever reason it never got picked up. I just happened to run across this story in the process of researching something else-even my friends who live in PA and have been following this story closely had no idea.

But yes, it appears that after learning that Jerry Sandusky was raping children in their locker rooms, Penn State officials did what any reasonable institution would do-they asked Jerry to hand over his keys and please kindly take his forcible sodomy to a more discreet location. Like, say, their satellite campus in Erie PA:

According to the organizations now defunct website:

The goal of the camp is to learn as much about the game of football while having an enjoyable experience. Jerry Sandusky's personal experience and his excellent staff will cater to each individual camper helping them to reach their personal potential. With a variety of individual drills for every position team drills, and games, the participants will be able to build a solid fundamental background for which they can carry the rest of their lives. They will walk away with many of the ideas and concepts Jerry Sandusky has used during his brilliant career. A career that included two national championships and 28 bowl appearances! Lessons on life discipline, teamwork, trust, and loyalty will be stressed in motivational speeches by great guest speakers and selected video presentations. Regular camp instructors will include members of Jerry's family, other college and high school coaches, and former Penn State players.

Included in the brochure for the sleepover camp is this legal disclaimer:

"It is understood that Penn State Behrend, the directors, or anyone connected with the college will not assume any responsibility for accident (medical or dental) or any other expenses incurred as a result of accidents. The college is not responsible for lost equipment."

And apparently, not responsible for lost childhoods either.

It is worth noting that Deadspin, which describes itself as "Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion" PSU hired it's elite Public Relations team to handle media coverage, among other things.

It is safe to say that the Public Relations campaign worked-something that PSU president Rodney Erickson seemed positively giddy about mere days after Jerry Sandusky was charged with multiple counts of child rape-he triumphantly stated "We are taking control of our narrative"

He might not have control over that narrative for much longer, though.

Indeed, as the Sandusky trial gears up we are learning more and more about the other players in this horrific saga. In March,Federal Authorities began their own investigation into Penn State Cover-ups, bribes, fraud, misuse of government funds appear to be the focus of their investigation.

At the center of all of this is the often overlapping interests of Penn State and Second Mile, Jerry Sandusky's charity, and their ties to the big name donors and politicians who sat on their respective boards. At the top of this sordid totem pole is Governor Tom Corbett who was both acting Attorney General AND receiving generous campaign donations from both institutions and their alumni while his office was conducting the Sandusky investigation. Something doesn't smell right there, to put it mildly.

But priorities, people. Priorities.As Roxine diaried about earlier, PSU has just elected 2 new members to their board of trustees, and they know that some things just take precedence over figuring out how a serial pedophile was able to use their campuses as his personal playground for over 2 decades and maybe, ya know, doing something about it:


"I don't think we can get the alumni behind any of the other issues until we get the Paterno issue resolved," [newly elected board member Anthony Lubrano] said after today's meeting. "That's really the elephant in the room."

[SNIP]

"Let's just admit that we made a mistake, apologize, and then we can move on," Lubrano said. "Because if the alumni are happy they're going to give and they're going to help us bridge the obvious budget gaps we're going to have because the state is going to cut appropriations."

Yes, must make the alum happy so they start opening up those wallets again! That's what's it's all about, isn't it.

That apology he speaks of, by the way, is not for the victims.

It's for Joe Paterno.

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