7/4/2023 0 Comments Joe patterno in jailI’m not a fan of Wahlberg and Peter Berg (the film’s director) to begin with, but the two seemed to be capitalizing and profiting off a film made about a terrible tragedy in our nation’s recent history. That movie felt like pure exploitation and nationalism at its finest. Then there’s movies like last year’s Patriot’s Day, which starred Mark Wahlberg as a fictional police officer who, remarkably, was at the Boston Marathon bombings and then served as the focal point for every part of its manhunt and investigation. It was poignant, subtle and completely moving. There is a way to make a film like this, and I point to 2015’s Spotlight, which focused on the Roman Catholic Church’s cover-up of child molestation through the eyes of Boston Globe reporters, as the model for the Paterno one, in terms of tone and style. “I find it really hard to believe that he doesn’t remember every detail of the most serious mistake he ever made,” Boccabella said.The question is whether a movie about this scandal needs to be made at all. The judge came down hardest on Curley, however, saying the sports department was his responsibility and questioning Curley’s claims of memory lapses on the stand during Spanier’s trial. Prosecutors reserved some of their harshest words for Spanier, with Chief Deputy Attorney General Laura Ditka saying he was “a complete and utter failure as a leader when it mattered most.” She said his inaction “allowed children to be harmed.” “For them to bring that up and bring Joe Paterno into this, it’s an abuse of their office,” he said. Paterno’s son, Jay Paterno, said Friday that his father had followed the law in alerting Curley and Schultz, and that prosecutors have no evidence that Paterno tried to protect Sandusky. “What was it about that conversation that made you change your mind?” Schulte said, referring to the ex-athletic director.Ĭurley, Schultz and Spanier have denied they were told the encounter in the shower was sexual in nature. Prosecutor Patrick Schulte said Curley at one point had drawn up a plan to report Sandusky to state authorities, but “something changed after talking to coach Paterno.” Paterno “could have made that phone call without so much as getting his hands dirty,” Boccabella said. Paterno was fired but never charged with a crime he died of lung cancer at age 85 two months after Sandusky’s arrest.īoccabella noted that others who were aware of McQueary’s report, including McQueary and Paterno, could have called police. More than 100 of Paterno’s victories were briefly erased from the record books.īoth the judge and prosecutors Friday thrust blame onto Paterno himself. Penn State has paid out nearly a quarter-billion dollars in fines, settlements and other costs associated with the scandal, and the football program suffered heavy NCAA sanctions. Sandusky was found guilty the next year of sexually abusing 10 boys and is serving 30 to 60 years in prison. Sandusky was not arrested until 2011, after a prosecutor got an anonymous email tip. Prosecutors said that after McQueary recounted what he saw, the three administrators decided not to report it to authorities to protect the university’s reputation. The case hinged on coaching assistant Mike McQueary’s claim that he witnessed Sandusky - a retired member of the coaching staff who ran a charity for youngsters - molesting a boy in the team showers in 2001. Spanier said he regretted that “I did not intervene more forcefully.” Schultz said: “It really sickens me to think I might have played a part in children being hurt.” They all apologized in the courtroom to Sandusky’s victims before the sentences were handed down. They pleaded guilty to child endangerment. Former vice president Gary Schultz, 67, was given six to 23 months, with two months behind bars. He was convicted of child endangerment.įormer athletic director Tim Curley, 63, received a sentence of seven to 23 months, with three in jail. Boccabella said he was “appalled that the common sense to make a phone call did not occur,” a transgression that “sort of robs my faith of who we are as adults and where we are going.”įormer President Graham Spanier, 68, was sentenced to four to 12 months, with the first two in jail and the rest under house arrest.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |