And now, a moment about the victims

Posted at 10:30 AM on November 10, 2011 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

"Everybody's talking about (Jerry) Sandusky and everybody's talking about Joe Paterno and, you know, what's the university going to do for these boys?" hockey star Theo Fleury told CBS News this morning.

Fleury, who was sexually abused as a young player by a coach, suggests people should be less concerned about the legacy of football coach Joe Paterno, and more concerned about getting some help for some kids who probably need it.

"I'm sure they have a psychology and psychiatry faculty there where they can draw on those resources and get these boys the help that they need. It took me 27 years to come to a place of... being comfortable in my own skin again. And, you know, my wish is that...somebody takes the bull by the horns here and reaches out to these boys who have gone through what they have gone through," Fleury said.

We've yet to hear from any of the victims of the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, but the sister of one victim says she's stopped going to most classes at Penn State because her brother's misery is the stuff jokes are made of:

"I've been going to minimal classes, because every class I go to I get sick to my stomach. People are making jokes about it. I understand they don't know I'm involved and it was my brother, but it's still really hard to swallow that."

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Comments (7)

Round of applause for the kid with the sign!

Posted by Heather | November 10, 2011 10:43 AM

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Paterno may not be sexually abused victim, but he helped sandusky get away with his crimes. Funny how demigods can be exalted even when their actions were wrong or poor. Round of applause for the PSU board of trustees.

Posted by Aaron | November 10, 2011 11:58 AM

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Why does the hammer fall so hard when there is sex involved? If the shattered lives of a few young men can bring such an angry response, where is the outrage at the shattered lives of millions of American families from the irresponsibility of Wall Street bankers and the Government that lets them get away with it?

Posted by Doug Fredlund | November 10, 2011 12:25 PM

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Doug said "Why does the hammer fall so hard when there is sex involved?"

Um, I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that the victims of said "sex" are little kids! In my opinion, the hammer cannot possibly fall hard enough if these allegations prove to be true.

Posted by andy | November 10, 2011 12:34 PM

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I'm amazed that people are outraged over what happened to Paterno. He ADMITTED that he did something wrong! He stated that he should have done more after being told about the abuse! How can people be surprised or angry that he was fired after he said, "I wish I had done more."?!? He wasn't told that someone stole a pack of baseball cards. He wasn't told that someone cheated on a test. He was told by a distraught eyewitness that his assistant coach was seen raping a 10 year old boy in the showers! What did Paterno do? He told the athletic director about it and told the accused to stay away from the school. Did he try to help the victim? No! Did he tell the police? No! Should he have? Absolutely! Who would want a person with such horrible judgement in charge of their football program? Nobody! So the school fired him? Why are people upset or surprised?!?

Posted by jeff | November 10, 2011 12:35 PM

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The comments from the victim's sister are shocking to me, I cannot imagine students make any kind of jokes. How could there be jokes about this? What kind of people are these students at Penn State?

Posted by Bonnie | November 10, 2011 12:55 PM

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"What kind of people are these students at Penn State? "

These are college kids, the same type you'll find on any campus in the US. Virtually none of them have ever experienced anything this tragic personally and do not comprehend the severity of what happened.

I can tell you from personal experience that the overwhelming sentiment on campus is shock and dismay. Everyone is talking about this story. What's been disorienting is the amount of coverage (satellite vans, front page of NYT/Strib/anywhere else). Some people cope by making disrespectful jokes, but there is no more malice in these students than anywhere else. Current students might view Paterno's actions in a milder light, but many alumni seem to agree with the Board of Trustees' (correct) decision.

Lumping all the students together is wrong. Yes there was a riot last night, but there was also a riot the night that Osama Bin Laden was killed. A bunch of college age kids full of emotion in a town with nothing to do can bring about poor decisions.

But don't forget that Penn State students also run the largest student-run philanthropic organization in the world (http://www.thon.org/), which benefits children with pediatric cancer. Many events throughout the year will feature the phrase "FTK", For The Kids.

Posted by Anthony | November 10, 2011 2:11 PM

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