There are many who say that's all you need to know about the why's and wherefore's about the apparent look-the-other-way attitude of alleged child sex abuse by a Penn State assistant football coach.
A grad student reportedly saw the coach raping a 10-year-old boy in the locker room. It turns out, cops allege, that there were 8 children abused by this man over a 15-year-period. But in this singular case, the cops weren't notified, and everyone who was told, apparently, took a "we'll take care of it" stance.
The fallout from such a disgusting act has been slow. Make that non-existent. Until this week.
Two university officials have been arrested for perjury, and the former assistant coach has been charged with child sexual abuse.
Now the fate of the big names becomes the story. And no one is bigger than head coach Joe Paterno. Arguably the most successful college coach, who has been on the job since LBJ was President.
He told someone above him what he had been told about his assistant coach – and that was reportedly about it.
Now there are calls for Paterno, 84, to be booted from his job. The board of trustees of Penn State is meeting on Friday to decide what action the school will take, although there is much speculation that the President of the college is about to lose his job over this as well.
Regardless, Mr. Paterno today tried to get out front of the parade that is surely against him by announcing his retirement. But it's not effective till the end of the season. Not today, not tomorrow, not Friday and certainly not Saturday, when Penn State plays its last home game of the season.
At the end of the season.
And because he's such a generous guy, Paterno offers this bit of selflessness: He advises the board that it "should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can."
The irony here is – maybe he did.
Will the board decide to not let Paterno even close to the field on Saturday? That's the highly moral question the trustees are faced with – and not just Friday. Right now.
A university that has so lucratively enjoyed the success of its football team seemed in retrospect to have been oh-so-hesitant to rock the proverbial boat.
There are many including many connected to the campus who now say it is time for Penn State to take action.
We will see.
Our Joe Torres is in State College, Pennsylvania tonight at 11, with the latest on this scandal that has rocked Penn State, college football, and every parent who sends children into sports programs – or any programs – where adults are charged with protecting them.
A lso at 11, another guy trying to hang on is in the spotlight again tonight. Herman Cain will join his fellow Republicans who want to become President at their latest debate. Our Jeff Pegues is covering it for us.
And our Tim Fleischer takes a look at the rash of houses busted recently that have been overrun with animals. Animal hoarding, it turns out, is more common than anyone thought. And Tim tonight takes a look at how this unsavory trend is costing one local town plenty.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Meteorologist Lee Goldberg with his AccuWeather forecast, and Rob Powers with the night's sports – including more on the Paterno scandal.
I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa and me, tonight at 11.
