The Penn State tragedy cannot end after a 48 hour media cycle. The issues that have arisen from this tragedy are too great. The apparent length of time that children were molested, the money surrounding the whole sordid scandal possibly fueling a motivation for cover-up, the suggested misuse of a children's tax exempt entity to facilitate child molestation, and just the mere ugliness of the whole disgusting affair mandates that more be done. In my previous blog post, I discussed the responsibility to the children. Apparently as long as the Penn State coaches believe that they should incite players and students to wear white armbands in the Nebraska game in support of Joe Paterno, instead of blue armbands in support of the child victims, I have no faith that the culture condoned in the 'good ole boys' locker room will end. So, it is time for the federal prosecutors to step up, step in, and start investigating something important for a change -- the issue of whether child molestation was tacitly condoned or covered-up by Penn State and/or The Second Mile and its personnel.
Start forgetting those athletes like the adult Barry Bonds and whether he lied about his own steroid use by not answering a question completely in front of a grand jury. The taxpayers did not need to spend millions of dollars on that multi-year prosecution that mattered to few of us. Forget the Groundhog Day criminal trial of Roger Clemens and whether he lied to Congress, one mistrial already is enough. I for one don't want my tax dollars to fund this already inept and socially insignificant case. Forget going after high profile defendants for mediocre crimes that do not affect most of our children or us. In this day and age of austerity- the federal government should be investigating alleged brutal crimes that matter.
So here is the important one to start with -- the Penn State scandal. It is real. It is significant. And it has major ramifications. It may involve a possible cover-up of a serial child rapist. It may involve the possible interstate transport of children cross state lines to go to sporting events so that they could become easy targets for an alleged serial child molester Jerry Sandusky. Start investigating whether or not children were pimped to high priced donors to see whether that charity -- The Second Mile was funded through illegal child sexual activity. Start investigating if Jerry Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999 in some kind of deal to put a lid on his actions. Start investigating whether any coaches were given positions at Penn State so that they did not take their observations to law enforcement. Start investigating whether Penn State failed to report alleged crimes as required by federal law. Start investigating whether the college used any monies for settlements or otherwise relating to these matters and then had to rely on federal grant money to fill its needs. You know -- kind of like your indictment against former Senator and vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. These suggestions are not accusations but they are reasonable questions that need answering by a complete and full investigation.
The federal government has the tools needed for a far-reaching multi-entity, multi-jurisdictional criminal investigation. Perhaps this is the case to appropriately use your power to find answers so it does not happen again. The children victims here are far more important than John Edwards, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.