It's time to forget about statues and football games and consider the children. That's the advice given tonight by child sex abuse victim turned victim's advocate Dan Leonard. Dan lives in Central New York, but he grew up in Western Pennsylvania. He has a unique position to view the Penn State University sex abuse scandal. He says the Nittany Lions deserve every bit of the punishment handed down by the NCAA.
They will lose a couple hundred million dollars in fines, penalties and lost revenue. Fans and current players will be denied the joy of conference championships and bowl games. The changes will provide a true test of the commitment of the legion of alumni and others who fill Beaver Stadium on Saturdays with 100,000 strong. The punishment will tear apart the Penn State football program as we knew it. Yet, as it turns out Penn State football wasn't what everyone thought it was anyway.
It would not have been right come September if those familiar blue and white uniforms would have run on the field without the program paying a price. It has taken time for the full impact of this scandal to sink in for the collective Penn State family. We could tell that be seeing the students reaction to the NCAA sanctions today. They stared in disbelief. They could not believe the price to be paid for allowing child sexual abuse to consider without being reported to the police.
The Freeh report offered proof that Joe Paterno knew Jerry Sandusky had done. Along with the highest level of administration they conspired to keep it a secret in the name of protecting the program. They should have been more concerned about protecting the children.
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