In the PSU thread at the time, I posed the question, say Sandusky was not a child molester but was a con man running scams. Did the same type of things, used PSU and the football program to lure people in, got them to invest, and basically stole their money. Do you have the same gut reaction? Does the NCAA do the same thing? There was a mix of reactions. To me that says, it is more the type of crime that had people up in arms not the actual act. Because the crimes were so grotesque, people reacted more harshly. In other words, emotion played too large a role. There should be no emotion.
Also, it should be noted that the incident McQueary spoke of, was one of the few indictments in which Sandusky was found not guilty. Maybe not quite so cut and dry afterall.
i have a friend who when he was young was repeatedly molested by a man at church. this guy is now a career criminal, in and out of jail, and has serious emotional problems. you can see the wildness in his eyes, it's absolutely tragic. his siblings are all the exact opposite, they're stable and make good decisions. that pedophile ruined that boy's psyche.
this kind of crime is completely on a different level than theft. money can be recovered; when you abuse a child you're dealing severe emotional damage which will likely never fully go away.
and regarding the response to abuse, the abuse of my friend was actually discovered at the church itself; the police were immediately called by an adult who witnessed it, and the rapist was banned from the church and went to prison. hopefully he has never done it again. the church handled it the right way.
penn state should have done the same, but they dragged their feet because they didn't want to threaten their idol and cash cow, penn state college football.
i think they got off lightly, in retrospect.