Paterno's death complicates legal case

[Are_grits_groceries]

13. What happened isn't an unusual pattern in a lot of ways.

Sandusky didn't look like the picture of a pedophile that people imagine. A lot of people think that pedophiles can be spotted and that they look strange. In fact, most of them look like everybody else and fit right in. That's why they get away with it.

Sandusky was also friends with many people and held an important position in the football program. If you weren't very sure about accusing him, you were asking for trouble. People would jump to his defense like they did even with the horrid grand jury testimony.

Nobody saw anything overt or if they did they kept it quiet. Penn State football and Paterno held very important pride of place. Paterno had a great deal of power around the entire university, not just in the athletic department. People put their interests above that of the victims.

It is hard to believe when you think about the ugly nature of the crimes.i would have expected someone like Paterno to have acted very quickly and forcefully if he had a clue. I would think that most people would.

There was a conspiracy of silence. This could have been a tacit understanding to look the other way or maybe people were given some strong hint. I don't believe they will uncover all of the connections and lapses in judgement.

They tried to get rid of the problem by letting Sandusky go. It was quiet for a long time. However, once it got out, they had to know it was going to be a huge problem or maybe they were in denial. By not doing anything, it blew up on them.