As a Pennsylvanian, I see the Sandusky case as being analogous to Watergate and here's why:

[KharmaTrain]

12. Cover-Ups Almost Always Are As Bad As The Crime...

The underlying story here is the large amount of power and money that surrounded Paterno and the Penn State football program. I once heard someone compare the University as the replacement of the steel mills and how the football program was the catalyst for a lot of money in the region. When you have so much money and power consolidated around a few people abuses can and do happen.

Evidence points that there were others within the athletic program that knew of Sandusky's pedophilia but looked the other way as not to upset the apple cart and he used this to protect his vile activities. Any scandal was not acceptable and as long as it could be contained then no one was the wiser. Whose the media going to believe? Some goofy looking kid or the well-known, very popular coach whose wins and loses protect any closer scrutiny. Too many paychecks, too many reputations and ultimately too many victims enabled Sandusky to think he could get away with his obsessions and even think he could convince a jury to acquit him.

I've long said that this scandal won't find closure until there's a full investigation into the decades long cover-up of his activities. With his convictions, I expect a round of civil litigation to begin that may unravel who protected Sandusky...

Cheers...