There are now two major scandals and sexual abuse investigations in the news involving coaches at Penn State University and Syracuse University and underage boys.

Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator of the Penn State University Nittany Lions football program, was arrested in November on 40 criminal counts related to sexual abuse of eight underage boys over a 15-year period from the early 1990s until the mid-2000s.  This week the first lawsuit was filed against Sandusky, with this suit coming from another victim claiming sexual abuse by Sandusky over 100 times in the early and mid 1990s.  The man who brought the lawsuit also claimed that Sandusky threatened to harm the man or the man’s family if he told anyone about the sexual abuse.  This suit is seeking at least $400,000 related to pain and suffering caused by Sandusky.

Sandusky has maintained his innocence against the charges.  However, Sandusky’s attorney Joe Amendola stated this week that if additional allegations surface, he may have to work with Sandusky and the prosecution to seek a plea agreement.

Since the Penn State University case came to light, another case related to abuse has surfaced within the Syracuse University Orangemen.  Bernie Fine, the former assistant coach of the Syracuse University men’s basketball team, allegedly sexually abused three boys sometime between the 1970s and 1990s.  As with Sandusky, Fine has denied the allegations.

In the Fine case, an audio recording made in 2002 has surfaced between Fine’s wife Laurie and one of the accusers, in which Fine’s wife indicated she was aware of her husband’s abuse but was unable to stop his behavior.  Fine was fired from his coaching position once the university became aware of the audio recording.

Fine has not been charged with a crime or arrested.  There is the possibility that, given the age of the allegations against Fine, criminal charges cannot be brought against him.

There is a great deal of controversy regarding whether officials at Penn State University and Syracuse University knew about the alleged abuse and perhaps even actively took steps to cover up the behavior.  In both cases, officials within Penn State University and Syracuse University are under scrutiny because both Sandusky and Fine used their positions within their respective sports programs to help carry out the alleged abuse.  Both men supposedly used university facilities to conduct the abuse, as well as the opportunities provided when taking the boys on trips related to university sporting events.

Coaching at the collegiate level involves a significant time commitment, which means that coaches have to spend a lot of time together.  Many believe it to be highly unlikely that other coaches or university officials were not aware of the activities, given the amount of time a coaching staff must spend on the job.  There is definitely an air of disappointment related to both cases that others appeared to know about the cases and performed at least a preliminary investigation years ago, yet little if anything was done to protect the boys involved or remove Sandusky or Fine from their positions where they had the access to continue to conduct the abuse.

Related articles

• Sandusky Arrested Again After More Allegations of Sexual Abuse (foxnews.com)
• Sandusky’s wife: Accusers fabricated stories (espn.go.com)

by Mark Johnston

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