Penn State sex abuse scandal: Why didn't anyone call the cops?

By: Julia Dahl
Topics: Daily Blotter

Insets: Gary Schultz (top), Tim Curley, (bottom) and Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky

(Credit: AP Photo/Andy Colwell, Patriot-News; Pa. Office of Attorney General; Gene J. Puskar)

(CBS) - The question many people are asking in the wake of the sex abuse scandal at Penn State is simply this: Why didn't anyone call the cops?

The explosive grand jury report found that at least eight people at Penn State had either witnessed former coach Jerry Sandusky molesting children, or been told that others had witnessed abuse. And yet, it seems, not one of them informed law enforcement authorities.

Pictures: Who's who in the Penn State child sex abuse scandal
Pictures: Joe Paterno
Pictures: Child-sex scandal rocks Penn State

All states have laws compelling "mandatory reporters" - including teachers and other school personnel, social workers, physicians and child care providers - to report child abuse to authorities. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 47 states impose penalties for failing to report child abuse, with 39 of those states classifying the offense as a misdemeanor.

But according to several experts, the two Penn State administrators who have been charged with failing to report what they had learned about Sandusky are among only a few who have been charged with the crime in years.

Frank Cervone, executive director of the Support Center for Child Advocates, told Crimesider he can think of only two other cases where someone was charged with failure to report. One is the ongoing case of Kansas City, Mo. bishop Robert W. Finn, the clergyman charged in connection with the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal; the other is the 1994 case of a Philadelphia doctor who was accused of not reporting suspected physical abuse of his minor patient.

Scott Berkowitz, President of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), was similarly unable to recall other cases.

Neither could Howard Davidson, the director of the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law. However, Davidson says "I have to believe people are prosecuting failure to report," but because there is no national data on the offense or its prosecution, no one knows how often or under what circumstances.

"In almost every state failure to report is a misdemeanor, which sends a big, loud message that we're not going to take this seriously as a crime," says Berkowitz. "Civil suits, on the other hand, have made institutions pay attention. [For now] big judgments seem to be more effective than fear of running afoul of these misdemeanors."

In Pennsylvania, where former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz have been charged, failing to report child abuse doesn't even rise to the level of a crime for the first violation, says Cervone.

As Curley's attorney Caroline Roberto reportedly put it at her client's arraignment Monday, the charge amounts to nothing more than a "speeding ticket."

That may not be the case for long, however. On Thursday, Pennsylvania State Rep. Kevin Boyle (D-Philadelphia) announced he plans to introduce legislation that would mandate that people who witness abuse must report it to legal authorities, not just their supervisor.

"In light of the alleged child sex abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State University, it is clear that a loophole exists in our law," Boyle said in a statement. "My legislation would close that loophole by requiring those who are aware of the abuse to report it to law enforcement authorities, rather than simply following an in-house chain of command."

Maureen Farrell-Stevenson, the director of the National Association of Counsel for Children, says that the Penn State case is likely to prompt legislators all over the country to take a look at their reporting laws and "see if they are adequate."

According to Cervone, head of the Support Center for Child Advocates, Pennsylvania has actually addressed this issue before. In 2006, after revelations about how the Catholic Church covered up abuse within its ranks chilled the public, the legislature amended the state's mandatory reporting law.

Before the new law went into effect in 2007, Cervone explains, "In order to trigger the duty to report, a child had to actually come before the reporter who was dealing with the child in a 'professional capacity.' But the scenario that happened over and over was that a parent would hear from their child that a pastor touched them, and then go to another pastor and say this is what my child told me. But then the pastor didn't have to report because the child didn't go before him directly."

"The mind of the original statute," continues Cervone, "was we're not going to cause a duty to report with strictly heresay information, but the legislature saw this as a silly farce," and in 2006 passed a law that eliminated the language mandating that a child come before you. The new law, says Cervone, requires that anyone in an organization with reasonable cause to suspect child abuse must report their concerns to state authorities.

Still, because Curley and Schultz are charged with failing to report crimes that allegedly occurred in 2002, Cervone believes that their defense will be that they are not mandatory reporters because the abused child didn't actually come before them.

"When people don't report suspicions of abuse, it's terrible for the victims," says Berkowitz, the president of RAINN. "Abusers often get their victims not to tell by convincing them that no one will believe you. Any victim looking now at how [the leaders at Penn State] reacted may think, 'my abuser was right, no one does care.'"

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by jap8ball November 15, 2011 7:15 AM EST: i can't understand how they are punishing joe paterno for the scandal at penn state, i agree that he should have spoken up when nothing was done after he reported it to his superiors, but a can't understand how the coach(red head) that saw the sexual abuse is walking the streets and still has a job at penn state, plus they put him on leave with pay.come on there are alot of other heads that should roll in this case.; Reply to this comment


by Imthaid2 November 13, 2011 7:48 PM EST: "Why didn't anyone call the cops?"

Because ANYONE who enjoys football is gay. Men running around in tights, groping and tackling each other is about as gay as gay gets. That ball is just a distraction from the real meaning of football.; Reply to this comment


by resnin November 13, 2011 7:41 PM EST: Maybe Joe was under the impression that they had talked or whatever with the guy. To go to the police looks more that he was stepping over their authority. Today when he looks back and knows about their dismissal probably he thinks, as we do, that he should have done more.
Now, let us consider that we are living in days when children still being abused and what are "we" doing about? Those children are paying attention and filling left out. Maybe thinking that they have to endure few more years down the road to in order to be rescued. The most I hear on the media is "how to spot if your child is abused". Let's talk direct with those kids like: "If you are abused look for help". Saturate de media, the internet, the schools, wherever they may be because they are listening.; Reply to this comment


by race-relations-expert November 13, 2011 3:12 AM EST: This human diaster has got me on edge-this man was doing exactly what he was conditioned to do-and the people who kept the eye witness accounts secret. I don't get how one cannot be disturbed when you go into a shower and stumble upon an adult man sexin a young boy and don't go directly to authorities-I mean-where is the question? First there was the catholic priests-then Oprah and her 200 men wh...o were all sexually abused as children-Now this Penn State thing is a confirmation that many of our American societies are breeding this behavior-Today, we gotta protect each others children-I mean who knows if he was currently lookin for a new kid-this destroys the spirit when you carry the secret and don't tell-carrying around something that doesn't belong to you.

If you know a well respected man in your community and you know he's been asking young.
boys to do sexual things-several jr. high students come home and tell their parents what this teacher has asked them to do-what do the adults who recieve this information do with it? NOTHING- because black people don't turn in their pediphiles-I'm just sayin...; Reply to this comment

by cybervigilante November 12, 2011 12:59 AM EST

Let's face it, football is gay.

One guy bends way over and another puts his hands between his legs.

They pat each other on the bum.

All those big, burly men in hot showers.

Come on, gimmee a break.

Reply to this comment


by vista8635 November 12, 2011 5:47 AM EST: Don't try to merge pedophilia with homosexuality you pedo, because gays will cut a bitaach!


by Imthaid2 November 13, 2011 7:50 PM EST: Gee vista...which side of that fence are you on?


by cybervigilante November 12, 2011 12:47 AM EST: "Boinking isn't the most important thing; it's the only thing." --Jerry Sandusky; Reply to this comment


by trololoman November 11, 2011 11:39 PM EST: Well when winning championships becomes more important than doing the right thing it makes sense that no one reported sandusky for his heinous crimes; Reply to this comment

by MacDerb November 11, 2011 11:18 PM EST

Asking the Wrong Experts
Try consulting those that have reported and experienced vigilante attempts on their lives for reporting - and did so because another's life depended on it!

Reply to this comment


by cybervigilante November 12, 2011 12:52 AM EST: If you tell on the powerful and have no power, there is a pretty good chance you will take it in the neck. I've dealt with whistleblowers, and after the publicity goes away, the knives of the powerful come out. I recall one who went to jail for crimes actually done by the company he reported, thanks to bought witnesses and a kangaroo court. They shut him up good and had their revenge.


by samuraisurgeon November 11, 2011 10:05 PM EST: If the allegations against Sandusky are even partially true, others at Penn State would seem to be involved in more than just a cover-up. Joe Paterno and his assistant coaches, reportedly continued to associate themselves with Sandusky long after they knew or should have known he was a pedophile. Also the PSU administration continued to provide Sandusky and his vulnerable children charges access to the University facilities long after charges of child rape were first levied against Sandusky. Even the assistant coach McQueary who witnessed Sandusky raping a boy continued to associate himself with Sandusky after the assault. The suspicious death of Ray Gricar, the first prosecutor who investigated Sandusky in 1998 adds to questions raised about the Penn State scandal.
It is hard for me to believe that misguided friendship for Sandusky or loyalty to the football team caused the apparent cover-up. Paterno and his assistant coaches continued association with Sandusky and indifference to the allegations against him makes it seem that more than mere friendship and loyalty is at play here. Also the University Administration's continued association with and support of Sandusky cannot be explained by friendship, loyalty or fear of scandal. Fear of scandal might have been a motive for a cover-up but fear of scandal would have made everyone who knew what was likely going on disassociate themselves from Sandusky. I fear that everyone's continued association with Sandusky means that more than just an assistant coach was involved with pedophilia at PSU. Clearly a more comprehensive investigation of Gricar's death is warranted. People who commit suicide almost always are making a statement. That statement cannot be made if their body and no note are left behind. Suicide victims typically want their body to be discovered. Where is Gricar's body?; Reply to this comment


by xmassan November 11, 2011 9:44 PM EST: Someone had to have called the cops! The district attorney investigated Sandusky in 1998 and 2000. Most people wouldn't bypass the police and go to a court commissioner or, their district attorney's office. They would call 911. And why didn't someone at the Second Mile wonder why the district attorney was investigating Sandsusky?; Reply to this comment