Friday, February 1, 2013

"OUR JOB WAS TO FIND THOSE KIDS"


“[W]e felt like we had no shot” winning in court with just a single victim testifying against Mr. Sandusky, who “walked on water” as an assistant for 31 years to the famous Penn State head coach, Joe Paterno.
So they looked for other victims. “You very rarely find a predator in those circumstances who only molested one kid,” said Mr. Feathers, now retired. “Our job was to find those kids.”  -- "Investigation to Focus on Governor’s Handling of Penn State Abuse Case,"  New York Times, 1/29/13
"Our job was to find those kids." But they didn't. Not one.

The now-retired narcotics agent assigned to manage the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse case never tracked down a victim. From March 2009 to December 2010 - for 21 long months - not a single victim was identified. 

It was journalist Sara Ganim who prompted the mother of Victim 6 to contact investigators in December 2010, and it was Victim 6's mother who identified Victims 3, 4, 5 and 7 using Sandusky's autobiography - apparently it hadn't occurred to investigators to read it, if they even were aware of its existence.

Victim 6 was the boy whose complaint against Sandusky was dismissed by Centre County District Attorney's office in 1998. But Corbett's investigative team (by then, all of two investigators) never found him. His mother found them - 21 months after they claim to have started looking.

Victim 2, the boy whom then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary saw in the shower with Sandusky in 2001, was not identified before the trial. An anonymous email tip to the Centre County D.A.'s office in November 2010 alerted investigators to the incident. Victim 2 has since contacted lawyers and intends to sue Penn State. (Note; media accounts differ on the date the Centre County D.A.'s office received this email. According to the Inquirer's account of Investigator Anthony Sassano's testimony, it was in 2010. According to Time magazine, it was 2008. Other accounts do not list the date. McQueary testified that he was interviewed by investigators in November of 2010.)

Victim 8, the boy whom Penn State janitor Jim Calhoun witnessed engaged in a sexual encounter with Sandusky in 2000, has never been identified.  Another janitor contacted investigators in March 2011 to report the incident.

Eight victims. None of whom was discovered by an investigator. Victims 1 and 6, or their mothers, approached investigators themselves. Victims 3, 4, 5, and 7 were identified by the mother of Victim 6. Victims 2 and 8 were not identified.

According to Not PSU's timeline of the case, based on news accounts, the Freeh report and Victim 1's book, Silent No More, Corbett's office learned of the 1998 investigation involving Victim 6 in June 2009. How is it possible investigators never contacted Victim 6's mother until she called them 18 months later?

It's a blatant lie that Corbett couldn't arrest Sandusky on the complaint of a single victim. Prosecutors, including Corbett, do it all the time. But if he's insisting that he needed to identify more victims, why didn't he try to find them? 




17 comments:

Anonymous said...

The notpsu website is excellent. It is obvious to me that everything Corbett does is political. He is the worst excuse for a leader in government.

Can you imagine a sitting Attorney General collecting campaign contributions from the people associated with an organization under investigation?

Corbett failed in his Oath of Office to protect the citizens of Pa.

Corbett and Harley insult our intelligence by justifying the unprofessional action. There must be a law against the practice.

If Corbett wanted to get Sandusky he would have assigned his Child Predator Unit to take Sandusky off the streets.

Corbett must be impeached for his on the job failures.

Anonymous said...

What is going to be so bad is that the Investigators will be held accountable for not doing more sooner and many of them know it too.

Corbett and Frank Fina already have that arranged once the Special Prosecutor comes along asking questions.

Anonymous said...

I see the social network rumors reporting that AG Kane is going to a special prosecutor to review the Sandusky investigation. If that is true, it means the case is so political that Corbett is facing criminal charges. The problem is, impeachment and loss of his law license are the only punishments available to the citizens. The Governor and prosecutors have immunity from almost any charges. Let's hope the truth comes out and this state starts to cleanup its act.

Anonymous said...

Corbett’s week started off with a new Quinnipiac poll showing 42 percent of voters disapprove of his governor-handling skills, which is up from 40 percent in November, not looking good and this was before his son-in-law got into legal trouble.

Even worse, Corbett's highest disapproval figure (48 percent) and lowest approval figure (27 percent) came from the Shaler Township resident’s own Allegheny County. Ouch. That has to sting a bit.

Additionally, a Public Policy Polling survey that had Corbett’s approval rating at 38 percent and against several potential Democratic challengers never topped 42 percent.

Moreover, Plummeting approval numbers, caused Corbett to save himself by suinge NCAA over the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky sanctions, iring more state troopers, and ump $1 billion into education by privatizing state liquor stores.

Also, Corbett’s liquor privatizing plan sent even Republicans running for cover and his deal to privatize a profitable state lottery to a British Company was cut before the Legislature could hold scheduled hearings.

Furthermore, Corbett neglected to mention to any local folks, including the ones in the Legislature, that two state prisons were going to be closed.

Finally, There is no strong base of support for Corbett among any income or age groups or in any region of the state.

Well, it’s not good for him. For the rest of us, it’s a cause for optimism.

Anonymous said...

The Special Prosecutor will look at, among other things:

1. Whether enough agents and investigators were dedicated to the investigation at the start?

2. Why Sandusky wasn’t arrested after the first credible case was built?

3. Why Corbett’s staff took the case before a grand jury?

4. Did campaign contributions from board members of The Second Mile, Sandusky’s youth charity, influence matters?

Watch out OAG Investigators and Attorneys your Time Slips are about to be looked at and any not there will make you a target of Obstruction of Justice.

Best way to survive, be one of the first to tell the entire truth and seek Immunity before others attempt it.

Corbett is no longer popular and cannot do anything about saving anyone including Frank Fina!

Anonymous said...

Ethics is reverse pornogrophy...you know porn when you see it....you know unethical behavior when you don't see it.

It's often these very fine lines that get crosed and then turns to illegal behavior.

No one should be above the law, many people in power think laws are made for others.

Must be Harrisburgh's version of punishing by reward? Hmmm...

Anonymous said...

A few more questions need to be investigated.

5. Why was the Sandusky case taken into a statewide investigating grand jury, which would by definition slow the pace?

6. Were there enough resources available to thoroughly pursue the case?

7. Who was managing the investigation, and did political considerations ever enter into their decisions?

In addition, turnover may help compartmentalize the issue, legal analysts noted.

Most lead investigators in the Sandusky case have either retired or left for other positions in the transition from a Republican to a Democratic administration, so the new attorney general won’t have to worry about undercutting her top prosecutors in the new cases.

Frank Fina, the head of the old regime’s criminal prosecution section, has moved to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.

Jonelle Eshbach, the line prosecutor working the Sandusky case and giving Paterno a pass on easy questions, left the AG’s office late last year.

Richard Sheetz, head of the office’s Criminal Law Division, also resigned this month.

Many of the Attorney General’s agents and Pennsylvania State Police troopers assigned to the case have since retired.

The key here is they all want to keep their Pensions, and if they know of wrongdoing and do not tell about it, the first to do will be given Immunity and the others will be at risks, knowing they will not lose the Pensions, but can go to jail.

Once Prosecutors are investigated, they do a horrible job if they think they can out smart Investigators and often fall aprt under critical cross examination.

In closing, on eother item may jog their memories, PSU VP Schultz Secretary turned his Sandusky-Spanier-Curley-Paterno-Schultz Emails Folders over to Freeh taht were never given to the OAG, and why more perjury and Obstruction of Justices are added to them today.

It is going to be interesting if the truth that was crushed into the earth again will rise in another way.

This is something the former AG Staffers will have nightmares about, and what Kane must find out?

Anonymous said...

Who is solely responsible for Sandusky after 1999???

After they discovered that he was showering with boys, they should have pulled all state licenses for The Second Mile.

Even if it wasn't illegal 99% would agree that it is inappropriate.

If they new earlier, it makes even worse. Like I said before, even if he was innocent, he received what he deserved for selfishly putting himself and those he loved in impropriety.

How Corbett be with Second Mile taking Campaign Donations then saying he could not tell anyone is as much as a coward than those that covered it up.

Even the AG Investigators have stated privately to some they are upset it took so long, but they kept their mouths shut on why, in fear of losing their jobs.

Anonymous said...

THERE JOB WAS TO MAKE SURE TOM CORBETT WAS ELECTED GOVERNOR AND THEY KNOW IT AND THE ONES THAT WILL LIE ABOUT WILL REGRET THAT IF THEY ARE HONEST.

Anonymous said...

There is a pattern here. Tom Corbett moves from one corrupt incident to another.

What happened to the law suit against Corbett regarding the Office of the Attorney General's Financial Enforcement Section (FES)?

Millions of dollars were alleged to have passed to collection agencies in the form of fees. FES paid one of the highest percentages of fees in the United States. FES was initiated by AG Leroy Zimmerman.

Mrs. Kane will probably spend her first term unraveling the corruption in the AG's office. She needs all the support we can give her. Good Luck!!!!

Anonymous said...

Quotes from an article about Spanier's indictment in the Jan/Feb Penn Stater:

AG Linda Kelly - "it was not an oversight. It was not misjudgement on their part. This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials, working to actively conceal the truth, with total disregard for the children who were Sandusky's victims"

Spanier's lawyer - Corbett, the former AG, knew about the allegations against Sandusky since late 2008, but did nothing until November 2011.

Corbett - Time was needed to complete the investigation.

Spanier's lawyer - "The people of this Commonwealth, and the next AG, should be outraged by this blatantly political, transparently vindictive, last minute act of cowardice and desperation"

Corbett via his press secretary - "Graham Spanier's statement is the ranting of a man who has just been indicted for covering up a convicted pedophile. His arrogance reveals a man who has just found that he is not above the law after all."

Corbett's law suit claims that the NCAA overstepped it's authority and punished the residents of Pa. He is not claiming that Spanier & the administrators are innocent. Still, he seems like an incredible hypocrite when he supports Kelly and takes shots at Spanier, TC, & GS (and indirectly JVP), then follows up to have sanctions removed.

Corbett's saying that PSU is guilty but that the NCAA had no authority. Wouldn't his case against the NCAA be more credible if he defended PSU administrators right to due process?

Anonymous said...

For those who may not be aware, in 1998 the PhD who was counseling the young boy who Sandusky took into the football coach's showers was named Dr. Alyissa Chambers.

The Mother of the young boy called Dr. Chambers at 7:30 am or 8:30 am the day after the incident. Dr. Chambers interviewed the boy that day. Dr. Chambers then consulted with her colleauges, as in plural, more than one.

A few days later Dr. Chambers provided a WRITTEN REPORT to the PENN STATE POLICE, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT, to an officer Scheffler. In Dr. Chambers WRITTEN REPORT she opined that she and her colleagues believed that Sandusky was a "likely pedophile". [See, Freeh Report at pages 42-43].

Moreover, Scheffler and his boss, the caption of PENN STATE POLICE, were under strict ORDERS to report to Schultz anything and everything about the PENN STATE POLICE investigation ("up the flagpole").

Schultz was in regular communications with AD Curley, who was in regular communications with Joe Paterno.

This notion being floated about in recent days by the Paterno Report that Sandusky had "deceived" just about everybody [see, Paterno Report at Page 12 first regular paragraph] is just not accurate. Indeed, in 1998 Sandusky was IMMEDIATELY tagged a "likely pedophile" by Dr. Chambers and her colleagues for the PENN STATE POLICE.

Little wonder for the cover-up in 2001. No action taken by anyone at Penn State. Sandusky continued to hunt for victims, and successfully so, until stopped in 2008 when caught at a high school when a courageous young man finally stopped the reign of terror and not by anything done by anyone at Penn State --- and worse, neither Paterno, Curley, Schultz, or Spannier made any effort to even identify the young boy in 2001, to get him help.

To the die hard Penn State football fan this is a NON-issue, and instead they like to engage in debate as to whether or not the young boy was even molested, and instead just hit with a towel from Sandusky, as McQueary is not to believed.

Anonymous said...

Hi Erica. How many places do you copy/paste the same Freeh-based fiction? It doesn't become fact just because you say it over and over again, you know.

Anonymous said...

I do not know Erica but I checked out Pages 42-43 on the Freeh Report and Page 12 of the Paterno Clemente Report and shh was right, Dr, Chambers did ID Sandusky way back in 1998 in a Written Report that went to State Police and PSU University Police under Schultz.

Link To The Report:
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/Chambers_Sandusky_Report_Redacted1.pdf

So they all knew in 1998 including Paterno and Mrs. Paterno's hired gun in Clemente missed it, or outright refused to place it in his report or her report.

They Spanier, Schultz, Curely and Paterno also knew in 2001 and especially in 2008 and Sandusky was still on Campus siting next to Spanier when Paterno won his 409th game in 2011 just before the Grand Jury Report was leaked by AG Kelly and to date no investigation on that leak either.

The big problem here is when AG Corbett assigned Investigators they did not ask the same tough questions of Spanier and Paterno as they did Schultz and Curley.

AG Kelly the handpicked successor to Corbett by Corbett also gave softball questions to Paterno & Spanier and not te same questions to Schultz and Curley???

PaternKNWE Too, in 1998, 2001, 2008 and 2011.

Corbett did the same thing to Republican Senators nor Staffers never being investigated for Bonusgate, and some these same former Republican Senators and Senate Staffers lobby for Camelot Gaming.

Penn National, a Pennsylvania Gaming Firm can do the same thing as British Company Camelot????

More Corbett Hypocrisy and Paterno Too!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I just read the Dr. Chambers Police Report, why Clemente ignored it is a problem that ehis own arguments as an Expert.

Penn State needs to ignore such nonsense and move on by correcting problems that happen under Paterno.

Anonymous said...

When does Corbett get charged in "Corbettgate."

Now the issue is Corbett's staff Tweeting on state time and on a state account. Sounds like Thief of Service. He already used a state driver to take him to campaign events as the AG and used Harley and his state PR office as AG to pump out extra press events in 2008 for the campaign. And what about his illegal use of his campaign cell phone as AG? The man is corrupt and hiding behind his suit.
Impeachment around the corner? Ask the House of Representatives.

Anonymous said...

He's a scumbag. He only cared about sandusky after the marcellus shale gas rush. PSU's stock skyrocketed due to land holding and ability to support the extraction industry with free research. He could care less what happens now, he made BIG BIG BIG (**multi-generational**) bones shortly after being elected.