Penn State Child Abuse Scandal: Impact on Sports Organizations

Running Head: SPORTS AND SOCIETY
Sports and Society
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

1SPORTS AND SOCIETY
Section 1
The Penn State child abuse scandal was widely covered by media over a period of 15
years and continue to be one of the most debatable cases in the history of recorded sexual abuse
in sports organizations. Although the incident(s) took place way back in the late 1970s to early
20s, they were not revealed until late 2011 when the grand jury released a report containing the
testimony to the crimes of Jerry Sandusky, former defensive coordinator of Penn State. This
assignment summarizes the incidents and effects it had on the societal perception of sports
organizations. The latter section of the paper discusses how the incident reinforced stereotypes
the organizations have perpetuated.
A: an overview of the case
On 22nd June 2012, former defensive coordinator of Penn State, Gerald Sandusky was
charged and found guilty of sexually abusing children over a period of 15 years. The scandal left
the entire community of the university in pieces. The timeline of the events are as follows:
Sandusky established a foster home aimed at helping out troubled boys, named The Second Mile
in 1977. As the program evolved into a state charity program, prominent sports figures were
made its board members. Skip to 1994; a man of 26 reports being sexually abused by Sandusky
as a child, when he spent Friday nights at his house(Viera, 2018) . In May 1998 an 11-year-old
boy tells his mother after returning from an outing with Sandusky, that they took a shower
together and that the coach made unnecessary physical contact with him while in the shower.
The investigations started with the mother informing the police of the incident and Sandusky
admits to the charges in front of the jury. The report encouraged more victims of Sandusky to
come out and take a stand against the crime. After Sandusky retired from the football program,
he was not denied access to the campus which enabled him to continue with the crimes. There

2SPORTS AND SOCIETY
were increasing number of witnesses who were willing to testify the charges against Sandusky.
In 2002, a graduate assistant saw the coach abuse a minor and reported it to the police and the
matter was finally escalated to The Second Mile Charity. The following years witnessed a series
of charges brought against Sandusky, either by the victims or by their guardians. It was not until
the end of November 2011 that an official civil lawsuit was finally filed against Sandusky. A 29-
year-old plaintiff, John Doe reported that he was repeatedly abused by Sandusky when he was
between the ages 10 to 14. In December the same year, Sandusky was asserted on the charges of
having abused two more young boys. The court proceedings commenced from January, 2012 and
the jury finally found the accused guilty of as many as 45 counts of sexual abuse in June 22nd
(NPR.org, 2018)
B: Challenges the incident presented to the organization
Joe Paterno, the chief coach of the football team was dismissed by the Pennsylvania State
University Board of Trustee with the accusation that he had failed to prevent a 15-year-old cycle
of routine sexual assaults by his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. However, accused
Sandusky, who was earlier associated with a charity organization dedicated to helping out needy
children, was bailed out of jail for a ransom of 100,000 dollars. The entire case was presented to
the media as one about a compulsive sexual predator who utilized his position and power within
the university premise to recurrently pretty on minors and get away with it for a long time. Under
the assistance of Mr. Sandusky, the Penn State football team reached the top tiers in interstate
sports and the abuse case and it has deeply affected reputation of the organization. The people
who prioritize social values expressed strong disdain towards the authorities of the committee
and severely criticized their callousness towards issues as sensitive as child molestation. The
organization was a well-reputed and reliable forum for sports enthusiasts and guardians of young