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Penn State Sex Scandal: Tougher Laws About Child Abuse Necessary
by Kristina ChewAs Penn State University struggles to do major damage control in the wake of charges of sexual abuse of eight boys by a former defensive football coach, Jerry Sandusky, and of the resulting firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier, state lawmakers are seeking to introduce legislation to tighten Pennsylvania’s laws about reporting child abuse. State Rep. Kevin Boyle, Democrat-Philadelphia, has announced a plan to that would require school officials to report allegations of sexual abuse of children to the police.In a statement, Boyle noted that his legislation would close a current “loophole” as it would require “those who are aware of the abuse to report it to law enforcement authorities, rather than simply following an in-house chain of command.” In 2002, graduate assistant Mike McQueary said that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the showers of the Penn State football facilities. McQueary reported what he had seen to Paterno, who then notified athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. The two administrators in turn notified university president Graham Spanier, but none reported what had happened to the police.Curley and Schultz have been charged with lying to the grand jury about what they knew from what McQueary reported to them. McQuery, who has received threats, has been placed on administrative leave by the university. A Penn State janitor also testified that he had witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a child but, according to the grand jury report, did not report the abuse because he was afraid of losing his job....

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