Penn State Scandal: Mother Says University Betrayed Victims

The mother of one of the alleged victims in the Penn State scandal says university officials betrayed the boys who authorities say were sexually abused by former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

I'm so upset. My son is extremely distraught, and now to see how we were betrayed, words cannot tell you, the mother, who was not identified, told the Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News.

Sandusky has been indicted on counts of sex crimes against young boys, while Tim Curley, Penn State athletic director, and Gary Schultz, the school's senior vice president for business and finance, were charged with lying to the grand jury and failing to report the abuse properly.

The mother on Monday made her displeasure apparent at the university officials who took their own time to react to the allegations.

In her comments to the Patriot-News, she especially denounced university President Graham Spanier -- who was fired along with legendary head coach Joe Paterno Wednesday night -- Curley and Schultz for callous disregard of the alleged victims.

To see that Graham Spanier is putting his unconditional support behind Curley and Shultz when he should be putting his support behind the victims, it just makes them victims all over again, she said.

Sandusky, 67, is charged with 40 counts in all, 21 of them felonies for assaulting at least eight young boys over 15 years. After his arrest, a possible ninth victim came forward.

According to the grand jury, a graduate assistant, in 2002, saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy in the shower of the football facility. That graduate assistant then informed his father, according to testimony, and then spoke about the incident to Paterno the next day.

Paterno informed Curley about Sandusky's behavior, but officials did not report the incident to off-campus police.

The woman's son, who is now 24 years old, has been identified as the sixth victim in the indictment. But he is not the boy who was witnessed being abused by the graduate assistant.

I don't even have words to talk about the betrayal that I feel, the mother said. (The graduate assistant) was a grown man, and he saw a boy being sodomized. . . . He ran and called his daddy?

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said Monday that the alleged failure to report the abuse has led to further victimization of young boys for several years.

Though Paterno informed his superior about the incident, on Monday, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said the coach had a moral responsibility to inform the police.

Meanwhile, the victim’s mother spoke about her son’s bravery in disclosing his experiences to the police during the three-year grand jury investigation.

“I’m very proud of him,” she said. “He’s a brave kid. And his major concern in the whole thing was for anybody else. That was his big thing. He said, ‘I just don’t want this to happen to anybody else.’”