According to the Washington Post, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) President Mark Emmert announced penalties against Penn State, saying that “one of the dangers in our love of sports is that sports themselves can become too big to fail, too big to challenge.”  cmsgo9z 

The Executive Committee of the NCAA d474lsk  acts on behalf of the entire Association and implements policies to resolve core issues, pursuant to its authority under its Constitution and Bylaw 4.1.2(e).  $60M in fines, vacating wins from 1998-2011, massive loss of scholarships and other sanctions to be announced.  All because management chose to ignore whistleblowers and legally mandated duties to report child abuse to law enforcement. 

One of the key issues identified in the sobering special investigation of the sex abuse scandal via the Freeh Report, available below, was a “lack of awareness of whistleblower policies and protections.”  In the media interview, Freeh discusses the duty of adults to report abuse of children and how leadership at Penn State was devoid of empathy for victims.

The list of people who knew Sandusky was abusing children is revolting.  Why no one broke rank and went to government officials or the press is pathetic.  A small number of people in power at Penn State believed they could keep a lid on the pot of putrid forever until they and Sandusky could retire with hefty compensation packages.  Apparently the conspiracy keepers put their trust in one person who was not worthy of the secret pact.  That person was Sandusky himself who would continue “showering” with boys and sexually abusing them until the State heard from victims and took the charges seriously.   

The same Penn State officials knew of the rape of a boy in a shower in 1998 did nothing to find out if the boy needed help, yet worked hard to justify gifting Sandusky an unprecedented bonus of $168,000 and emeritus status in 2001.  Not only did Penn State officials provide the “currency” of having unlimited access to facilities for Sandusky to groom victims, the school provided a chunk of change to keep Sandusky in the predator business.   All of which Sandusky should lose immediately.

The university that once had a reputation for academic excellence and the highest athletic achievement is now known as an institution where boys were raped.   Penn State higher ups knew Sandusky was using his position as a coach and founder of The Second Mile to have easy access to minors. But it took until 2012 for Sandusky to be convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse.

I often say if whistleblowers with advanced degrees in accounting, law, science, medicine and research are crushed by retaliation, what hope does a janitor have to report violations of law.   Sadly, my theory is bolstered as the Freeh Report points out a janitor witnessed child sexual abuse by Sandusky in 2000 but was terrified that if he reported it, he’d lose his job.

We wonder why more people don’t speak up in these situations when they witness wrongdoing. That answer is very simple.  It’s because those of us that have blown the whistle have been horribly mistreated and lost our jobs at the hands of officials who hide the truth.  That sends a message to the public at large.  In fact, Whistleblowers seldom receive the same kind of “humane” treatment Penn State officials strove to provide Sandusky. There is no doubt in my mind that the whistleblower janitor at Penn State would have been fired, then discredited possibly never working again.

For more information on the Freeh interview published on Jul 12, 2012 by PBSNewsHour, watch the below and click on the link for a copy of the report.   More info on the failure of officials including teachers, school administrators and government officials in Pennsylvania public schools and the District Attorney’s office who failed to protect children involved in the Penn State sex scandal can be found in articles published last year.   dxwqhho   cwhesyp  c42fwvy 

A final note.  I wholly agree with Judge Freeh and Kenneth Frasier, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Merck.  Protecting children is the duty of every adult.  Protecting whistleblowers is the duty of employers and government.  I made my choice a long time ago that I’d rather be a whistleblower than an person who took a paycheck to protect a predator.  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a federal agency funds nonprofits that don’t perform background and fingerprint checks, as mandated by federal law.  My whistleblowing involved this predator, Doug Loisel cywt9ht.  This recent HHS Inspector General report shows the agency has continued to fund grantees that are not performing background checks and fingerprinting. br7p6c9     

Protecting those who violate the laws and punishing those who “blow the whistle” to protect others is the single, largest moral dilemma facing this nation.  What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

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