Coach Joe Paterno was fired this week because of information that he had and sat on.
The president of Penn State University was fired for the same reason.
Other members of the leadership team of that school will be receiving pink slips for the same reason.
In one sense, they did nothing wrong. It was that they did not do right. Their sin was of omission, not commission.
When they knew an assistant coach was molesting little boys in their athletic buildings and simply told him not to do that there anymore, they became enablers for his unspeakable crimes.
A coaching assistant told his father, the two of them told Coach Paterno, he told the athletic director, who told the president. But no one told the cops. What they said to the molester was, “Do not bring young boys into these buildings.” As has been pointed out in numerous sports talk programs this week, that is tantamount to saying, “It’s all right to molest them; just do it somewhere else.”
When the trustees of the university met Wednesday night of this week, they wielded a sharp axe. To them–as to any right-thinking individual–it’s not enough to warn the evildoer off. He has to be arrested and taken off the streets and dealt with in a court of justice. Even if a citizen cannot arrest him, he can report the crime.
PSU’s lawyers are scurrying around right now, it’s safe to say, wondering how much liability the college bears for all the children abused by that coach since Paterno and others found out what he was doing and did not do everything in their power to stop it. I’m thinking they have plenty of responsibility. The trustees did right in canning the coach and the president. One hopes the message goes out to other schools that “If you see someone abusing a child and do not report it to the police, you are guilty of aiding and abetting the crime.”
Sitting on the information. If it’s not a crime in itself, it’s nevertheless abandoning one’s responsibilities as a human being. And whatever happens as a result of your cowardly silence, you have to bear some responsibility.
–If I have information that could save your life and I keep it to myself, your death is on my hands.
–If I know the bridge is out ahead and do not try to warn off motorists, I am responsible for all that takes place.
–If you are deathly ill and I have the antidote which could save your life and keep it to myself, your death is on my hands.
“What did you know and when did you know it?” The answers–often asked in a court of law–help to establish culpability.
The spiritual implications of this are enormous.
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