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Why Is the Media Hating On Penn State's Mike McQueary?
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by Hargrove | November 10, 2011 at 04:26 am
977 views | 2 Recommendations | 18 comments
I've not heard of a person who, after observing wrongdoing in the workplace, bypassed their boss, and went directly to the police. So why are the media talking heads holding Mike McQueary to this standard. Mike McQueary was a mere 28-year-old administrative assistant, when he observed Jerry Sandusky sodomizing a young boy in the shower at Penn State's athletic facility, and he did what most people would do, he told his boss.
Take a look at what telling gets you in our world:
School officials sided with employees who bullied a special needs student on a regular basis, and lied about what they did during a school investigation, and when the behavior was caught on tape, the bully was allowed to keep her job if she takes a class on identifying child abuse and bullying..
A Missoula Mental Health Center employee was fired for reporting a client's child pornography. She first reported it to her supervisor, who told her not to report it to the police. She did, and it led to the client's arrest for sexually abusing a child, and to her firing . . .
A former receptionist at the Creative Frontiers School, Irma Mertens, reported an incident of child sexual abuse, to no effect. Mertens witnessed the Principal and Owner, Robert Adams, slip his hand under the bathing suit of a female and sodomize her with his thumb. She told the office administrator, Cynthia Higgins, but Higgins failed to report the incident to authorities.
Notice that all of the people who reported these incidents are no longer employed. Our society does not take kindly to the little guy who points their finger at those who are in power. We come by our timidity honestly. Generally we wait for media's signal of their readiness to bring a powerful person down, namely, when they incessantly repeat wrong doing, like in the case of Tiger Woods, and more recently Herman Cain . . .
Nevertheless, Mike McQueary, who was under no obligation to report abuse, and who was, according to Joe Paterno, "obviously . . .distraught over what he saw," with his dad's support, on the very next day, he went to Paterno's house, and told him what he had seen
Not too many people have seen an adult sodomize a child; Mike McQueary not only observed this unnatural act, he also experienced the victim and the perpetrator looking at him, looking at them. Add to that, the adult wrongdoer was revered by the community, a married man, a father, and he was Mike McQueary's superior . . . If it were me, I would have run to my daddy too!
Finally, as the youngest and least powerful person in the equation, it's curious that Mike McQueary became the target of harsh media judgment when, two law enforcement officers declined to arrest Jerry Sandusky, even after hearing him confess; two parents reported him, but no one would arrested him; two janitors observed him engaging in sexual activity with children, and their report brought no action; and even when it reached a prosecutor, he refused to prosecute Sandusky. Just like Lindsay Lohan, Jerry Sandusky is someone the establishment did not want to hold accountable, and they still don't, evidenced by the fact that he has been significantly undercharged.
Perhaps some folks are angry at Mike McQueary because his description of what he saw, makes it impossible to hide Sandusky's rape and sodomy of children, behind words like, "horsing around."
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (18)
at 07:27 on November 10th, 2011
Perhaps you're just trying to initiate discussion whilst adopting a 'devil's advocate' perspective, but you're off base & completely so. There are no excuses that can be made for this extreme coward & even if someone were to afford him an inconceivable pass in the moment, his actions & lack of actions since are damning beyond description. Mike McQueary's coaching career will almost certainly come to an end soon & it should have happened by this point. Considering the decisiveness shown by the PSU board of trustees last evening, hopefully it is but a matter of time.
at 23:54 on November 14th, 2011
I really meant what I said, and I hope that Mike McQueary won't be punished further because he's already been punished too much. He did what the law requires, by informing his supervisor.
I don't think he was a coward, I just think he was in shock. As for pulling the child away from Sandusky, when's the last time you heard of someone doing that? I've never heard it. But I have heard of a mothers who closed the door on seeing their husband on top of her daughter; and another did the same on finding her husband and daughter naked in the tub. Even people who shoot cheating spouses, don't approach. People just don't insinuate themselves into the sexual activity of others, unless a party to the encounter clearly evidences a desire to be rescued.
I know, I know, a child cannot consent, but the child can think he's consented, and behave accordingly. Under most circumstances, it seems a better approach would be to wait to address the child in a different setting, after he's regained his dignity.
When this story first came out, no one had a concept of the eye witness as not doing enough, until media said that, followed by the publication of McQueary's name, and recognizable red hair. Why would they focus on a man who told the truth of what he saw, while remaining silent about the people who hid the nature of the act, and lied about it to the Grand Jury? Why would they focus on McQueary, who told the person in authority what he saw, and decline to criticize Paterno, who took the problem to people who had no authority over him or the situation, people who he probably counted on to do exactly what they did, protect his enterprise by editing the event to be something that it was not. If Paterno had done his job, McQueary would not now be under criticism. Paterno could have fired Sandusky on the spot, but instead took the problem to Timothy Curley and Gary Schultz, even though they did not have authority over him or Sandusky; apparently counting on them to do exactly what they did, sweep it under the rug. He even handed McQueary over to them, even though McQueary was under his authority, providing himself with plausible deny-ability for any effort to get McQueary to change his story. It's because Paterno passed the buck that McQueary is under criticism, and Gary Schultz and Timothy Curley are charged with perjury, and have lost their jobs; and the University President, Graham Spanier, was fired.
He's probably behind the media focus on McQueary, as a tactic to deflect from his wrong doing, and that of those who covered for him. I'm also wondering if Sandusky has something on him, otherwise, why would he protect that creep when he was such a liability . . .
at 07:24 on November 10th, 2011
What you say is true. He would not be rewarded for reporting it. But he was so amibitious that he could see a child be tortured and do nothing? Why didn't he stop it? It's that saying again. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."I understand he was afraid and would have been screwed for doing more. But how can you believe yourself a good man when you permit a child to be raped in front of you? He allowed evil to triumph. He may not have succeeded in stopping it if he had reported it to the police, but by not doing so he virtually guaranteed that it continued.
at 00:22 on November 15th, 2011
The first time the police were involved they declined to arrest Sandusky and the prosecutor declined to prosecute, even though they had his admission that he hugged a naked boy, while naked himself, from behind, and wouldn't agree with the mother not to do it again.
In 2008 he was accused of several sex encounters. The police and the prosecutors were involved, and it took them two years to arrest him.
People in authority have been resistant to holding this man accountable.
at 07:40 on November 10th, 2011
In your examples of what telling get's you, only one is slightly pertinent to this case and that is where A Missoula Mental Health Center employee was fired for reporting a client's child pornography. She first reported it to her supervisor, who told her not to report it to the police. She did (as McQueery should have) and it led to the client's arrest for sexually abusing a child (as it should have), and to her firing (being fired is way less of a tragedy than allowing that man to continue what he was doing to children). This is what should have happened and you act like it was some kind of tragedy. In that case the person didn't even witness the actual act as it occured. I'm sure that person who got fired is much more at peace with themselves because they did the right thing - McQueery did not. The fact that you don't get this make me sick.
at 00:34 on November 15th, 2011
Sorry my defense of McQueary makes you sick but, in my opinion, the media always drives us to adopt standards that aren't related to how people ordinarily function. I'll bet that it wasn't until he came under attack in the press, that McQueary had any idea he didn't do enough. Reading between the line, you can see that Paterno and others thought he did too much, which is why they lied. It should be enough to report incidents of child abuse to a supervisor. It should be on the supervisor to guide the resolution of an incident. Can you imagine what it would be like if individuals called the police into the workplace without advising their supervisor?
at 09:01 on November 10th, 2011
I have been almost manic in searching, and hoping, for news that McQueary had been fired. My God, what's the delay? Is there even any question that this POS needs to go? For every child rape perpetrated by Sandusky after 2002- he bears responsibility!McQueary demonstrates that his abject cowardice continues to this day. He is not man enough to admit that he failed as a human being, nor is he man enough to be ashamed of himself. He's clinging to his job with every fiber of his being. Hiding. Praying, not for the victims, but that he somehow keeps his position. Disgusting!McQueary’s indecent lack of immediate intervention enabled a pedophile to continue to abuse an untold number of children for years! There is no excuse. None. McQueary, himself, told the Grand Jury he observed the rape of a 10 year old child, with his own eyes! And he…..walked away.Imagine what that little boy felt- watching someone who COULD HAVE BEEN HIS SAVIOR- abandon him. To save his career.McQueary did NOTHING to insure the safety of a child being attacked, NOTHING to follow up on the health and welfare of that child, and NOTHING to bring a pedophile to justice and prevent other chidren from abuse and rape.When it was discovered by authorities that McQueary had witnessed a rape, he was hauled before the Grand Jury and forced to testify. McQueary did not come forward on his own.Daddy McQueary's sickening excuses for his son, pleading for sympathy and time to "explain", are outrageous! The whole damn family makes me sick!PSU needs to send McQueary the message that his inaction, above all, was utterly unacceptable. He needs to be fired! Otherwise, McQueary becomes the "new face of PSU". A coward- with no moral compass or ethics. An enabler to a pedophile.MORAL CLARITY NOW!
at 00:38 on November 15th, 2011
I hope I didn't infer that I think McQueary did not act on Sandusky's sexual behavior because he was afraid of loosing his job. I actually think he did not act because he was shocked into confusion and paralysis. When you think you know a man as a role model for you, and you look up to him, and hope to be like him, and you see him raping a child in a shower, it is overwhelming.
I only talked about people loosing their jobs to draw attention to the systemic nature of resistance to hold powerful people accountable. Until we address that, we can't ask ordinary people to rely on law enforcement and courts to do what's right.
at 09:13 on November 10th, 2011
The possibility of losing your job vs. stopping a pedophile? Are you serious?
at 00:38 on November 15th, 2011
I hope I didn't infer that I think McQueary did not act on Sandusky's sexual behavior because he was afraid of loosing his job. I actually think he did not act because he was shocked into confusion and paralysis. When you think you know a man as a role model for you, and you look up to him, and hope to be like him, and you see him raping a child in a shower, it is overwhelming.
I only talked about people loosing their jobs to draw attention to the systemic nature of resistance to hold powerful people accountable. Until we address that, we can't ask ordinary people to rely on law enforcement and courts to do what's right.
at 10:51 on November 10th, 2011
He is not man enough to admit that he failed as a human being, nor is he man enough to be ashamed of himself.
at 00:46 on November 15th, 2011
McQueary is the only man involved who told the truth, and he's the only one who told someone in authority, empowered to do something about it. That someone was Paterno, who passed the buck and distorted the facts, but did nothing to stop it.
at 11:28 on November 10th, 2011
It is called being a man. Taking the initiative to to the morally correct thing in an instant. How you handle a crisis is who you are.
at 00:48 on November 15th, 2011
McQueary is the only man involved who told the truth, and he's the only one who told someone in authority, empowered to do something about it. That someone was Paterno, who passed the buck and distorted the facts, but did nothing to stop it.
at 11:29 on November 10th, 2011
It is called being a man. Taking the initiative to to the morally correct thing in an instant. How you handle a crisis is who you are.
at 22:10 on November 10th, 2011
The media acts like Mike McQueary sodomized the kids in the shower, just goes to show you, no good deed goes unpunished. The sad part is that if Mike McQueary had kept his mouth shut like all the other Penn State football faculty undoubtedly have, he would still have his job (there's no doubt he will be fired). After this, you won't see any sports faculty reporting pedophile predators if they see it for fear of being crucified like Mike McQueary.
at 00:51 on November 15th, 2011
At last! Someone who sees the twisted logic that has put the only guy who did the right thing under indictment.
at 01:34 on November 15th, 2011
This is an example of the effect these things can have on people:
In 2000, when a janitor, Jim Calhoun, said he saw the Sandusky performing oral sex on a young boy. He approached a colleague in tears and related what he had seen. He was so upset by what he saw that they feared he might have a heart attack.