Former Florida State Seminoles Football Coach Bobby Bowdan, said that the statue of former Penn State University Head football coach Joe Paterno should be torn down in the light of the Freeh report revelations that the heralded head coach was involved in the cover-up of child-sex abuses perpetrated by his assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky in 1998.
On Thursday, former FBI Director Louis Freeh released the investigative report in the Sandusky child sex-abuse case, which implicated Paterno along with other top officials. The report showed that the top university officials had "total disregard" for the victims.
Now with the university faces a number of defamatory consequences. Friday, there was news of tha football team facing a possible 'death penalty' (indefinite suspension) from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Now Bowdan, in a chiding statement, said that the statue created to honor the deceased coach should be torn down because of his involvement in the scandal.
The 267 page report was formed over seven months of investigation, more than 400 interviews, and a review of over 3.5 million documents. The report does in fact implicate the University President Graham Spanier, Vice President Gary Schultz, Athletic Director Tim Curley as well as the deceased head football coach Joe Paterno as actively and consciously trying to hide the events and protect Sandusky.
The most powerful PSU officials "repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse from the authorities, the board of trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large," according to the New York Times.
The University has called upon victims to resolve claims in order to prevent inevitable civil lawsuits.
Sandusky, 68, is currently in Centre County prison awaiting his sentencing, which is scheduled to be held in about 90 days. He could face a maximum sentence of 373 years.
Last month a jury of seven women and five men found the 68 year-old guilty of 45 out of the 48 counts against him for sexual abuse of ten young boys over a span of 15 years.
