Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Framing of Joe Paterno

I thought that I was the only one defending Jerry Sandusky and Penn State officials. I think that he trial and the Penn State litigation is the modern equivalent of the Salem Witch trials.

The NBC TV Today show reports:
Dottie Sandusky, Jerry Sandusky’s wife of 37 years, maintains that her husband is innocent of the charges of child sex abuse that resulted in his imprisonment.

“Do I believe him?’’ she told Matt Lauer. “I definitely believe him. Because if I didn't believe him, when I testified at trial, I could have not said what I said. I would have had to tell the truth.”

She believes the victims' financial gain was at play.

“I think it was, they were manipulated, and they saw money,’’ she said. “Once lawyers came into the case, they said there was money.”

Sandusky spoke with Lauer on TODAY in her first TV interview since her husband was convicted on 45 of 48 charges of sexual abuse of young boys in June 2012. She was joined by filmmaker John Ziegler in her State College, Penn. home.

Lauer asked Dottie if she believed her husband was guilty of inappropriate behavior with some of the young boys who have accused him.

“I don't believe that,’’ she said. “I believe he showered with kids. That’s the generation that Jerry grew up in....There were always people coming in and out no matter what time that was.” ...

Ziegler, who runs a website called FramingPaterno.com, has frequently spoken out about his belief that Paterno, the late Penn State coach who was fired in the wake of the Sandusky scandal, and other school officials did nothing wrong.

“I presumed, like a lot of people, that Dottie has to be delusional or not understand the case,’’ Ziegler said. “I'm certain of one thing above everything else after two years of investigating this case, and that is that Dottie Sandusky is not delusional. She knows the case better than the vast majority of media members, and she is positive that Jerry Sandusky is innocent.”
I am mainly skeptical of the alleged crimes because the story has all the signs of a false accusation:
Lack of objective evidence
Complaints only made years later
Inconsistencies explained by recovered memories
Complainers suing for big bucks
An implausible conspiracy covered up the crime
I am happy to see that Ziegler has made a documentary about this. Someday people will wonder how the public went so nuts on such flimsy evidence.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My take on Dottie is that she is lying/in serious denial. Why? First look at how she repeats the question "Do I believe him?" This is common when people are lying and stalling before answering. Second, her answer, I believe him because.... Note she did not say Because he was telling the truth, which would have been the perfect spot to say so. Instead she talks about ( here I'm paraphrasing) her statement would have been perjurous if she didn't believe him. That sounds so weird and unusual. She is defending herself rather than her husband.
I feel sorry for her. Her entire life has been a lie. She, too, is an innocent victim. I hate it when people bash the spouse instead of just the perpetrator.
Additionally, in regards to "recovered memories", the evidence was NOT recovered memories. Elizabeth Loftus has done a great job at discrediting "repressed memories" and I believe her research is sold. But, that's not the case here. Personally, I have two family members who were abused as children that never told until years later. Its common. They didn't sue, press charges, ask for money, go public, etc.
So I would say Sandusky is guilty.

Anonymous said...

Solid, not sold

Anonymous said...

An adult man showering with children that are not his seems troubling to me.

If I was on the jury I would convict and my warning to adult men is if you find yourself alone with dozens of young boys and think its a good idea to shower with them. Even two of them. Understand that you will not be able to get a jury to understand your motive.

If he was railroaded he made it very easy for law enforcement to railroad him.

George said...

It is dangerous for adults to be with kids unless there are witnesses or video cameras present. Otherwise, you are making it easy to get framed, as you say.