Indictment of former Penn State coach on sex-abuse charges could bring down Paterno

Joe Paterno is done.

The 84-year-old Penn State head coach, whose eventual retirement is the subject of annual speculation, will no longer be the one making that decision.

Paterno cannot and should not survive the mess that has engulfed his football program and cast doubt on the ethical underpinnings of a university administration that has always claimed higher moral ground than other schools.

If the indictments brought by a grand jury and announced by state Attorney General Linda Kelly result in convictions of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky for a sick history of sexual assaults on children, and two Penn State officials for failing to act on those allegations and then lying about it, then Paterno also has to be dismissed in the clean sweep that must follow.

Paterno escaped indictment because he told athletic director Tim Curley about an alleged 2002 incident in which a graduate student reported discovering Sandusky performing sex acts on a boy who was about 10 years old in the shower area of a football locker room. Paterno told Curley, who failed to report it to the proper authorities, according to the attorney general. Then Paterno apparently did nothing.

That is where we start to see the difference between the fictional Joe Paterno, whose reputation and that of the university has been built on rock-solid morals, and what might be the real Joe Paterno.

The fictional Joe Paterno would have said, "Hey, this is awful, but we have to clean it up. We have to do the right thing. It's going to look bad for us, but you can't let something like this go. We have to get Jerry some help, and we have to make sure he doesn't hurt any kids."

The real Paterno, as nearly as can be determined from the indictments, passed the information to Curley and then washed his hands. He apparently didn't follow up when there was no further investigation. He apparently didn't ask questions when Sandusky continued to enjoy his emeritus status on campus, complete with an office and access to the same building in which the alleged assault took place.

If one of Paterno's grandchildren had been sexually assaulted and the predator got away clean because he had powerful friends, do you think Paterno would have kept quiet?