Jury says Paterno U owes McQueary $7.3 Million

[RedSea]

Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary was one of the key witnesses in the prosecution of Jerry Sandusky. He claims that he saw Sandusky raping a boy in the Penn State locker room in 2001, and that he reported it quickly to Joe Paterno and other university officials. After he was not retained in 2012 amid massive public scrutiny, he filed a defamation suit against the school. This afternoon, a jury ruled that Penn State did defame him after he came forward, and they awarded him $7.3 million.

McQueary’s initial suit was for $4 million as well as a rider meant to cover the potential income he could have made over 25 more years of working as an assistant coach. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that McQueary’s testimony cost him a great deal:

Now divorced at 42, jobless and living with his parents at their State College home, the 6-foot-5 former quarterback testified Friday that he has been unable to find work since Penn State placed him on paid leave, citing safety concerns in the days after Sandusky’s arrest, and later decided not to renew his contract.

The school claims that the decision not to retain McQueary was simply a football decision, but a judge will now soon rule on whether or not him losing his job was a retaliatory action by Penn State.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

Good

 

[Husker.Wed.]

I can only speak for myself, but if I witnessed a creepy old man forcing himself on a young boy in the shower at work, I would tell my boss, his boss, and the CEO immediately, and if the authorities were not involved in about 2 hours, i would call the police myself. So in my opinion, it is great McQueary testified, but he was part of the problem and is not blameless.

 

[walnut creek]

We are "State Pen"

 

[bigboxes]

Good

I was just about to reply the same.

Good.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

I was just about to reply the same.

Good.

That's good.

 

[GretnaShawn]

It's nice to see that he is getting a bigger payout than any of the victims. He deserves nothing. He saw a child being raped by a man half his size and twice his age and did nothing to stop it and didn't do anything close to enough from preventing more molestations. Screw him. I hope he chokes on it.

 

[bigboxes]

That's good.

I was just going to say that my posting was "good".

Good.

Your post reinforced my feeling that I was good.

That's good.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

I was just going to say that my posting was "good".

Good.

Your post reinforced my feeling that I was good.

That's good.

 

[swissticuffs]

I can only speak for myself, but if I witnessed a creepy old man forcing himself on a young boy in the shower at work, I would tell my boss, his boss, and the CEO immediately, and if the authorities were not involved in about 2 hours, i would call the police myself. So in my opinion, it is great McQueary testified, but he was part of the problem and is not blameless.

No, you call the police immediately. You don't tell your boss and wait. Your boss has no power to enforce laws..... and it wasn't some creepy old man "forcing himself" it was a grown man butt fvcking a 10 year old. Mcquearry is getting paid millions of dollars for witnessing a child rape and not reporting it to authorities. He should have some sense of honor and kill himself.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

This makes me want to puke. If that had been me who witnessed Sandusky I would have walked over and decked the pervert. But walk away and wait 24 hours before you tell the coach? Jerk

 

[Jimmy Frank]

Call the police after Sandusky is unconscious.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I guess I'm not as outraged as others on this subject. Looking at in in context, he did tell Paterno, he did help put Sandusky away, he is legally entitled to this money thanks to this going through the legal process. He is untouchable for the rest of his life and could never hope to earn an honest living again, all for somebody else's despicable act he was unlucky enough to walk in on. If somebody is upset he didn't deck Sandusky on the spot I get it, but, you're talking about a moment that was thrust upon you (no pun intended) in the presence of legends when you're a young person just starting out in the work force.

IDK, I just feel like there are no winners here in all honesty, and this guy didn't rape anyone.

What bugs me is this, I was reading allegations of Sandusky by OSU fans visiting PSU boards about two years before all this became public. There were posters who knew this was happening, how the heck did it go this long? Obviously many people at the top of the food chain were aware of it, and those are the people I have a real problem with, not McQueary who I guarantee, wished he had never walked in on what he did. Plus, I doubt a day ever goes by this doesn't tear him up on the inside and I am sure he's going to die wishing he had decked the guy, but in the end, it would not have changed history and what Sandusky did before that moment, it would just make us all feel better. McQueary will probably be in therapy the rest of his life and will spend a lot of time in personal turmoil and as an outcast for as long as he's alive. Wouldn't shock me if he took his own life at some point either.

 

[rrthusker]

I can only speak for myself, but if I witnessed a creepy old man forcing himself on a young boy in the shower at work, I would tell my boss, his boss, and the CEO immediately, and if the authorities were not involved in about 2 hours, i would call the police myself. So in my opinion, it is great McQueary testified, but he was part of the problem and is not blameless.

If I witnessed that, Scumdysky wouldn't have left the shower.

 

[chicolby]

I guess I'm not as outraged as others on this subject. Looking at in in context, he did tell Paterno, he did help put Sandusky away, he is legally entitled to this money thanks to this going through the legal process. He is untouchable for the rest of his life and could never hope to earn an honest living again, all for somebody else's despicable act he was unlucky enough to walk in on. If somebody is upset he didn't deck Sandusky on the spot I get it, but, you're talking about a moment that was thrust upon you (no pun intended) in the presence of legends when you're a young person just starting out in the work force.

IDK, I just feel like there are no winners here in all honesty, and this guy didn't rape anyone.

What bugs me is this, I was reading allegations of Sandusky by OSU fans visiting PSU boards about two years before all this became public. There were posters who knew this was happening, how the heck did it go this long? Obviously many people at the top of the food chain were aware of it, and those are the people I have a real problem with, not McQueary who I guarantee, wished he had never walking in on what he did. Plus, I doubt a day ever goes by this doesn't tear him up on the inside and I am sure he's going to die wishing he had decked the guy, but in the end, it would not have changed history and what Sandusky did before that moment, it would just make us all feel better. McQueary will probably be in therapy the rest of his life and will spent a lot of time in personal turmoil and as an outcast for as long as he's alive. Wouldn't shock me if he took his own life at some point either.

I completely agree with this. Everyone on the board who says "I would have decked him, called the police right away, etc." - Great. That is definitely the best thing that could have been done, but I am not sure anyone can really project what you would do in that circumstance. There may be shock, self-doubt "what did I just see?", etc. Some people can't think logically when seeing something so unexpected and shocking. The good news is he did tell authorities and didn't brush it under the rug that supposedly others did. His life is ultimately ruined, at least in terms of what he probably expected from it, primarily because of the sentiment of many on this board. I'm glad he is being taken care of financially.

 

[schuele]

This makes me want to puke. If that had been me who witnessed Sandusky I would have walked over and decked the pervert. But walk away and wait 24 hours before you tell the coach? Jerk

Very true and yet the sad part is, McQueary did far more than anyone else to put a stop to Sandusky's crime spree. Meanwhile, the too-big-to-jail trio of Spanier, Curley and Schultz are still in stall mode, having never gone to trial for being his enablers. That's what makes me want to puke.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I completely agree with this. Everyone on the board who says "I would have decked him, called the police right away, etc." - Great. That is definitely the best thing that could have been done, but I am not sure anyone can really project what you would do in that circumstance. There may be shock, self-doubt "what did I just see?", etc. Some people can't think logically when seeing something so unexpected and shocking. The good news is he did tell authorities and didn't brush it under the rug that supposedly others did. His life is ultimately ruined, at least in terms of what he probably expected from it, primarily because of the sentiment of many on this board. I'm glad he is being taken care of financially.

People commenting they'd have decked Sandusky probably would have, it's entirely likely most would, but not every single person commenting would have. So many are looking at this through the eyes of being in your mid 40's or older with kids and being more mature now than when you were 22?? (IDK how old McQueary was but I think he was pretty young). In other words, the benefit of being older and more mature and safer in your career and more established, and in hindsight which is always perfect.

I liken it to the guy who gets a speeding ticket and the next time he's at the bar with his buddies describing the incident he's all like "I told that son of a bitch he could kiss my ass after he wrote that ticket" Sure ya did, sure ya did.

 

[Row80]

I can only speak for myself, but if I witnessed a creepy old man forcing himself on a young boy in the shower at work, I would tell my boss, his boss, and the CEO immediately, and if the authorities were not involved in about 2 hours, i would call the police myself. So in my opinion, it is great McQueary testified, but he was part of the problem and is not blameless.

This.

Plus, given that he's a 6' 5" former football player, I would think he would have gone into the shower to intervene - regardless of whether Sandusky was his boss or had considerable influence.

 

[WHCSC]

He is untouchable for the rest of his life and could never hope to earn an honest living again, all for somebody else's despicable act he was unlucky enough to walk in on

It's not because he walked in on anything that he can't get a job, it's because of the part he played in letting it continue. The only reason you tell the coach instead of the cops is to cover something up.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

It's not because he walked in on anything that he can't get a job, it's because of the part he played in letting it continue. The only reason you tell the coach instead of the cops is to cover something up.

I slightly disagree, and he did tell Paterno, who he thought would do something about it. Not his fault Paterno was complicit, no freaking way he could have known Paterno was part of the cover up. No way he could have imagined JoPa would help sweep it under the rug, and again we all get the benefit of hindsight.

 

[gw2kpro]

I can't imagine what the culture in that athletic department must have been like -- you walk into one of the most heinous acts one human being can possibly do to another -- and the reaction is to run it through a football coach instead of stopping it immediately and calling the cops.

 

[johnm17]

It was Penn St how many years ago? Who is to say the cops would have done anything anyway. Don't forget the allegations of his charity providing entertainment for boosters. Who knows how far that reached in the community.

 

[WHCSC]

I can't imagine what the culture in that athletic department must have been like -- you walk into one of the most heinous acts one human being can possibly do to another -- and the reaction is to run it through a football coach instead of stopping it immediately and calling the cops.

Exactly

 

[HuskerO]

he did help put Sandusky away

The problem I have is that McQueary saw Sandusky in the shower with a boy in 2001. Nothing came about until 2011. For 10-years McQueary knew nothing had been done and he stayed silent (after telling Joe Pa and the local authorities).

 

[RedSea]

McQueary was on staff with Sandusky for years after the incident. Really hard to see how you could stand to do that. Seems like you would at least find a spot at another college as quickly as possible if you saw that Joe Pa and the Admins weren't going to do anything. Also sort of hard to believe that he hasn't been able to find work anywhere after what, 5 years since he got fired? Strange stuff all around.

 

[Lars72]

People commenting they'd have decked Sandusky probably would have, it's entirely likely most would, but not every single person commenting would have. So many are looking at this through the eyes of being in your mid 40's or older with kids and being more mature now than when you were 22?? (IDK how old McQueary was but I think he was pretty young). In other words, the benefit of being older and more mature and safer in your career and more established, and in hindsight which is always perfect.

I liken it to the guy who gets a speeding ticket and the next time he's at the bar with his buddies describing the incident he's all like "I told that son of a bitch he could kiss my ass after he wrote that ticket" Sure ya did, sure ya did.

For the record, he would have been about 27 years old.