I also saw the statement that Paterno fulfilled his "legal obligation", which maybe he did. But he didn't fulfill his moral obligation.

One thing that hasn't been clear (to me) is if any of the others are mandatory reporters.

Pattern and The grad student at least came clean to the grand jury. The others did not, which is one of the main reasons for the indictments.

One thing that hasn't been clear (to me) is if any of the others are mandatory reporters.

I think that Curley and Schultz, the two administrators who've been charged with failure to report and perjury, were.

Okay, so when isn't it mandatory for someone to report to the fucking police when a child is being raped?

This isn't a rumor, the act was witnessed - on university grounds.

Okay, so when isn't it mandatory for someone to report to the fucking police when a child is being raped?

I don't think that there's generally a law saying that you have to report a crime you witnessed. Doctors, teachers, clergy, and other people who officially supervise kids are legally required to report any suspicion of abuse, though. By the way the law is worded, the university administrators are covered under that, but the coaching staff is not.

According to this [link] , there are 16 states where everyone is required to report suspected child abuse. The other states only require certain professionals to report it.

Unbelievable. You'd have to pry my ass away from the cops for me NOT to report that kind of crime.

I mean, really.

Okay, so when isn't it mandatory for someone to report to the fucking police when a child is being raped

I assumed this was said sarcastically.

I love my job but it brings me in contact with a lot of child abuse/rape and it is horrifying to me both how common it is and how little happens to those who do it.

It IS mandatory for person who work with children to report suspected or witnessed abuse to DFS and/or police. You can follow up, and follow up (I have reported and followed up exhaustively, both as a teacher and while wworking in the shelter system) but what happens in the investigation, by DFS/police, is out of your hands.

A lot of excellent, caring people fight the system every day, and sometimes win, often lose. But there are a lot of inept people within the system who fall down on their job, to the detriment of the children.

That said, I have been desperate to keep a job before. I have lived out of a car for a month in college; D and I almost lost the house.

But if I witnessed someone raping a child, not only would there be blood on the fucking CEILING I would happily lose my job because I screamed my bloody damned head off to get that dirtbag fired and/or prosecuted. If I didn't kill him with my bare hands.

I am not expressing hyperbole; I have NO personal doubts about my reaction. It's true at 39, and it would have been true when I was 22-24, as a grad student.

OK, what the hell? After Sandusky was barred from bringing kids on campus at the main Penn State campus, he was still organizing football camps for kids at some of the other Penn State campuses for several years.

Yeah, I find it inexplicable that you wouldn't just call the cops. But even if you don't call the cops, and instead report to your supervisor, when nothing happens, you don't follow up?!?