Jerry Sandusky: A Sinner in Need of a Savior

Last night, the jury in the Jerry Sandusky case handed down a verdict that Mr. Sandusky was guilty in 45 out of the 48 counts that he was charged with in his now-infamous child sexual abuse trial.  Once the verdict was announced to those outside of the courthouse and eventually to the nation and the world, there was great rejoicing in the fact that a man who had violated the trust and the innocence of so many young boys was finally getting his just dues.  The man who physically and mentally abused so many boys is headed to prison, never to be released or to see freedom again.

As I watched the media circus last night, I saw people rejoicing in the fact that this monster is headed off to jail.  People were cheering the decision that the man who performed such heinous acts on young boys will now be locked up, unable to violate any more boys.  There is justified outrage at this man, who started a charity to help young people, but used his charity instead to meet, and susequently take advantage of, the young boys he was supposed to be helping.  Instead of helping these boys, he was helping himself to these boys.

As Jerry was being led from the courthouse in handcuffs, he had a dumbfounded look on his face.  I had to ask myself, "What is he thinking?  He shows no remorse for what he did."  Was he in shock at the decision of the jury?  Was he so arrogant that he thought that the jury would never convict him?  Does he really have any remorse for what he has done?

As they were putting him in the police car to transport him to prison, the TV microphones picked up voices of those who were yelling at him and taunting him.  One of the people who was yelling at Jerry Sandusky in the background could be heard saying, "I hope you rot in hell!"  This is a natural human reaction, as we tend to view those who violate the trust and innocence of young people as scum of the earth.  But as Christians, is this to be our reaction?  Should we actually hope that a human being is sent to an eternity of torment in hell?

The answer to this question lies in this simple question - what does the Bible have to say about this?  John 3:16 tells us that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us, and that anyone who believes in Him will have everlasting life.  There is no exception to this.  Salvation is for anyone who believes, even Jerry Sandusky.  We read in Romans 3:23 that all men have sinned and have come short of God's glory.  Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but we have been offered the gift of eternal life.  II Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

What these verses tell me is that we are all sinners.  We have all committed sins against God.  While the Bible lists many sins, I have yet to find a sin ranking in the pages of the Bible.  In other words, any sin causes a sinner to be separated from God.  Sin is sin.  Just because I have not committed the same heinous acts as Jerry Sandusky does not mean that I am any more innocent before God or any less of a sinner.  We all need to ask for God's forgiveness for our sins, including Jerry Sandusky.

To say that we want Mr. Sandsuky to "rot in hell" is saying that we believe that he is not worthy of God's salvation.  That, however, is not our choice to make.  None of us can do anything to deserve the salvation that God has offered to us.  In the end, the only person who can choose whether or not Jerry Sandsuky ends up in hell is Jerry Sandusky.  The choice is his - and it is his alone.

So what should we, as Christians, do, now that he has been convicted?  We should pray.  We should pray for those who were abused, that they would begin to have closure.  We should pray for them, that they would be able to move past this horrific stage in their lives, and start to put their lives back together again.  We should pray for their families, that they would have wisdom in moving forward.  We should pray for Jerry Sandusky, that he would repent of what he has done.  We should pray that he would ask forgiveness from those he has abused and taken advantage of.  We should pray that he falls on his knees before God and asks forgiveness from the Almighty for the sins that he has committed.

I am not saying that if he has a cellblock confession that we should somehow completely forgive him and release him from the sentence that he will be receiving in the not-too-distant future.  Part of seeking forgiveness for your sins is paying the price for the sins that you have committed.  Mr. Sandusky should never be allowed to leave prison.  The acts he performed are unconscionable.  The sentence he gets is probably not going to be tough enough for what he has done.  But we have a God who has made salvation available to everyone - including Jerry.  And we should not wish an eternity in hell on anyone.

The Ongoing Debacle at Penn State

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last several weeks, you are probably well aware of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse case that is playing out in State College, PA.  Over the course of several years, Sandusky is accused of preying on young boys and engaging in inappropriate behavior (some of which is sexual) with these boys.  The grand jury indictment stated that there were 8 boys making these claims (though as time goes on, this list will probably grow).  Sandusky will probably spend the rest of his life in prison because of this scandal.

Before I go any further, I just want to say that the acts that Sandusky is being accused of are grotesque and heinous acts.  If he is found guilty, he deserves whatever punishment he gets, and then some more on top of that.  To be in his position and take advantage of young boys the way he did is repulsive and predatory, and there is absolutely no reason that any court or any judge should show him any leniency.  Sandusky is the predator, the criminal, the monster.

Now that a few weeks have gone by and the overall anger seems to have subsided a bit, I want to look back at how this all unraveled after the grand jury indicted Sandusky.  There are many things that annoyed and frustrated me as this all played out in public, in the press, and on TV.  And it seemed as though almost all of the anger was directed at Joe Paterno.

Paterno is a legend in collegiate athletics.  He was a football player, who became an assistant coach, and ultimately came to be known as the winningest coach in major college football.  He has been a leader to those he coached, a mentor, someone who wanted his players to succeed, not just on the field, but off of it.  Penn State has a high graduation rate amongst its football players.  In fact, of all of the buildings at Penn State that could be named after Paterno, it is the library that bears his name.

Yet, after all that Paterno has done for Penn State and for college football, people were yelling for Paterno's head as this scandal was breaking.  They treated Paterno as if he was the one who was taking advantage of these children and molesting them.  You rarely heard Sandusky's name in the days following the breaking of this story.  People wanted to hold Paterno accountable for everything that happened, as though Sandusky had given him every intimate detail of what happened and Paterno was trying to cover the story up for his good friend and former assistant coach.

We know from the grand jury report that Paterno was aware of one incident that was reported to him by Mike McQueary.  Paterno reported the incident to the proper two people on campus: the athletic director (it happened in an athletic facility) and the head of campus security and police.  Most colleges have their own security and police and do not necessarily need to rely on the police from the surrounding towns/cities.  Perhaps Paterno could have pushed them harder to investigate this more fully.  I don't know if he did or not.  Maybe Paterno should have gone to the police.  What we do no know is that, according to the New York Times, the information was given to the DA, but he did nothing with it.

Now, how is that Paterno's fault that the DA chose not to take it further?  It's not.  But apparently there are some out there that think that no matter what Paterno did, it was not enough.  The bigger issue here is McQueary.  If he saw this happening, why didn't he do anything to stop it?  Why did he choose to leave?  Why didn't he report what he saw immediately?  Again, the anger was directed at Paterno, who was not even an eye witness.

After a few days of public outcry, Paterno announced he would retire, effective at the end of the 2011 season.  For the Board of Trustees, this was not good enough.  They decided that Paterno had to go.  But instead of meeting with him, in person, they decided to fire him over the phone.  How cowardly is that?  If you are going to fire the guy, at least do it in person.  I do not believe that Paterno should have been fired.  He should have been allowed to finish out the year.  However, if they would have met with him in person to fire him, I could at least have some respect for the Board of Trustees.

Then there was the piling on.  The Big Ten would remove his name from the championship trophy.  The 2 senators from PA would withdraw his name for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  The rumors of his statue being removed from in front of the stadium (this proved not to be true).

After Paterno was fired, the talking heads on TV then turned their attention to McQueary's inaction based on what he saw.  They also started to remember again that this is all happening due to the reported actions of Sandusky.  It was as though their goal was Paterno getting fired.  Now that he was gone, they could go back to focusing on the real story.

Now we will have endless investigations.  First, the PA AG will continue the ongoing investigation.  The State of PA is going to look into it.  The Feds are going to look into it.  And the NCAA does not want to be left out (although this is not part of their charter, as this does not have to do with the athletic program, it just happens to involve someone who used to be part of the athletic program).

Through all of this, there are still several questions that I need to have answered.

1. What was Jerry Sandusky thinking?  First, you ruined your credibility and character.  I am not sure it is capable of being repaired.  But due to you actions and your inability to control yourself, you have also torn down a great coach with a great legacy, you have dispirited a football team, and you have tarnished the legacy of an entire university.
2. Why didn't Mike McQueary stop the actions of Jerry Sandusky?  Why did he choose to leave, going first to his father, then to Joe Paterno, instead of the police?
3. When the athletic director told Sandusky that he would be barred from campus and the athletic facilities, why did Sandusky still have an office on campus and have the ability to use the athletic facilities?  Was he not actually able to enforce this?  If not, then why hand it down as punishment in the first place?
4. Is all of this fair to Paterno?  Was he the one who was taking advantage of the kids?  Other than the one occasion that McQueary told him about, was he even aware that Sandusky was a child predator?
5. Why did the DA choose not to press charges?  Did he not have enough evidence?
6. Why does the media have a feeding frenzy with stories like this?  When did they become the moral arbiters of society?  Is the media hypocritical for going after Paterno, who was not an accomplice in this story and has done nothing illegal, while protecting Hollywood types like Roman Polanski who stand accused of sex/rape of a minor?  Or showing hypocrisy by going after Paterno, yet continually praising a late Senator who also killed a woman via drowning her?

We need to keep in mind that there has not been a trial yet.  As this goes on, we will find out more details, and it is very likely that there will be more victims coming out as this case moves forward.  But we need to remember that Sandusky does deserve a fair trial, which is guaranteed to him by our Constitution. And I want him to have that fair trial, so at the end of the day, everyone can look on this and say that justice was served.  And if he is found guilty of these heinous acts, he needs to rot in prison for the rest of his life.

As for Joe Paterno, if he did know more about Sandusky's actions, then he will need to live with that for the rest of his life.  It is probably hard enough knowing that he was aware of one child being abused and that nothing was done to stop that abuse.  The guilt he has to live with will be a burden on him for the rest of his life, and perhaps that is punishment enough for him.

As for the school, and the football program in particular, life goes on.  It has to.  You cannot let it stop here.  There are some who have said that PSU needs to forfeit the rest of the season, and perhaps just go ahead and forfeit next year, too.  This is not necessary.  Penn State needs to get back on the field and show that they can overcome this.  The football players are not guilty of anything. They should not be punished for this.

For Jerry Sandusky, he needs to pay the price for what he did.  However, he can still have some hope in all of this.  He can know that Jesus died for his sins, too.  He can still ask forgiveness of God, who will grant him that forgiveness should he ask for it.  That does not mean that Sandusky should be set free.  If he would do this, it would mean that his punishment would stop at his death on this earth.  It would not carry over into an eternity in hell.  If God could forgive a man like Jerry Sandusky, perhaps we need to find it in our hearts to forgive him (and others), too.