It just won’t go away.
Right when I thought I could stop talking about the Penn State child sexual abuse scandal, new details emerged that screamed, “I’m shocking! Write about me!” I feel like I’ve discussed this issue ad nauseum, but this story is a journalist’s dream. You can’t make up juicy details like the fact Jerry Sandusky, the alleged child predator at the center of this mess, wrote an autobiography in 2001 entitled Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story. I’m sure Jon Stewart is having a field day with that one.
Now that Sandusky is preparing to go on trial, Joe Paterno and other Penn State officials involved in covering up Sandusky’s extracurricular activities have been fired, and no more news vans are being assaulted by angry Penn State students, what’s left to talk about? You would be surprised how far this matter is from being declared over.
With most of the peripheral players in this case dealt with, the spotlight is now shining brightly on Sandusky. The man is adamant about his innocence, claiming that what he is charged with – sexually abusing at least eight boys over a 15-year span – has been grossly exaggerated.
“I am innocent of those charges,” Sandusky told NBC News’ Bob Costas on Monday night in an exclusive telephone interview. “…I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact.”
The man is creepy, plain and simple. When asked by Bob Costas if he was sexually attracted to young boys, it took him 17 seconds to say no. Who hesitates that long if they’re not lying?
Believe it or not, it gets more disturbing: according to The Daily, Sandusky’s defense attorney, 63-year-old Joe Amendola, is responsible for impregnating a teenage girl. Take that in for a second. The man defending a man accused of raping little boys had sex with a girl no older than 17-years-old when he was about 49.
Amendola served as young Mary Iavasile’s attorney in 1996, and, according to her mother Janet, got her pregnant around the same time. Janet also claimed that Mary gave birth before her 18th birthday and had a second child with Amendola around the time the two were married in 2003. The creepy couple is now separated.
My first reaction to hearing this new development consisted of a sigh and a, “That figures.” Shouldn’t I have been more appalled by this news? Had I become so cynical that news like this doesn’t even faze me anymore?
Unfortunately, that may be the case. It’s gotten to the point in this scandal where details like Amendola’s personal life that should be outrageous seem almost pedestrian. Everything was so ridiculous to begin with that, as the layers are peeled back and crazier pieces of information keep being revealed, nothing surprises me anymore.
I can’t be the only one who feels this way, right? Right?
Photo: www.wwtdd.com
