PA--Victims tell Penn State: "Let go of Paterno's victories"

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 14

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org )

Penn State officials are trying to get NCAA officials to “re-instate” all of Joe Paterno’s “wins.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2015/01/13/penn-state-sanctions-ncaa-joe-paterno-victories/21688509/   

We respectfully beg Penn State officials and Joe Paterno fans to take a step back and a deep breath and focus, even for a few minutes, on the lifelong pain of the boys who were raped and sodomized by a high profile university coach. And in light of their suffering, we humbly suggest that continued lobbying to restore Paterno's "wins" and fight sanctions seems increasingly shallow, unnecessary and callous.

If the alleged goal is to allegedly "restore" the university's reputation, we suggest a more dignified and compassionate response of simply accepting the sanctions and rulings and moving ahead without more litigation and lobbying.

Joe Paterno’s legacy is supposedly about teaching boys how to be good men. When a good man does something wrong, he accepts the consequences and does everything in his power to make it right. Shouldn’t Paterno’s backers do this now?

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We were founded in 1988 and have more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy 314-566-9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, Barbara Dorris 314-503-0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org, Barbara Blaine 312-399-4747, bblaine@SNAPnetwork.org