A full-blown sex scandal is exploding at Penn State.  Don't buy Joe Paterno's reasoning for being shocked about the alleged involvement of his former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, in some hideous acts.

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Jerry Sandusky was a member of Joe Paterno's coaching staff for 32 years.  Sandusky has been charged with 40 counts related to child sex abuse.  Paterno was made aware of an incident in 2002, yet says that he is "shocked" by the amount of charges.

Mike McQueary, a former Nittany Lions quarterback who is now a full-time assistant, let Paterno know about an incident in 2002 where McQueary allegedly found Jerry Sandusky taking a shower with a young boy.

"As my grand jury testimony stated," Joe Paterno said in the statement, "I was informed in 2002 by an assistant coach that he had witnessed an incident in the shower of our locker room facility.  It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report.  Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky.  As Coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at that time, I referred the matter to university administrators."

Okay, if a friend of mine is linked to showering with a young boy, I'm not going to be shocked if he's linked to numerous counts of sexual abuse years later.  If I'm alerted that my friend was touching a young boy inappropriately, I'm not going to be shocked if he continued to act in a similar manner. 

Jerry Sandusky was Joe Paterno's friend.  Paterno didn't want to do any digging to find out what was really going on.  Being "shocked" isn't a good defense because Paterno simply didn't want to know the truth in the first place.  Paterno opted not to investigate the matter because he didn't want anymore information.  Turning a blind eye and being "shocked" doesn't fly.

Brian Noe is the Program Director at 104.5 The Team, ESPN Radio in Albany, NY.  Brian also hosts “The Noe Show” each weekday from 1-3pm ET on WTMM.

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