My Sunday Feeling

"Sexually attracted, you know, I, I enjoy young people.  I,I, love to be around them.  No, I'm not sexually attracted to little boys." 

Thus was the organ recital Jerry Sandusky gave to Bob Costas last year in response to the simple question of whether he was sexually attracted to little boys. 

You ask me the question "Why do you help out at Miracle League?" you would hear me say, "I enjoy being around the kids."  You ask me if I am sexually attracted to them and you will wake up in the hospital.  But, then again, it's pretty black and white with me and everybody else I associate with. 

The Bob Costas interview was when I, and I suspect the whole sane world, knew that Sandusky was a creep.  He just wasn't a convicted creep at the time. 

He is now, Brother.  Last night the jury came back and convicted him of 45 of 48 counts of sexually assaulting 10 boys over the last 15 years. 

He got off light. 

I understand stealing.  I understand burglary.  I understand cooking the books.  I understand selling drugs.  I wouldn't do those things but I at least have a frame of reference for them. 

I don't get sex offenders.  And I reeeeeaaalllly don't get adults that do kids.  Their brains are deeply unhinged in a way I cannot fathom. 

My friend Peter bought me lunch the other day.  A defendant he was about to sue up and died on him.  He and the lawyer for the decedent's insurer moved the Court to have me named as Special Receiver for Service of Process or some shit.  For this he was buying me lunch.  I work cheap. 

Anyway, I had expressed my exasperation as to why Sandusky was evidently hell-bent on going to trial.  As the old saying goes in the criminal world, when you get charged with that many offenses of the same nature, "Boy, you know you done at least one of them." Same here.  Why drag yourself and your family through the shame and degradation?  Why cruelly force these young men to relive these unspeakable acts?  Especially when you know you "done at least one of them."

Peter is an old prosecutor and he still does a little criminal defense.  Mostly of the knucklehead variety.  Peter's take on it was interesting.

"Here's the deal with child molesters Pablo," he said. " in the fucked up way Sandusky's brain operates, he probably doesn't think he did anything all that bad.  He probably thinks he helped those kids out more than he hurt them.  Anybody who is that delusional probably thinks that the jury will see it his way." 

Which, as it turned out, was crazy. 

And now there will be hell to pay.  Sandusky will spend the rest of his life in isolation.  This could be a long time depending on whether he accidentally runs across the wrong con.  One who has nothing to lose.  Or he may kill himself.  He supposedly is on "suicide watch." This is not surprising.  There must be nothing worse for a man with such juvenile and twisted ego needs to have limits placed on his behavior. 

The former athletic director and another official are charged with perjuring themselves before the Grand Jury.  The FBI is poking around as is the United States Department of Education.  Penn State will get sued as will Joe Paterno's estate.  The new President and Athletic Director will get to spend the next couple of years in the company of lawyers. 

"Happy Valley" indeed. 

If there is any lesson to be taken away from this exceedingly sordid and heartbreaking tale it is that there are monsters among us in all walks of life.  They burrow into otherwise good and honorable professions.  They are clergy.  They are teachers.  They are coaches.  As a society, we have to be hyper vigilant about their presence among us.  And we should give aid and sustained comfort to their victims.  We should applaud their bravery when they name names and give voice to the unspeakable horror visited upon them. 

In short, we should never forget that this can happen again.  Because there are monsters among us.  Monsters like Jerry Sandusky who rightly figured that the system would give him a pass because it did for years. 

As for me and my friends at Miracle League?  Yeah.  We like to be around the kids.

And we can't let the Jerry Sanduskys of this world ruin it for us. 

Want to make something of it?