SNAP quoted in article about Penn State child sex abuse scandal

Very sad discovery

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has decided to retire at the end of the season, saying Wednesday that the effects of a child sex abuse scandal involving former heir apparent Jerry Sandusky have been overwhelming.

"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief," Paterno said in a statement released just after initial reports confirming his pending retirement.

"This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more. My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this university."

So they had a football camp for middle schoolers where an assistant coach did the molesting.  Paterno had heard about it and reported it to the University, who in turn did nothing.  A sad tale that we all know should be brought to the police as soon as possible.  But now we see ESPN invoke SNAP in their article.

After Paterno reported the incident to Curley, Sandusky was told to stay away from the school, but critics say the coach should have done more -- tried to identify and help the alleged victim, for example, or alerted authorities.

"Here we are again,"[again?] John Salveson, former president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in an interview earlier this week. "When an institution discovers abuse of a kid, their first reaction was to protect the reputation of the institution and the perpetrator."

I'm not disagreeing with what he says here but why is this guy being quoted in this article?  The media is still desperately hoping to keep child abuse like this something priests do and that if there are problems with abuse in other institutions, it means they are like the Church.  Abuse is something that has happened across any number of institutions.  Why is the Church singled out here.  Paterno is Catholic I think, BTW.

Taking the lead from ESPN, check out this headlines:

Like Catholic Church, Paterno, Penn State turned blind eye to sexually abused children
Is Penn State the Catholic Church?
Jerry Sandusky Sex Abuse Case Could Rival the Catholic Scandal

Certainly there is valid discussion that could happen in this regard, but the presumption that abuse only has happened in the Church is short sighted and really defeats the effort to root out this abuse from all institutions.  Wouldn't it be nice to see the public school system start to make efforts to make sure this stops happening inside their walls as well?  I don't see that being discussed anywhere.