Frank Parlato
For those who take the time to study the grave American miscarriage of justice, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s prosecution of Jerry Sandusky, it soon becomes apparent that he is innocent. But who will take the time?
It is not just that an innocent man has spent 12 years in prison. There are many innocent Americans in prison. It’s a national pastime. But the Sandusky case is historic. It is worth the time to study because I believe it will be remembered as one of history’s most notorious examples of mass hysteria leading to a wrongful conviction. For that, we can thank the media.
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When lies are spoken as truth, the media of America shines.
A Passel of Liars
But nothing could have been done without a cluster of unrelated individuals, motivated by greed, ambition, and thirst of power, all acting as sanctimonious as thieves at a charity auction. They worked with a common purpose, but to satiate their own individual interests, to ensure the conviction of an innocent man.
Among the oddities of the case is that many of these dishonest actors likely thought Sandusky was guilty and justified their lying, cheating or recklessness on the belief that he must be guilty because everyone believes it and that the ends justified the means. Thus, we find liars justifying their lying about another human being because they believed the others were telling the truth.
I think the definition of due process might be that the means must justify the ends, not vice versa.
I suspect that among the actors in the prosecution of Jerry Sandusky, no one told the truth except Jerry Sandusky.
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Jerry Sandusky
Avarice
The Swindle Eight
The Face of Greed
If you want to understand what the human archetypal face of greed and dishonesty is, look at the faces of these eight men above.
Even the devil, if there were one, would shun these villains, not for their evil, but for the low price they received, and in the ignominious way they bargained for the sale of their souls.
Convicted Witches and a Convicted Pedophile
When I think of the Jerry Sandusky case, I think of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
During the witch trials, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, a crime punishable by death. Nineteen died by hanging, and one was pressed to death. Several died in jail, awaiting trial or execution.
Sandusky sits in jail, now 80, awaiting a new trial.
The accusations against the witches were based on the most dubious evidence, such as testimony that the spirit of the accused had appeared to the witness in a dream or vision.
The accusations against Sandusky were based on equally dubious evidence such as repressed recovered memory – of men who initially said Sandusky had not abused them, who, with their attorneys’ guidance, went to memory therapists who helped cover up their perjury.
Judge John Cleland had no interest in justice. He needed Sandusky convicted quickly.
The atmosphere of fear, superstition, and tension within the Salem community led to a series of trials driven by hysteria and fear, and no factual evidence or fair judicial processes. The same can be said of Sandusky plus the motive to make money. The media drove the fear, and Penn State told the world they would pay millions to accusers even before the show trial.
Penn State Has a Responsibility to the Truth
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Penn State, an institute of lower learning.
Neeli Bendapudi is the current president of Penn State. She has shown no interest in the possibility that Jerry Sandusky and her brilliant predecessor, Dr. Graham Spanier, are innocent. She has not acknowledged that Penn State played a major role in their unjust convictions.
As the head of a supposed institute of higher learning, one would think she might consider looking into the case.
Penn State has a law school. Bendaputi could possibly encourage the school to get the law students to review the incredible lack of due process in a case rushed from indictment to trial in seven months, so that a football season was not canceled at the cost of the life of a man.
And this might be an obligation for the dean and other leaders of the law school to not let this terrible injustice that involved Penn State remain ignored.
Victor Romero
Interim Dean, Maureen B. Cavanaugh Distinguished Faculty Scholar, and Professor of Law
Jud Mathews
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law
Nicole Chong
Associate Dean and Professor of Legal Writing
Keith Elkin
Associate Dean for Academic Success and Professor of Legal Skills
Steven Hinckley
Associate Dean for Library and Information Services and Professor of Law
Andrea M. Matwyshyn
Associate Dean for Innovation and Technology and Professor of Law
Michele Vollmer
Associate Dean for Clinics and Experiential Learning and Professor of Clinical Law
Dara E. Purvis
Associate Dean for Research and Partnerships and Professor of Law
Dr. Wende’ Ferguson
Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Assistant Dean for Student Services
Stephen G. Barnes
Assistant Dean of Graduate and International Programs
Amanda DiPolvere
Associate Dean for Enrollment, Career Development, Planning & Transition
Wende’ Ferguson
Assistant Dean of Student Services
Matt Gardner
Assistant Dean for Digital Learning and Information Technology
Too Much Time Does Not Heal
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Salem produced a lot of convicted witches.
In the years following the Salem witch trials, there was growing recognition of the injustices that had occurred. By 1702, the trials were declared unlawful. In 1711, the Colony of Massachusetts passed a bill restoring the rights and good names of those accused, which did not mean a whole hell of a lot to the dead convicted witches.
Perhaps we can do better this time and restore the rights and good name of Jerry Sandusky before he dies in prison.
It took almost three hundred years – until 1957 – for the State of Massachusetts to formally apologize for the events of 1692. The problem was there was not a single convicted witch or anyone who knew them to accept the apology.
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Jerry Sandusky
I hope it will not take as long to admit the mistake and learn the lesson that media-driven hysteria, false accusations, and lapses in due process caused the wrongful conviction of Jerry Sandusky while a whole nation watched.
Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
I’ve started emailing different sites and adding info like frankreport and John Ziegler’s podcast to investigative reporters. The only two that I’ve done so far are CBS 60 Minutes and John Stossel. I would send to more if I could think of them.
This is the only way that I can see the mainstream media taking an interest in this story. If anyone can think of more sites please comment. I suggest that others contact these sites too.
Thank you for taking a stand for justice!
This is just one long biased opinion piece. can you write an article that is a rundown of evidence-backed facts of why you think Sandusky was falsely accused? The fact that the victims blew their money gambling etc means zilch about whether they were abused by Sandusky or not.
Go back and look at all the articles published. Each has significant information and evidence proving Sandusky’s innocence. The lack of due process and unethical conduct of key players are substantiated in the articles as well.
Here is one of many:
https://frankreport.com/2024/02/21/vignettes-from-the-sandusky-trial-prosecution-altered-bob-costas-nbc-audio-got-caught-but-judge-does-nothing/
Search Sandusky on FR. Evidence in all articles presents a clear picture. Here’s one to get you started:
https://frankreport.com/2024/01/25/changing-claims-shubin-amplified-accusers-stories-in-sandusky-case/
As others noted, start at the beginning of Frank’s articles. But when you go out to exercise, put the podcast on. With the Benefit of Hindsight…: Episode One: The Date on Apple Podcasts
Penn State needs to own up to their mistakes AND make it right. This man should have a new trial and be freed from prison.
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[…] Informations on that Topic: frankreport.com/2024/04/13/penn-states-dark-shadow-revisiting-sanduskys-wrongful-conviction/ […]
“we find liars justifying their lying about another human being because they believed the others were telling the truth.”
Yes, that’s a particularly nefarious aspect of this case! There’s reason to believe that multiple accusers came to believe that Jerry is a bad guy, either through false memory implantation or the whole “there’s so many accusers, it must be true” smokescreen that many of us fell for. 😢
It’s an easy pivot for Penn State. They “look into” the case. They find/suggest that Sandusky should get a new trial. They blame Sandusky being found guilty on false accusations, a frothing media, and an unhinged NCAA. Then Penn State apologizes for their role. This will actually clear the name of Penn State. It’s the only way. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the best thing for Penn State from every angle.
Any chance a petition to have an “academic” review of the Sandusky case sent to Neeli Bendapudi would do any good?
A request exactly like you suggest?
“… As the head of a supposed institute of higher learning, one would think she might consider looking into the case.
Penn State has a law school. Bendaputi could possibly encourage the school to get the law students to review the incredible lack of due process in a case rushed from indictment to trial in seven months, so that a football season was not canceled at the cost of the life of a man.
And this might be an obligation for the dean and other leaders of the law school to not let this terrible injustice that involved Penn State remain ignored. …”
I don’t think Neeli Bendapudi has no interest in finding out if Jerry Sandusky is innocent. I think she very well knows he is innocent because she orchestrated the study that Dr. Spanier references on CSPAN and is now, along with the entire BOT, in a full court press to see that the truth never sees the light of day. If there is an innocent explanation for why the study in this clip has not been publicly released I would appreciate hearing it. User Clip: Spanier Penn State Investigation | C-SPAN.org
What would be an interesting conversation? If the current University President would invite Dr. Spanier to tea and ask “Ok, what the hell happened?” Based on Dr. Spanier’s book, his response to that question has changed over the years. I’m pretty sure right after he was removed as President, he would have thought “maybe Sandusky did something. How could there be THAT many people lying?”, to the current knowledge that “there’s no way in the world Sandusky did these things and yes, there are many people that lied for various reasons.” Then Dr. Spanier would have to admit that the Board of Trustees, those wonderful representatives of the University, those folks that HIRED the current President, are not ALL the same people who screwed this thing up almost 12 years ago. Most of those knuckleheads are gone. Yes, she should seek the help of the law school professors/students to see what’s behind the curtain and get the truth. “ The only thing to fear, is fear itself!”
Thank you for casting the shadow exactly where it belongs- on Penn State.
Have you been able to speak with any members of the jury? I would imagine they would be shocked to learn what went on behind the scenes.
That is exactly who I want to hear from. They have to be so upset for being lied to by their government to put innocent people in prison.
A perfect time to examine the role of the deliberately misguided and misinformed media.
They buried Sandusky and played the American public – they stripped the nation of a legendary hero too many, Joe Paterno, and railroaded and destroyed the life of an innocent man and his family. A man who gave generously, lived with integrity, and forgave repeatedly to improve the lives of others.
Jerry Sandusky is innocent.
This is a sham like no other – and we blindly watched and accepted the lies we were told.
Rats trained in cages watch and accept countless lies, too.
According to Wikipedia:
Agreed. Huge learning curve I too was one of the lab rats blindly taken by media and power if the court had
The Penn State Board of cowardly Trustees would probably stop that issue immediately. It would be very interesting to follow, however. The way in which the Sandusky case was handled would be laughed at and would be a perfect example of everything NOT to do. Sad and infuriating.
The witch trials still go on in the “Constitution” state of Connecticut. They’ve just taken a different form- but equally as sinister.
An institution of higher learning given an incredible opportunity to self-reflect and re-examine this case.
A refusal to investigate reveals the truth is well known.