By
Ray Blehar
Bruce Heim's October 7th guest op-ed (Bruce Heim: Shedding Light on The Second Mile's Decision Making) provides us with a number of opportunities to learn about how the system broke down and enabled Sandusky to perpetrate crimes for over a decade.
The mistakes by the county agencies and The Second Mile have garnered little attention, but had the correct steps been taken, children may have been spared from abuse.
By law, Centre County Office of Children and Youth Services (CYS) was required to notify The Second Mile within 24 hours of receiving the 1998 abuse allegations against Sandusky. The purpose of the notification was to ensure that the charity put a plan of supervision in place to protect program participants while Sandusky was under investigation.
That didn't happen.
According to the 1998 University Park police report, Sandusky continued to contact the two children who were subjects of the investigation. Both children were participants in the charity's activities. In addition, according to court documents, Sandusky was accessing Victim 4 - another participant - during this period.
The law also states that in instances where the county agency has passed the responsibility for investigating to the regional office or the Department, as it did in 1998, it still maintains responsibility for the plan of supervision and other notifications.
About ten years later, similar failures occurred.
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Charity did not put approved plan in place after the 2009 finding |
In 2008, Clinton County CYS was the investigating agency and it also failed its oversight duties. Clinton County CYS Director, Gerald Rosamilia, erred by assuming that because Sandusky was no longer accessing the subject (Aaron Fisher) that no plan of supervision was needed.
As noted above, The Second Mile was required to develop a plan of supervision to ensure Sandusky did not have access to children. However, the law also required the plan be approved by the county agency and kept on file until the closure of the investigation.
As noted above, The Second Mile was required to develop a plan of supervision to ensure Sandusky did not have access to children. However, the law also required the plan be approved by the county agency and kept on file until the closure of the investigation.
By the charity's own admission, it kept quiet about the abuse investigation in order to allow Sandusky to continue raising money. It did not inform program participants or the public. It is doubtful that such a plan would have been approved by Clinton County CYS or DPW.
According to court documents and trial testimony, two children were abused while Sandusky was under investigation in 2009. Also, media reports revealed that Sandusky attended a banquet in March 2009 and attended TSM's Summer Challenge Camp in 2010.
Similar failures, ten years apart by two different county agencies, reveals that child protection employees were not well versed in their responsibilities to keep children safe during investigations.
The evidence also shows that The Second Mile did not comply with the law by failing to get its plan of supervision approved and that its plan was insufficient for protecting children.
Mr. Heim's statement that The Second Mile didn't have "some culpability" in the scandal and that contrary opinions are based "on conjecture," is based on ignorance.
And ignorance of the law is no excuse.
The evidence also shows that The Second Mile did not comply with the law by failing to get its plan of supervision approved and that its plan was insufficient for protecting children.
Mr. Heim's statement that The Second Mile didn't have "some culpability" in the scandal and that contrary opinions are based "on conjecture," is based on ignorance.
And ignorance of the law is no excuse.
