Ex-psu President Sees Conviction Overturned

SNAP
May 2, 2019

http://www.snapnetwork.org/ex_psu_president_avoids_jail_may19

We are disappointed that the child endangerment conviction of ex-Penn State president Graham Spanier has been overturned and we hope prosecutors will re-try him.

We fear this news will bring more pain to abuse victims, especially those who were hurt by Coach Jerry Sandusky.

To many abuse victims, it often feels like those who commit and conceal heinous child sex crimes escape justice thanks to outdated laws, shrewd lawyering and legal technicalities. That discourages others who see, suspect or suffer abuse from coming forward. And that, in turn, helps predators and their enablers.

Too many in law enforcement seem to focus solely on the ‘low hanging fruit’ – the abusers themselves. All too often, ‘higher ups’ who knew of or suspected the abuse and ignored or hid it escape justice. So we’re grateful to Pennsylvania authorities who pursued Spainer in the first place. And again, we hope they’ll continue to pursue him.

Those who are concealing child sex crimes right show should beware. More and more, police and prosecutors are slowing starting to come for you too. You might breathe a tad easier because of this ruling. But your day of reckoning will come too. So get on the right side of the law, and history, and tell law enforcement what you know about predators now.

CONTACT: Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (zhiner@snapnetwork.org, 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)