*Bloggers Note* This is an updated version of this post. I was given several facts and corrections by a number of people on twitter. Also please note, this is my opinion. You can disagree, but don't accuse me of slander. If you don't like my opinion, don't read my stuff. If you're curious, read on:
On February 1st, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced that a Special Prosecutor will be appointed to investigate Governor Tom Corbett. Questions remain as to what part he played in keeping the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal off the front pages of every paper in the country when he was the AG running for Governor.
By way of back story, it should be reported that Corbett was AG when the investigations into Sandusky began in 2009. At the time he was ramping up a run for Governor. He received huge donations from Second Mile Board Members to his campaign. The AG's office oversees all non-profits in Pennsylvania, so accepting money from Second Mile Board Members may be an ethical violation. After winning the Governorship, he became a Trustee at Penn State.
When you connect the political dots, its very clear that Corbett slow walked the investigation and kept things on the back burner to protect his political future. Had he proceeded with the full weight of his office, he would have pissed off so many of the Penn State faithful, he would never had won the Governorship.
This is more than just speculation on my part. A few years ago, I was part of an investigation very similar to the Penn State scandal. It involved a high school, a popular coach and child sexual assault. I can't discuss specifics due to confidentiality, but in broad strokes I can explain how these investigations should be conducted.
When we received the case, we met with the State's Attorney and Law Enforcement. We knew of one victim, and suspected many more. The State's Attorney immediately formed a task force. Several detectives and command from two different PD's, computer forensic analysis from the FBI and two DCFS investigators were on the task force.
In the span of one week, we interviewed 50 possible victims and their parents. We spoke to school administrators, fellow teachers and even past girlfriends of the suspect. The same theme kept coming up, the suspect had an eye for his high school charges, often dating them after the graduated. Several of the suspects colleagues teased him about his predilection for recently graduated young ladies and many of those friends made off color remarks about students to the suspect. The entire investigation wrapped up in 10 days and the suspect went to prison.
In the Sandusky/Penn State Scandal, Corbett knew there were multiple victims, possibly in the hundreds. His office assigned 2 investigators. TWO. Pennsylvania also has a nationally recognized Child Predator Unit that was never given the case. Conveniently after he was elected governor more people were assigned to the case and the grand jury was convened which resulted in the prosecution and conviction of a very bad man.
What is frustrating is that there is no doubt that children were raped by Sandusky while Corbett was keeping things under wraps. Someone who was genuinely concerned about others more than his own oily political aspirations would have proceeded full speed ahead. In fact, had Corbett shown the backbone he pretends to have, he may have won without the Penn State vote.
Tom Corbett is not that person. He's a man who sacrificed the innocence of young boys, to further his political career. He'll have to live with that forever, but anyone with the moral compass of Tom Corbett probably doesn't care.
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