I can understand that quote. He worked for the university, he didn't want to jeopardize the universities procedure. As much a figure as Paterno was, he was still a pawn in this particular game. Lets not forget the bigger parties at play, bigger than Paterno who had a District Attorney killed over this. This goes deeper than one old man and not calling the police which I'm not convinced a rational adult would do based on the watery thin accusation he received from the coaching equivalent of a squeaker.
If someone I barely knew came to me and said sheepishly he saw my coworker in the shower with a boy without any hard evidence and without seeing it for myself my first phone call sure as hell isn't going to be the police. You don't exactly bounce back from an accusation like that especially in today's hair triggered litigious world and I'd be damn hard pressed to make it without a high level of confidence the information I have is credible.
Hell the world we live in today sucks in that regard. Last Halloween I was helping my folks with their hayride and bonfire they've done for 22 years or something to that effect. Over the course of my growing up and moving away plenty of neighbors have come and gone and the people don't know me as well as they once did if at all in some cases. Well I was inside organizing my nieces candy at the kitchen table when a boy walks in, somewhere around 7 years old, and asked where the bathroom was. Unfortunately there was a line of kids at all 3 bathrooms most of whom had to #2 and he just needed to #1. No problem, we'll get you a tree. We walked out to the barn and I pointed him at the fenceline. I stood back in the light at the front of the barn so not only couldn't I see him but others could see me. He comes back around and asks if I can help him take his pants off because they're stuck...
Uh oh.
Now when I was a kid this wouldn't be an issue. Someone would help me out, they wouldn't be a pedophile and if someone saw what was going on they wouldn't call the police because "that's what you do" when someone is molesting a child. Well...I wouldn't be molesting a child but it might look like it to some busybody stick-your-nose-in-everyone-elses-business pain in the rear individual. All these thoughts ran through my head and I had to tell this poor kid, who really had to pee that I couldn't help him. I passed him off to my brothers girlfriend who was headed into the house and told her to help him out.
The kid I'd never met, I'd never met his holder brother, I'd never met his his parents and for a double extra special twist they're the first black family to build a house on our road so I'd have all sorts of hell unleashed on me for helping him out if someone just happened by. Do you think this 7 year old boys older brother is going to take kindly to an adult unbuttoning his younger brothers costume? Good luck to me defending my "intent" on that one. Yeah...
What really sucked is the kid came out of the house with my brothers girlfriend all excited to cook a hot dog on the fire. I had already gone out to get one on a stick for him and just before he got to the fire his holder brother grabbed him by the hand and said "we're going" because his folks said to be back by whatever time it was. Ugh...poor kid. I couldn't help him and he didn't get a hot dog. I told (and laughed) about what happened with my folks afterward but at the same time it's just sad. It's sad that because of amazinhunks like Sandusky and all the dickheads on the Predator TV shows I couldn't help out some poor kid that couldn't unbutton his trousers.
I get how serious these accusations can be. That's pulling the pin and throwing a hand grenade...there's no coming back. I understand not picking up the phone when you don't have any first hand knowledge.
McQueary failed these kids. He's the one who saw what was going on. He's the one who wavered. He's the one who needed motivating to tell anyone. He's the one who told someone who isn't truly in a position to call in the authorities because he didn't see what happened. And worst of all he's the one who gained from all this.