The Moral Obligation to Report The Sexual Abuse of Children

In the wake of the Penn State child sexual abuse scandal, many people are asking why it has taken so long for the public to hear about this. People also are asking why it was not reported to authorities, mainly the police, earlier. One question, especially, comes to the surface. In 2002, then graduate assistant football coach Mike McQueary allegedly witnessed a sexual assault against a 10-year-old boy in the locker room shower by Jerry Sandusky, the man accused of molesting eight boys over the course of 15 years. In grand jury testimony McQueary said he spoke to his father and then head football coach Joe Paterno about the incident.