Articles Posted in Sex Crimes/Rape

What has happened over the last week at Penn State University has tarnished the lengthy career of a football coaching legend and the reputation of a nationally recognized institution. Wednesday evening Joe Paterno, 84 year-old football coach of Penn State University, was asked to step down immediately, ending his 46-year tenure as head coach.

In order to understand how we have gotten to this point, it is critical to understand the history and timeline of events that have taken place over the last few decades. In 1969, Jerry Sandusky began his coaching career as a defensive line coach with Penn State University under legendary coach Joe Paterno. In 1977, Jerry started his now infamous organization called The Second Mile which was intended to help children with absent or dysfunctional families. Over the course of a 15 year-period, beginning in 1994, Sandusky had numerous alleged encounters with young boys. Some of these incidents were witnessed by other members of the coaching staff and occurred at the Penn State athletic facilities. In total, Sandusky faces over 40 criminal charges with 25 of those being felony counts of deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, endangering welfare of a child and indecent assault against at least eight victims over more than a decade.

As the details of the alleged acts have been flooding the media in the last couple of days, the idea of an adult violating these innocent children is disturbing to say the least. I am sure everyone would agree that Sandusky should be punished for his crimes. However, what makes this story even more interesting is how the lack of action on the part of others is bringing them under fire, most noteworthy Coach Paterno.

As the story has further unraveled, it appears that Paterno and other school officials had the opportunity to alert authorities, but instead just alerted the Penn State athletic director ,Tim Curley. As it stands, Curley and another university official are facing charges of perjury and failing to report Sandusky to authorities. On two different occasions, once in 1998 and again in 2002, Sandusky was accused of engaging in this violent criminal behavior and the school effectively did little to nothing to stop it. Although Paterno does not appear to be facing criminal charges like Curley, it is still safe to say that his career has been tainted and ended sooner than he had intended. No doubt that the reputation of the esteemed Penn State University has been forever changed.

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In May 2011, Martin Diamond, 23, was released on a promise to appear in court for rape and kidnapping charges against his estranged girlfriend. The bond was originally set as a secured bond of $105,500, but was soon changed to an unsecured bond which meant Diamond could sign himself out of jail.

A “secured bond” means that the suspect has to provide some security such as a personal property which equates to the bond amount. The suspect could also hire a bail bondsman who would charge a percentage of that bond amount to the suspect and provide an insurance in order to allow the suspect to be realeased. On the other hand, an “unsecured bond” means that a suspect does not have to provide any financial or real property collateral.

Magistrate Sylvia Cherry was overseeing this process. As a result of this incident, the Magistrate overseeing the bond for Diamond was placed on suspension to allow for further investigation into this and related incidents. Judge Lisa Bell manages the Mecklenburg county magistrates and released a statement defending Cherry’s actions.

According to an article featured on the WSOC TV Channel 9 website, “Bell said a number of factors could have played a role in Cherry’s decision, including the fact that Diamond had no prior arrests or convictions, did not appear to be a flight risk, had a confirmed residence and was a student.” On the other hand, CMPD issued a statement calling the bond a “mistake”, according to local news affiliate WCNC Newschannel 36.

Understandably, the victim’s mother is outraged with this decision and is concerned that authorities will have a difficult time finding Diamond when he court date comes up.
The actions of the magistrate can often have significant impact a case regardless of the facts surrounding the matter. There are a number of motions that are filed which relate to magistrate misconduct and can have a bearing on the judge’s decisions in cases. This is yet another example of how critical the magistrate role is in the court system and it should not be taken lightly.

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