This morning, the “TODAY Show” released audio recordings from telephone interviews between the incarcerated Jerry Sandusky and filmmaker John Ziegler.
Early in his appearance on the show, Ziegler asserted, “Jerry Sandusky already had his day in court.” And yet, this morning, the world was forced to listen to him once more – as he laughed about “sex” in the shower and discussed the validity of testimonies and due process. From the beginning, long before I came to Darkness to Light, the testimony of Jerry Sandusky made me feel uncomfortable and upset. His failure to observe the severity of the charges, to make light of them and laugh, to use words like “sex going on” to describe the rape of a young boy by a grown man makes me feel ill. I can’t imagine what it does to someone who lived through the experience, whether at Penn State or anywhere else.
Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. One would have been horrible; 45 is incomprehensible. This travesty serves to illustrate the importance of recognizing, investigating, and acting on signs of child sexual abuse – where there is smoke, there is fire. Ziegler’s appearance on the “TODAY Show” was overshadowed by the words of a man who is still clearly unrepentant and unwilling to own up to the pain he has inflicted in so many. One thing on which I absolutely agree: Jerry Sandusky had his day in court. Do we really care what he has to say now?
You do a disservice to all rape victims by airing Sandusky. SHAME.