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Penn State Scandal: Rumor Claims Sandusky “Pimped Out” Boys to Rich Donors
Zac Wassink

By Zac Wassink, Yahoo! Contributor Network 2 hours, 25 minutes ago

Just when you thought the Penn State child sex-abuse scandal couldn't possibly get any worse, we may have just scratched the surface. Joe Paterno being fired could be just the start of arguably the biggest downfall in the history of college athletics.

Pittsburgh radio personality Mark Madden, who penned a column for the Beaver County Times back in April of this year named "Sandusky a State secret," a column which foreshadowed the recent scandal which has absolutely gutted those of us in the Penn State family, was a guest on the Dennis & Callahan Morning Show on WEEI sports talk radio out of Boston on Thursday morning. During his appearance, Madden, who has been mostly right regarding this issue from the very start, dropped what can only be called a bombshell, an announcement which could mean far more than the end of Joe Paterno's career.

Madden stated that two "prominent columnists" are currently investigating a rumor that Jerry Sandusky's Second Mile Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed to serve underprivileged youths, was "pimping out young boys to rich (Penn State) donors." Madden went on to say that Jerry Sandusky was told by those running the show at Penn State football that Sandusky had to retire after allegations made in 1998 that the defensive coordinator was guilty of "improper conduct with an underage male." Sandusky, thought by some to be Joe Paterno's successor at the time, abruptly and somewhat shockingly retired from coaching in 1999.

It actually gets worse. Madden went on to say "When Sandusky quit, everybody knew; not just at Penn State. It was a very poorly kept secret around college football, in general. That is why he never coached in college football again and retired at the relatively young age of 55, young for a coach." Madden also called the Second Mile Foundation "the perfect cover" for Sandusky's scheme.

I want to be absolutely clear about a few things. These reports, as of the writing of this piece, are coming only from Mark Madden, and they are currently only rumors and speculation. With that said, Mark Madden has been mostly correct about a grand jury investigation which was sealed until very recently. I'm not suggesting that I 100 percent believe Madden to be correct. I'm certainly not ignoring a word he's saying regarding the Sandusky case at this point.

Late Wednesday evening after Joe Paterno was fired by Penn State, an "in the know" individual told me that this story was going to get uglier, and that there were, at the very least, "dozens of more victims." My absolute worst fear regarding the issue is what Mark Madden spoke on Thursday morning. It's been widely reported that the US Department of Education is currently investigating Penn State. Are they going to find that Jerry Sandusky was running a multimillion-dollar criminal organization, one which resulted in dozens, possibly hundreds (or even more), of youths being sexually abused? Will they find that higher-ups at Penn State, including now former football coach Joe Paterno, covered-up Sandusky's heinous crimes? All I know this morning is that, after the worst week of my Penn State life, I don't know if anything would shock me.

For more: Paterno fired, PSU shamed