CEO of Sandusky's Kids Charity Resigns Amid Penn States Scandal
The CEO of The Second Mile program has resigned from the non-profit organization after charges that the organization’s founder, Jerry Sandusky molested several boys.
The Second Mile is a Pennsylvania-based non-profit organization for children who “need additional support and who could benefit from positive human contact,” the group’s website states. Sandusky founded the organization in 1977 in State College, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Jack Raykovitz, a practicing psychologist who had held the CEO post at the organization for 28 years, announced his resignation on Monday, saying it is in the best interests of Second Mile.
In a statement he wrote that for children and their parents impacted by the alleged events, their pain and healing “is the greatest priority.” He added that his “thoughts and prayers have been and will continue to be with them.”
According to ABC News, Raykovitz resigned from the organization, “amid a flurry of questions about whether the group ignored sex abuse allegations against Sandusky and allowed him to continue working with and preying on young boys.”
An earlier statement by Raykovitz showed that the organization was notified by Penn State officials in 2002 about a molestation incident. The school said Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary said he saw Sandusky allegedly raping a boy in the showers on campus, according to ABC News.
But Raykovitz said that he was only told that and employee was “uncomfortable” seeing Sandusky in the shower with a boy.
Raykovitz did not tell police about the notification he received.
David Woodle, Vice Chairman on the Board of Directors, will now take on the responsibility of the day to day operations of The Second Mile.
The statement says that, although the allegations against Sandusky and the alleged incidents occurred outside Second Mile programs and events, it “does not change the fact that the alleged sexual abuse involved Second Mile program children, nor does it lessen the terrible impact of sexual abuse on its victims.”
Looking Ahead
The Second Mile’s Board of Directors has outlined some decisions the organization will be making to ensure the safety and well-being of their children.
“We will conduct an internal investigation to assess our internal policies, procedures and processes; and make recommendations regarding the organization’s future operations. We hope to have those findings by the end of December,” Board members said in a statement posted to the group’s website.
“We have engaged as our General Counsel the firm of Archer & Greiner, including partner Lynne Abraham. Archer & Greiner succeeds Wendell Courtney, who resigned from that position last week.”
The board said they will continue to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the Attorney General’s office.
“Our continued prayers, thoughts and concerns go out to all those affected,” the directors said.
The company’s boards said families of the children attending TSM have urged them to maintain their programs.
The board says families said that they continue to believe “deeply” in TSM’s mission and the value it provides young people in their community.
According to TSM, one mother wrote, “I am saddened by the prospect of people losing faith in this amazing organization...What you have built in my child is a confidence, a sense of belonging, respect, joy in helping others, and most importantly, his self-esteem.”
Raykovitz said that he hopes his resignation “brings with it the beginning of that restoration of faith in the community of volunteers and staff that, along with the children and families we serve, are The Second Mile.”
Raykovitz also urges anyone with information regarding this investigation to contact investigators from the Office of Attorney General.
Sandusky’s Arrest
Sandusky, a former Penn State football assistant coach was arrested last week for alleged molestation of boys.
Sandusky was released without bail or an ankle monitor after being arrested on 40 counts of child sexual assault charges. The judge who let Sandusky return home was a volunteer at The Second Mile, ABC News reported.
Prosecutors requested $500,000 bail and for Sandusky to wear an ankle monitor but District Judge Leslie Dutchcot freed Sandusky $100,000 unsecured bail, only to be paid if Sandusky failed to show up for court, ABC News reported.
As reported by ABC News, “Christopher Mallios, an attorney with AEquitas, part of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, said that having unsecured bail is extremely unusual for a defendant charged with a high number of serious crimes.”
"The fact that it's unsecured at all, we are dealing with pretty serious crimes. If the allegations were just involving one victim, it would be unusual for a defendant to get unsecured bail. But with multiple possible victims and ongoing investigations and out of state investigations, I'm shocked," Mallios said.
Mallios said he was always concerned over whether a defendant with a position with authority would receive better treatment and that it seemed out of proportion.
"You know, we don't have two courthouses, one for the rich and one for the poor, or one for white people and one for black people. This just seems out of proportion for the crimes," he said.
Mother Speaks Out
Last Friday the mother of the boy who triggered the investigation into Sandusky’s alleged child sex assaults said that her son felt that he couldn’t say ‘no’ to the former Penn State football coach.
The mother of the boy, who is referred to as Victim 1 in court papers, told Good Morning America, host George Stephanopoulos, that after she told him they should have reached this conclusion earlier and that he should have told her sooner, he replied, “Well I didn’t know what to do…you just can’t tell Jerry no.”
Back in 2005 when Victim 1 was 11-years-old, coach Sandusky, now 67, would have the boy stay at his home when he coached the Second Mile program, ABC News reported.
The grand jury investigation says that Sandusky "indecently fondled Victim 1 on a number of occasions, performed oral sex on Victim 1 on a number of occasions and had Victim 1 perform oral sex on him on at least one occasion."
In the interview the boy’s mother said that her son started to act violently and getting himself grounded which would prevent him from seeing Sandusky. At one point she said her son asked her how to look up information on sex offenders.
The mother, feeling as if he was trying to tell her something, continuously asked the boy if there was something that he needed to tell her, but it took a while before the boy even said that he had felt ‘uncomfortable’ with Sandusky.
"[I] proceeded to ask him if there was something he needed to tell me, if there was something going on … it wasn't 'til a month later when he indicated he was uncomfortable with leaving the school with him, and [Sandusky] pulling him out of classes at school," she told Good Morning America.
Grand Jury Statements
According to the grand jury presentment, the coach had access to the Clinton County high school that Victim 1 attended because he volunteered at the school’s varsity football program. The grand jury presentment says that Sandusky often had unmonitored meetings with the boy and on one occasion a school wrestling coach witnessed inappropriate touching between the two in a weight room.
Reports claim that McQueary failed to notify police and instead he informed Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, who also failed to notify police.
Paterno was fired shortly after he announced that he planned to retire at the end of his 46th season.
The university president, two top officials, head coach Joe Paterno, and McQueary of Penn State have all been fired or placed on leave for their roles in the scandal.
Last Friday on Good Morning America the mother of Victim 1 explained that when she expressed her concerns to the school and learned that inclinations were made but not reported she was “infuriated.”
"I'm infuriated … Even if they had the slightest inclination that anything inappropriate was going on it should have been reported, or at least brought to my attention," she said. "I didn't even know he was leaving the school with my child, taking him out of classes. They never told me that."
Victim 1’s mother did not learn about the severity of what allegedly happened between her son and his coach.
The boy testified that when staying in Sandusky’s basement, the coach would come down and get into bed, crawling underneath him and running his arms up and down the boy's back to "crack" it. He testified that this led to further inappropriate touching during the summer of 2005 through 2006, when he was in seventh grade. This soon led to inappropriate sexual contact, ABC News reported.
"I was horrified. I was absolutely horrified," Victim 1's mother told ABC News. "I knew some details but I didn't know that it was that, I didn't know it was that bad. It's caused a lot of nightmares, for him and I both."
The mother of Victim 1 said that her son is finally relieved that Sandusky was finally charged and that they have all been overwhelmed.
But Victim 1’s mother told ABC News that she wants justice, she said that Penn State head coach Joe Paterno should have spoken up and agrees that he should have been fired for his silence.
As for Sandusky, she wants him locked up.
"I want justice. I want him to be locked up," she said. "There's no help for someone who does this. Not like this. He needs to be put away. He needs to be put away for a long time."