Why a Former District Attorney Chose Not to Prosecute Penn State Assistant Coach in 1998

[Chimichurri]

One of the questions surrounding the sex-abuse case against Jerry Sandusky is why a former district attorney chose not to prosecute the then-Penn State assistant coach in 1998 after reports surfaced that he had inappropriate interactions with a boy.

The answer is unknowable because of an unsolved mystery: What happened to Ray Gricar, the Centre County, Pa., district attorney?

Gricar went missing in April 2005. The murky circumstances surrounding his disappearance — an abandoned car, a laptop recovered months later in a river without a hard drive, his body was never found — have spawned Web sites, television programs and conspiracy theories. More than six years later, the police still receive tips and reports of sightings. The police in central Pennsylvania continue to investigate even though Gricar’s daughter, Lara, successfully petitioned in July to have her father declared legally dead so the family could find some closure and begin dividing his estate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/sports/ncaafootball/questions-on-sandusky-wrapped-in-2005-gricar-mystery.html?_r=2

[liberal N proud]

1. Cover up?

Part of the crime?

Hmmm!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. JoePa was short of the record.

Knowable.

[DURHAM D]

3. Maybe Gricar is out there and now he can come home.

Finally people will listen to him.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. If he's out there I suspect he on a warm beach sipping a drink sporting a little umbrella

That's my theory anyway.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. None of his accounts were ever touched. Family had him declared dead

Read up on his circumstances. It really doesn't sound like we went into hiding.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Yes, I know.

And the HD to his computer was found smashed. I feel there's at least a passing possibility he was well compensated to disappear. Leaving his former assets for his family to live on.

[TBF]

13. Possible, but the accounts also say he was a pretty stand-up guy

only way I see him doing something like that is if they threatened the safety of his family. We're getting out there in fantasy land now ... Possible I guess, but would it be likely?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

21. Any and all considerations that his disappearance in 2005 was related to this is fantasy land materi...

Or so I believe. My feelings are if were to fantasize we may as well do it right.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

25. Possible? Yes. Probable? No

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. See my post above

If I am going to engage in fantastic, and as you said "improbable" realities, I'd prefer to do it large. ;)

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. This is a multiple repeat of prior posts of that NYT story

[kath]

6. Does Paterno have mob ties??

[TBF]

12. If you do a google search you see there is a lot of speculation about that but

who knows ...

Weird story getting more bizarre as it goes along.

[Eddie Haskell]

19. No, he wears bow ties.

How are your knees?

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. The victim may not have cooperated with the investigation

[tridim]

9. Sounds like this story is going to be huge.

There are lots of big dots to connect.

I'm not predicting anything yet, but listen closely to what Limbaugh has to say about all this. Remember Florida's PRIVATIZED foster care system and the disappearing kids.

[arcane1]

11. Florida's PRIVATIZED foster care system and the disappearing kids?

What? Dammit, there's more???

[tridim]

14. Just a hunch, don't take it as fact.

There is lots to read online.

[mod mom]

15. This might be a far reach but wasn't there a sex scandal involving young boys

somehow tied in to the HW administration & the GOP? I believe it made the Washington Times.

The reason I bring this up is I would think that that type of hideous criminal would have ties with other similar criminals. Wondering if there is any link. Was Sandusky a republican?

[tridim]

16. Sandusky and Paterno are both registered Republicans.

[mod mom]

18. Do you remember reading about the scandal I am referring to on DU years ago?

I think some tried linking Jeff Gannon to it.

[tridim]

20. Yep.

[DURHAM D]

22. Yes.

Several DUers have posted reference to the similarities.

[DURHAM D]

23. Yesterday DUers were posting that Paterno is known as

the face of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania. He has addressed the state convention and done campaign ads for the party.

I am so old that I remember when a state employee would not be allowed to do that shit - times have changed.

[Eddie Haskell]

27. Yes, why wasn't that case pursued?

[shanti]

17. sure sounds like he was whacked

the corruption here is becoming almost as bad as mexico.

[Chimichurri]

24. the cover up is mind boggling.

[applegrove]

28. A henious story with a creepy missing person issue added to it. Those poor kids.