An interesting take I found online after thoroughly researching this news:
"The reason Ped State football exists as a juggernaut it is today is largely because of Jo Paterno's decision to keep silent.
Look at the dates being discussed - 1976: Penn State went 9-3 in 1975 and finished #10, then went 11-1 in 1977 and finished #5. They were in the National Title hunt those years.
1987: Penn State had finished 12-0 in 1986 and won their last national championship. They were in the national title hunt.
1988: This was Joe Paterno's worst year in a long time, people were asking if he should retire.
A sex abuse scandal in any of those years would have destroyed their football program and caused irreparable harm. By being able to weather those years, Penn State is what it is today. Don't forget, they were independents until 1991, their application into the Big Ten wasn't set in stone until 3 years after this last time a child told joe pa personally what happened. Do you think the Big Ten would have let Penn State into the conference in 1991 with a sex abuse scandal on their hands?
Every single time the Joe Paterno didn't act, it was directly for the betterment of himself and the football program and Penn State's pecking order in the college football world.
Their football program is built on broken lives and destroyed potential so it does not deserve to exist."