Some public advocates for survivors of sex abuse confirmed their support for the sanctions the NCAA placed on the Penn State football program, while two of the victims' lawyers said the sanctions had no effects on their clients.
"We definitely think that they're a good move and we definitely support the NCAA," said Curtis St. John, Malesurvivor communications director. "We're applauding Mark Emmert."
Emmert, the president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, imposed the following sanctions: a $60 million fine to support groups against child sexual abuse, a four-year ban on bowls and postseason play, the cutback of 25 to 15 scholarships and the elimination of all wins from 1998 to 2011.
Kristen Houser, Vice President of Communications and Development for The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, said the group was very pleased with the NCAA's decision to use the $60 million fine as a fund for groups against child sexual abuse.
However, Joel Feller and Matthew Casey, the lawyers for three of the boys former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of abusing, said the sanctions had no effect on their clients.
"I think that [the people referred to as 'Victims'] know they had nothing to do with whatever the NCAA sanctions are," said Feller, "that some men back in 1998 and 2001 who they never met made the decision to conceal information and that's why we're in the situation we're in right now."
Casey said his clients will be focusing on the upcoming civil court cases against Penn State.
"They were let down by some of the most powerful people, not only in Penn State, but in the state of Pennsylvania," he said. "It is conduct like that for which the civil courts exist, and we intend to pursue it as aggressively as we can."
Casey noted that the people referred to as "Victims" live in the community and have monitored the events of the case closely.
Casey added that while the NCAA sanctions may bring more media and attention to his clients, "every development in this case has caused them to relive the pain, but they live with it; they live with it every day."
St. John said, however, that there were no negative consequences to the sanctions.
"It's going to be difficult for [the football department]. They're going to remember it, they're going to have to recover from it, and it's going to affect some innocent people around here," he said. "But what's important here is the fine, which from what I understand, is going to advocacy groups, and that's very important."
According to a statement released by PCAR, Penn State needs a cultural shift in order to recover from the fallout related to the Sandusky case.
"It comes before winning and it comes before hero worship," Houser said. "I think that unfortunately such sanctions really is the result of not keeping those principles as a guiding beacon when these events transpired those years ago."
According to a statement issued by President Rodney Erickson "the NCAA ruling holds the University accountable for the failure of those in power to protect children and insists that all areas of the University community are held to the same high standards of honesty and integrity."
Houser said that the sanctions will do just that.
"I'd say it's sending a very strong statement not only to Penn State, but to all universities involved in the NCAA about the need to keep a balance and integrity, respect, and responsibility," she said.
Likewise, St. John said the sanctions will send a message that a "cover-up" of this nature will not be tolerated.
"You can't just set it aside," he said. "You have to face it head-on and face action and not put it away."
