DALLAS (AP) — Olympic hopeful Kayla Harrison says she’s still enraged by the sexual abuse scandal that engulfed Penn State and resulted in the firing of longtime football coach Joe Paterno.
The former world judo champion revealed last fall that she was subjected to several years of abuse by a former coach, who pleaded guilty to one count of “engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place” and is now serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Paterno was fired in November when the Penn State board of trustees determined that he had not appropriately handled child sex abuse allegations raised against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Paterno died in January.
Hundreds of students gathered on campus and violence flared after Paterno was fired. Harrison said Sunday that she remembers watching the drama unfold on television and thinking, “Who cares if he loses his job? That’s not what this is about.”
