Yesterday, an additional part to the Sandusky saga was beginning to break across the internet — would John Ziegler of FramingPaterno.com release the name of Victim 2? Would he “out” an anonymous victim? While this question was out there, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape released this statement on their site that spoke about re-victimization and the importance of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Ziegler and/or his team released the following preface to their article:
Even with the release of said article the conversation remained shaped around the controversy of “outing.” And for good reason. Following the “Editor’s Note” he went on the defensive again — this time with more ferocity:
Editor Conaway’s Update: Later on in the article from which the above quote was pulled, Ziegler and/or his team did release a name. Based on my own research, I believe this was the name of Victim 2. I monitored the website for hours and despite countless tweets from individuals and organizations asking to please remove the victim’s name, the first and last name remained visible for the world to see for several hours. Only recently (time of writing is about 3:30am EST) did the site make some updates—removing the many mentions of this name and replacing it with ******* when Ziegler mentioned it and with ——- when it was mentioned in the interview with Sandusky.
Ziegler’s media appearances highlighted another problem: while trying to portray himself as simply a truth-seeking researcher who wants to show how “the media bought into a narrative that makes no sense,” the name of his website is a phrase intentionally crafted in order to fuel the fires and rally a select group of troops. Real research demands the scientist’s inquiry into a theory, the novelist’s openness to discovery. FramingPaterno.com? It sounds and feels and reads like a fabricated answer with a team hellbent on forcing it to bleed true.
Regardless of where you stand on the recent controversies, Ziegler has certainly caused those still following this scandal to shift their focus on different (and perhaps new) details. Here’s a passage about Victim 2 from the article’s original release:
Along with discrediting McQueary, Ziegler is relentless in pointing out the level of support shown by Victim 2 for Sandusky:
The counter to Victim 2’s defending Sandusky was addressed by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape‘s most recent post on the matter. Here are a few of the issues they mention:
Taking into consideration the fact that Victim 2 is a Sergeant in the Marine Corps, and is married, it is perhaps even more likely that he would choose to deny the abuse occurred. Coming out against an abuser must be hard enough, but when you add the expectations of masculinity that go along with being both a Marine and a husband, and in light of the way sexual abuse victims are treated with regularity in both the justice system and the media, it’s certainly easy to speculate on how he may have altered facts or even denied the abuse entirely. The new question at this point is not whether Sandusky is guilty or if the man referred to as “Victim 2” was in fact assaulted, it’s whether it is ever okay for the name of a victim of sexual assault to be released without their prior knowledge or permission. And then another layer: What if the victim was not anonymous originally but then decided to be?
We at the Good Men Project support, under any circumstance, the right of every survivor to choose anonymity.
–Photo: fluffisch/Flickr
I do hope that Ziegler’s defence of Paterno will be full detailed and cover all areas of concern and of Paterno’s conduct. Everything. Ziegler is an interesting character. He thinks that the age of victim 2 is significant and a deal breaker. So McQueary seems to have seen a 13/14 year old being sodomised and not a 10/11 year old…. and that changes exactly what levels of legal reality in Ziegler’s Brain? Maybe Ziegeler needs to do some school work and take Human Biology 101 – he may discover puberty and find it helpful in explaining his own past experiences.… Read more »
Let’s be certain to treat ANY victim of a crime with respect, especially when it comes to how they are portrayed in the media. Mr. Sandusky continues to find ways to use media to deny his abuse of children. But who in the media is giving voice to the victims? And how are the victims portrayed? Over and over outside voices want to find fault with the VICTIM! Does this help or hurt move our society away from shaming victims of CSA? I don’t think so. Let’s for once use empathy in the way we treat victims of sexual violence… Read more »
Dear Brenda,
Beautifully said. Particularly loved this: ” Let’s for once use empathy in the way we treat victims of sexual violence.”
Thanks for writing,
~Cameron
Ziegler’s website was hacked after he posted the article. He did not use the victim’s name. I know this because I was attempting (miserably) to help fix it.
Please ask yourself why someone would hack the website. Who benefited? Certainly not Ziegler.
Dear sc70s, Victim 2’s name was released and it stayed released for hours. In this situation, and especially with a guy as shady as Ziegler, this is what matters. There’s an awful lot of protectionism going on from people who are so blinded by their severe allegiance with Paterno that they forget there are victims. I know many of these people and I am from the same area where many of them are from. They are the same way with religious dogma. On many important issues they do not think – they join a team. It’s gross. So if Ziegler… Read more »
Obviously I know that the name appeared since we were trying to get rid of it. Yes, the hacker added the name (through a mistake acknowledged by Ziegler, one of the attachments contained the name initially). So it’s not at all unlikely. The issue here is that Victim 2 has stated publicly several times that HE WAS NOT victimized that night. Whether he was at other times, none of us can judge. Incidentally, Jim Clemente himself is backing up John Ziegler’s account of the incident. Please check it out. (ps I am an abuse survivor myself, not a blinded by… Read more »
https://twitter.com/JimClemente/status/317056019517804548
So now we’re talking about Ziegler’s intent rather than what happened. Sigh. And now you’re going back to the old “the victim’s name was already out.” Sigh.
You’re right. The best thing Ziegler did was talk to Chris Anderson. If only he could have coupled that with integrity.
~Cameron
I agree that naming the young man is a shameless ploy. However, if the young man did make his name public, technically Ziegler is not doing anything wrong by mentioning it. The name is out there for people to find. The question about anonymity came up before with Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby. Both were rescued several years ago. Even though it quickly became clear both boys were sexually abused, because of the missing person notices and media coverage it was pointless to try to hide their identities. If they chose not to remain public, which Ben (or rather his… Read more »