I don't typically check the byline before I start reading, but I was only halfway through the second paragraph of this story before the blinking lights came on:
Dana Pennett O'Neill
Stories of alleged date rape are hard. The details are often murky, relying on the interpretation of events that can happen fast in an environment of incomplete sobriety. In this particular case, there are certainly issues that call the accuser's account into question. Leaving aside any football issues, we all hope the alleged crime didn't happen.
Which is why reporting on these stories has to be very, very careful. Particularly when the reporter only gets a chance to get one side of the story.
But that's not O'Neill's style. Look, I've never met this person, but we've seen enough of her reporting now to figure out the trend. Call it the Stephen A. track. And I will be shocked if she's not a significant national figure on ESPN within four years.
Here's how she opens today's story:
Ever since Oct. 5, Austin Scott has felt as if he's trapped in a bad movie where the protagonist constantly tries to rewind to that moment, either to prevent what's about to occur or understand how he got there.
Eighteen days later, the reels are still spinning, with no end and no answers in sight. The only thing the Penn State running back knows for certain is that his life hasn't been the same. What seemed like an unremarkable morning changed when he learned that a woman who had been in his apartment only hours earlier, a woman he said he had consensual sex with, started the wheels in motion that would end with him facing multiple charges, including felony rape and sexual assault, and banishment from the football team.
Not even a semblance of balance. In fact, the entire story reads like someone came up with a list of issues he needed to address and then checked them off as they went:
Austin Scott doesn't come off as some macho star athlete filled with bravado. If that ever existed, it is gone now. He is polite as he speaks, an open book willing and ready to talk about his emotions and as much of his case as his lawyer will allow...
During Sunday's interview, however, Scott said that he went into the bar only after his accuser failed to come out and was inside for such a brief period of time that the bouncer offered to refund his $3 cover charge...
Scott said on Sunday that they went back to his room and he did not "do anything she did not want to do..."
The police report indicates that they had known each other for 2 months, but Scott also is said to have referred to the woman as "this girl," implying he did not know her name. "Yes, of course, I knew her name," he said. "She was in my phone..."
The one question Scott can't answer is the same the cynics will ask: Why, if she wasn't raped, did this woman make these accusations?
"Until we found out about the previous case, I had no idea because everything was consensual," Scott said, alluding to an article in the Allentown Morning Call, which revealed that Scott's accuser had levied similar charges against a Moravian College student in 2003. The student was acquitted of the most serious charges and the jury deadlocked on lesser charges.
"I went to bed with a clear conscience and wake up like, 'What? My life is gone,' " Scott said. "The only thing I've come up with since that information is that she has problems..."
"I was gone that morning," Scott said. "I don't want to say anything that will look bad on [Paterno], but he didn't want to hear my side of the story. He decided that I was at the bar drinking two nights before a game and that was not the case."
Sources have said Scott was suspended for a curfew violation, but Scott said he knew of no curfew in his five seasons on the team...
Here's the other problem with this story. The judge presiding over the case imposed a gag order on both parties on Monday, refusing to let them talk to the press. O'Neill claims the interview with Scott took place on Sunday, meaning he gets a free chance to tell his side. The other side is not so lucky:
"Assistant District Attorney Lance Marshall, who is prosecuting the case, said because of the gag order he could not comment. E-mails sent to Scott's accuser went unreturned."
But if that's the case, shouldn't O'Neill have looked somewhere else for balance? The police department? A national expert on these types of crimes? Someone in the accuser's family?
Nothing.
Austin Scott may very well be innocent of all charges. As mentioned above, I sincerely hope he is. And if he is, he will unfairly be dealing with the repercussions for the rest of his life. Paterno will owe it to the kid to do penance for the next 52 weeks and should make sure he gets approximately 30 carries in whatever mid-range bowl game the Lions are playing in this year.
However, the time for all of that will be after the judicial process is complete. Of course, by then O'Neill will have moved on the next item in her resume climb.
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