Second Mile Weighs Options For Its Future

November 18, 2011 10:29 PM

(Credit: KDKA)

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Second Mile Foundation, the charity set up in the late 70′s by former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, is considering several options after two straight weeks of non-stop negative press.

Sandusky is facing 40 counts of child sexual abuse and prosecutors say many of the sexual incidents occurred on the campus of Penn State University.

The Pa. Attorney General described Sandusky as a sexual predator, who met his victims through Second Mile, which was set up to help at-risk youths.

Second Mile officials say they are looking at the possibility of permanently closing down, or changing its name in the wake of the Sandusky scandal.

Joan Mills, who heads up A Child’s Place at Mercy, part of the Allegheny County Child Advocacy Center, worries about the future of abused children, if the charity folds.

“Kids are always the victims here – they don’t vote, they don’t pay taxes,” she said. “Little people are always the victims in the end.”

“If this organization is willing and able to help other organizations, I think that’s great,” Mills added. “I think this organization with all of the evil and bad things that happened to some children there – there were probably many children that were helped by this organization too.”