60 Million Dollars. The fine levied against Penn State today by the NCAA.

Has any other addiction impacted something more than Jerry Sandusky’s sex addiction has impacted the lives of 10 boys, their families and Penn State University?

Maybe Tiger & Elin would say that Tiger’s addiction cost them more. I think the emotional toll in this case has to be much higher and the number of lives devastated far greater, even if the financial repercussions aren’t quite equal yet.

So, is this the biggest addiction of all time? Or at least the most costly? Just three years ago no one thought that sex addiction was real. And some fear today that, rather than focusing on the core issues related to Sandusky’s behavior, we are now focused on football sanctions, financial penalties, statues and murals.

If it takes football, fines and the loss of a traditional college program to get people to pay attention to issues of sex addictions, then I am happy the NCAA stepped in. Not enough people realize that sex addictions are real.

The boys involved in this case understand the hurt. But most Americans haven’t yet awakened to the fact that nearly 40 million americans have been sexually victimized as minors.

And the real costs?

America consumes 3 BILLION DOLLARS of porn every year

Our hope is that we won’t have to any more sex scandals of this magnitude before we wake up as a culture and start linking these activities together with smaller, less heinous sexual appetites. Extreme and illegal sexual appetites don’t develop in a vacuum and they don’t come about instantaneously. These appetites evolve and grow over time.

Help is available. 

Maybe you are wondering if you are sex addict. Take the test and find out.

Or if you know you have the beginnings of a problem, start an online recovery program or at least start being accountable with what you do online.

Sandusky abused 10 boys over a 15 year period and was convicted on 45 counts and it was all avoidable. Let’s do something together about awakening others to the magnitude of sexual addictions. If Penn State leaders had it to do over today, I am convinced that they wouldn’t turn the same blind eye to Sandusky’s predatory sexual addiction that they did starting 14 years ago. But that would require boldness and determination. And the same is true for each of us to recognize appetites in ourselves and in others and do something different about it other than turning away or covering it up.