Nobody reported the 2002 rape to campus PD. It was all administrative. The 1998 incident was reported to campus police, they investigated and Paterno asked him to retire(at 55)because of it. So clearly everyone in the PSU Administration from JoePa on up knew this guy was assaulting kids over a multi year period. And all they did was CYA.
You’re connecting dots that aren’t there. Most sources say that Paterno and Sandusky did not have a good relationship. There is nothing to suggest that Paterno asking Sandusky to retire was because he knew he was a pederast and wanted to cover up for him. Now, I believe that the 1998 investigation was a direct reason because Paterno and others knew something was up. Unless you wanted them to set up a sting operation with hidden cameras, they did what they could. They knew something was up but had no evidence (and apparently the police didn’t either) so they “encouraged” his retirement.
Up to and including the then and now PSU president Spanier.