Sorry, but Joe P sullied his own reputation by looking the other way as way too man people did.
If I recall correctly, Paterno reported the incident up the chain-of-command for action and there was none taken by higher level officials that’s the reason at least two higher level officials are still in hot water.
I will not defend Paterno furthermore(the chickens can come home to roost at PSU for all I care); but, major university/NCAA politics being what they are, he may or may not have done all of what he could have done outside of breaking the story to LEO’s on his own.