BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -
Jerry Sandusky was sentenced Tuesday to at
least 30 years in prison - effectively a life sentence - in the child
sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach
Joe Paterno's downfall.
A defiant Sandusky gave a
rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about
his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.
Three victims spoke, often fighting back tears. One looked Sandusky in the eyes at times.
The 68-year-old former Penn
State assistant coach was found guilty in June of 45 counts of child
sexual abuse, convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period.
Witnesses said Sandusky used the charitable organization he founded for
troubled children as his personal hunting ground to find and groom boys
to become his victims.
His arrest 11 months ago,
and the details that came out during his trial over the summer,
transformed Sandusky's public image from a college coach who had been
widely admired for his work with The Second Mile charity into that of a
reviled pervert who preyed on the very youngsters who sought his help.
Eight of the boys he was
found guilty of molesting testified at his trial, describing a range of
abuse that included fondling, oral sex and anal intercourse. One of the
prosecution's star witnesses, former graduate assistant Mike McQueary,
testified that he saw Sandusky raping a boy in a locker room shower.
Among the three who spoke
Tuesday, a young man who said he was 11 when Sandusky groped him in a
shower in 1998. He said Sandusky is in denial and should "stop coming up
with excuses."
"I've been left with deep painful wounds that you caused and had been buried in the garden of my heart for many years," he said.
Another man said he was 13
when, in 2001, Sandusky lured him into a Penn State sauna and then a
shower and then forced him to touch the ex-coach.
"I am troubled with
flashbacks of his naked body, something that will never be erased from
my memory," he said. "Jerry has harmed children, of which I am one of
them."
Sandusky has consistently
maintained his innocence and plans to appeal. One element of the appeal
is expected to be a claim that the defense did not have time to
adequately prepare for trial. Sandusky was charged in November,
following a lengthy investigation.
In a three-minute monologue
aired Monday night by Penn State Com Radio that used some of the same
language as his courtroom statement, Sandusky said he knows in his heart
that he did not do what he called "these alleged disgusting acts" and
described himself as the victim of a coordinated conspiracy among Penn
State, investigators, civil attorneys, the media and others.
His statement in court lasted 15 minutes and his voice cracked as he spoke of missing his loved ones.
Judge John Cleland
sentenced him to 30 to 60 years in prison. Under Pennsylvania law,
Sandusky cannot be released on parole before the minimum term is up.
"The tragedy of this crime
is that it's a story of betrayal. The most obvious aspect is your
betrayal of 10 children," Cleland told Sandusky. "I'm not going to
sentence you to centuries in prison, although the law will permit that."
Still, Cleland said, he expected Sandusky to die in prison.
Before sentencing, Cleland
designated Sandusky as a sexually violent predator under the state's
Megan's Law. The label essentially has no effect on Sandusky, since its
requirement is lifetime registration after a convict is released from
prison.
In sentencing the ex-coach, Cleland called Sandusky dangerous, saying, "You abused the trust of those who trusted you."
The scandal brought
devastation in State College that will take years to fully assess, as
Sandusky's victims are pressing civil claims and a January trial is
pending for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, two university administrators
charged with failing to properly report suspicions about Sandusky and
lying to the grand jury that investigated him.
Soon after the three were
arrested in November, the board of trustees fired Paterno, the school's
most famous figure and a man who won two national college football
championships in the 1980s. Paterno died of lung cancer in January.
Over the summer, an
investigation commissioned by the university and led by former FBI
Director Louis Freeh concluded that Paterno and other top officials
covered up allegations against Sandusky for years to avoid bad
publicity.
The scandal also toppled
university President Graham Spanier and led to crippling NCAA sanctions
against the football team that included a $60 million fine, a ban on
postseason play and a reduction in the number of football scholarships
the school can award. The NCAA also erased 14 years of victories for
Paterno, stripping him of his standing as major college football's
winningest coach.
At least four young men have sued Penn State over the way the university responded to disturbing complaints about Sandusky.
Eight legal teams
representing at least 20 young men have surfaced, and the school
recently announced an effort to settle as many claims as possible by the
end of the year.
Penn State President Rodney Erickson released a statement shortly after the sentence was handed down.
"Our thoughts today, as
they have been for the last year, go out to the victims of Jerry
Sandusky's abuse," Erickson said. "While today's sentence cannot erase
what has happened, hopefully it will provide comfort to those affected
by these horrible events."
The third victim who spoke
had testified that he was raped over the course of years by Sandusky,
including on team trips to bowl games in Texas and Florida.
"I want you to know I don't
forgive you and I don't know if I will ever forgive you," he said. "My
only regret is that I didn't come forward sooner."
