(RNN/CNN) – Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky received a sentence of 30 to 60 years in prison Tuesday for his conviction on child sexual abuse charges.
Sandusky spoke for about 15 minutes in court before Judge John Cleland relayed the sentence. According to NBC Philadelphia, he only got emotional near the end of his statement as he talked about missing his family.
“It defies description really,” said Matt Casey, an attorney representing multiple victims of Sandusky. “He talked an awful lot about himself, and all the good he has done. He didn’t talk about the young men.
“The thing that struck me was the utter lack of remorse and the delusion that he lives with.”
Three of the victims also gave statements before the sentencing. NBC Philadelphia reported one of them said, “You forcibly touched me; I don’t forgive you.”
Another said, “Life changed the moment you told me you were the tickle monster and you touched my 11-year-old body.”
Joe Amendola, one of Sandusky’s attorneys, spoke to the “conspiracy” Sandusky alleged in his prior statements. He asked why did Penn State “rush to judgment” on firing head coach Joe Paterno and several school officials “without there being one piece of evidence.”
Amendola also said they were asking for a new trial because there had not been enough time to prepare a defense. When asked if there could have been a plea bargain, he said, “Jerry Sandusky has always maintained his innocence.”
“There could have been some deals, but Jerry Sandusky was having none of it,” Amendola said.
On the evening before his sentencing, Sandusky, 68, spoke out in recorded comments, continuing to profess his innocence.
“They can take away my life,” the former Penn State football coach said. “They can make me out as a monster, they can treat me as a monster but they can’t take away my heart.”
Sandusky, convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, released the message Monday to Penn State’s college radio station, PSU ComRadio.
In it, he listed the people he said were responsible for his arrest and conviction.
“The young man who is dramatic, the veteran accuser and always sought attention, started everything, he was joined by a well-orchestrated effort of the media, investigators, the system, Penn State, psychologists, civil attorneys and other accusers,” Sandusky said.
Thomas Klein, the attorney for Victim 5, responded, saying he saw a man lashing out.
“My client knows the truth, and he knows what happened here,” Klein said. “He is one of 10 victims upon which the evidence convicted Mr. Sandusky of 45 different counts.”
In the wake of the scandal, the NCAA imposed severe sanctions against the university and its football program, including a $60 million fine and a four-year bowl ban.
On June 22, a jury found Sandusky guilty of crimes involving 10 different boys.
The accusers reportedly met the former Penn State coach through his charity, The Second Mile. Sandusky established Second Mile as a foundation to help children from troubled or single-parent families.
The abuse allegedly occurred at university facilities, Sandusky’s home and during trips to the team’s road games in a 15-year span, dating back to 1994.
Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt Sandusky, has said he was also a victim, although he did not make the claim until after the trial began.
The younger Sandusky, one of six adopted children, had been an ardent supporter of his father before coming forward. He sat with the family in the courtroom while his father was on trial and reportedly visited with Jerry Sandusky at his home.
In a November interview with NBC’s Bob Costas, Sandusky claimed he never had “inappropriate sexual contact” with young boys but acknowledged he had showered with them and engaged in other horseplay.
When Costas asked him if he was sexually attracted to young boys, Sandusky replied, “Sexually attracted? You know, I enjoy young people, I love to be around them, I – but no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”
As Penn State’s defensive coordinator, Sandusky had been seen as the right-hand man to head football coach Joe Paterno. But he retired in 1999, although he retained an “emeritus” title that allowed him access to football facilities.
In 1998, Penn State police officer Ronald Schreffler got a report from the mother of Victim 6 after the 11-year-old boy told her he showered with Sandusky. Schreffler claimed he investigated and wanted to make an arrest, but the district attorney did not pursue charges.
During testimony, Schreffler said he listened in on multiple conversations between the mother and Sandusky. He said Sandusky admitted showering with Victim 6 and at least one other boy.
Schreffler also said Sandusky told the mother, “I wish I could ask for forgiveness. I know I will not get it from you. I wish I were dead.”
Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary became a key witness for the prosecution after he claimed to see Sandusky with a 10- or 12-year-old boy in 2002. McQueary, then a graduate assistant, said he saw Sandusky in what he believed to be a sexual act with the boy in a locker room shower at the university.
He said he told Paterno about what he saw the next morning. Paterno said he then spoke with athletic director Tim Curley and a school vice president, Gary Schultz.
McQueary filed a multi-million dollar defamation suit against the university Oct. 2.
No one from the school reported the incident to police or child protection agencies. Two weeks after the incident, Curley told McQueary that Sandusky’s keys to the locker room had been taken away and they had informed Second Mile representatives, according to McQueary.
Curley and Schultz left the university after the allegations against Sandusky went public in November, and they were also charged with failing to contact the authorities. The Penn State Board of Trustees fired Paterno Nov. 9, as well as school president Graham Spanier.
Paterno admitted he “should have done more” after learning of the 2002 incident. He died Jan. 22 after a battle with lung cancer.
http://www.19actionnews.com/story/19772507/sandusky-sentenced-to-30-60-years
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NATIONAL: Jerry Sandusky Gets 30 to 60 Years in Prison for Child Sexual Abuse was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
