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| Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, center, leaves the Centre County Courthouse after being sentenced in Bellefonte, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. 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. |
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -- In what sounded at times like a locker room pep talk, Jerry Sandusky rambled in his red prison suit about being the underdog in the fourth quarter, about forgiveness, about dogs and about the movie "Seabiscuit."
With his accusers seated behind
him in the courtroom, he denied committing "disgusting acts" against
children and instead painted himself as the victim.
And
then, after he had said his piece, a judge sentenced him to 30 to 60
years in prison Tuesday, all but ensuring the 68-year-old Sandusky will
spend the rest of his life behind bars for the child sexual abuse
scandal that brought disgrace to Penn State and triggered the downfall
of his former boss, football coach Joe Paterno.
He leaves behind a trail of human and legal wreckage that could take years for the university to clear away.
"The
tragedy of this crime is that it's a story of betrayal. The most
obvious aspect is your betrayal of 10 children," Judge John Cleland said
after a hearing in which three of the men Sandusky was convicted of
molesting as boys confronted him face to face and told of the lasting
pain he had inflicted.
The judge said he expects Sandusky to die in prison.
In
a disjointed, 15-minute address before he learned his sentence,
Sandusky said: "In my heart I did not do these alleged disgusting acts."
Sprinkling
his remarks with sports references, the former assistant coach spoke of
being locked up in a jail cell, subjected to outbursts from fellow
inmates, reading inspirational books and trying to find a purpose in his
fate. His voice cracked as he talked about missing his loved ones,
including his wife, Dottie, who was in the gallery.
"Hopefully
we can get better as a result of our hardship and suffering, that
somehow, some way, something good will come out of this," Sandusky said.
He
also spoke of instances in which he helped children and did good works
in the community, adding: "I've forgiven, I've been forgiven. I've
comforted others, I've been comforted. I've been kissed by dogs, I've
been bit by dogs. I've conformed, I've also been different. I've been
me. I've been loved, I've been hated."
Sandusky
was convicted in June of 45 counts, found guilty of raping or fondling
boys he had met through the
acclaimed youth charity he founded, The
Second Mile. He plans to appeal, arguing among other things that his
defense was not given enough time to prepare for trial after his arrest
last November.
Among the victims who spoke in
court Tuesday was 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 in 2001 when Sandusky lured him into a Penn State
sauna and then a shower and 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.
After the
sentencing, prosecutor Joe McGettigan praised the victims' courage and
dismissed Sandusky's comments as "a masterpiece of banal self-delusion,
completely untethered from reality and without any acceptance of
responsibility."
"It was entirely self-focused as if he, again, were the victim," McGettigan said.
Lawyers
for the victims said they were satisfied with the sentence, but with
four lawsuits brought against Penn State and several more expected, and
Penn State laboring under severe NCAA penalties, cleaning up in the wake
of what may be the biggest scandal in college sports history may take
years.
Ben Andreozzi, an attorney for one the
victims, said the university needs to do more: "It's important they
understand before we get into serious discussions about money, that
there are other, noneconomic issues. We need apologies. We need changes
in policy. This isn't just about money."
Penn
State fired Paterno after Sandusky's arrest, and the coach died of lung
cancer three months later. The scandal also brought down university
President Graham Spanier.
Two university
administrators, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, are awaiting trial in
January on charges they failed to properly report suspicions about
Sandusky and lied to the grand jury that investigated him.
Over
the summer, an investigation commissioned by Penn State and led by
former FBI Director Louis Freeh concluded that Paterno and other top
officials covered up allegations against Sandusky for more than a decade
to avoid bad publicity.
After the report came
out, the NCAA fined Penn State a record $60 million, barred the
football team from postseason play for four years, cut the number of
scholarships it can award, and erased 14 years of victories for Paterno,
stripping him of his standing as the winningest coach in the history of
big-time college football.
In a three-minute
recorded statement aired Monday night by Penn State radio, Sandusky
described himself as the victim of a "well-orchestrated effort" by his
accusers, the media, Penn State, plaintiffs' attorneys and others - a
claim the judge dismissed on Tuesday as an unbelievable conspiracy
theory.
"I speak today with hope in my heart
for a brighter day, not knowing if that day will come," Sandusky said.
"Many moments have been spent looking for a purpose. Maybe it will help
others, some vulnerable children who might have been abused, might not
be, as a result of the publicity."
After the
sentencing, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a statement:
"Our thoughts today, as they have been for the last year, go out to the
victims of Jerry Sandusky's abuse. While today's sentence cannot erase
what has happened, hopefully it will provide comfort to those affected
by these horrible events."
