Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State assistant football coach that faced 48 charges of sex abuse stemming from allegations made from 10 boys over the course of 15 years, has been found guilty of all but three in a June 22 jury decision, as reported by Reuters and others.
Sandusky will face a sentence that could total hundreds of years.
As Sandusky was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, he passed by a crowd of onlookers that had waited outside of the Centre County Courthouse in central Pennsylvania.
The crowd cheered as they heard of the jury's verdict. One victim, who testified during the trial, cried while both Sandusky and his wife Dottie showed no outward emotion.
There were eight victims in all that took the stand during the two-week long trial. The Pennsylvania Attorney General, Linda Kelly, praised all of the victims that had made the difficult choice to share their stories – some with graphic sexual detail of the abuse. Kelly said the victims, "not only (shared with) the jury and a packed courtroom ... but also the entire world."
Sandusky was represented by defense attorney Joe Amendola. Amendola said that they were deciding on grounds for an appeal and added that the Sandusky family is "devastated, but they've been devastated ever since these charges came to light."
Of the jury, there were seven women and five men, and nine of the 16 jurors and alternates had connections to Penn State University. The jury took 21 hours over a two-day period to deliberate and come to a decision. During the last few days of the trial, a crowd began to swell both inside and outside of the courthouse.
After the charges were filed against Sandusky the head coach, Joe Paterno, 85, was removed from the job he'd held for 50 years. During Paterno's career the team won more games than any other major college team. After he was let go, within two short months, Paterno died of lunch cancer.
Sandusky was known as the defensive mastermind behind Paterno.
Some of the abuse cited by victims allegedly occurred at Penn State facilities.
In all, Sandusky was convicted on 25 felonies and 20 misdemeanors. Along with Sandusky, the former athletic director, Tim Curley, and former finance official, Gary Schultz, were charged with perjury and failure to alert authorities to one act of Sandusky's abuse.
Just as the jury began its deliberations, Sandusky's adopted son, Matt Sandusky, 33, met with prosecutors and explained that he had also been sexually abused by Sandusky.
Mike McQueary, a former assistant coach at Penn State, told the jury he had witnessed Sandusky abusing a young male athlete in a locker room in 2001. Though McQueary alerted Paterno, and campus authorities, police and child protective services were not called in.
Whether you are facing one charge or 41 charges, contact a defense attorney to represent you right away. The best outcome can only be obtained with a strong defense.
