A jury of seven women and five men — many who have ties to Penn State University and were fans of Jerry Sandusky — will decide the fate of the former football coach.
The 68-year-old Sandusky faces 52 criminal counts for alleged abuse of 10 boys over 15 years, allegations he denies.
He arrived at the courthouse in Bellefonte, Centre County, at 8:08 a.m. with his wife Dottie by his side. He has been under house arrest for about seven months.
A tent is up outside the back door of the courthouse to shield jurors and the alleged victims from the media spotlight.
6 News learned there was a question about one of the jurors, but that person was not removed from the case.
It took about a half hour for Judge John Cleland to address the jurors, then the prosecution began its opening statement. Sandusky hunched slightly his seat at the defense table as Cleland outlined the charges to the jurors.
The people inside Courtroom One heard some graphic details of the alleged abuse. The lead prosecutor showed pictures of the alleged victims to jurors during opening statements.
Sandusky sat quietly at the defense table and looked to his right at a video screen at times while Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan III outlined the allegations, which led to the ouster of longtime football coach Joe Paterno. McGettigan began his opening statements by showing the faces of the eight alleged victims, many of them smiling. He said six of the defendants had no fathers.
Some of the allegations read aloud by McGettigan were graphic. At one point, the prosecutor said Sandusky put his hand down one boy’s shirt and down his pants. McGettigan warned the testimony the jurors are about to hear will be gruesome, but asked them to keep in mind they are about real people.
Sandusky was again accused of using his Second Mile charity to find a groom his victims.
During their investigation, the Attorney General’s office said it interviewed maintenance workers at Penn State because prosecutors said many of the alleged assaults took place on campus at night.
Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola, told jurors the alleged victims conspired and shared information to get their stories straight.
His opening statement was much shorter than the prosecution, but elude to the fact that Jerry Sandusky will take the witness stand and explain his relationship with alleged victims and why it was not inappropriate.
During his opening statement, Amendola told jurors that Sandusky loves kids and asked the jury to keep an open mind.
Alleged victim No. 4 is expected to testify Monday afternoon. He was raised by a foster family and says he was 13 years old when the abuse began.
Testimony in the case is expected to take about three weeks. Stay with 6 News, WJACTV.com and WJACTV.com Mobile for continuing coverage.
