Jerry Sandusky arrived at Centre County Courthouse shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday for his sentencing. He wore a red jumpsuit and carried a manila folder while handcuffed. He was escorted by one police officer through a covered tunnel upon entering the back of the courthouse.
Sandusky, 68, has been incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility since he was convicted on June 22 on 45 of 48 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. Many of the charges carry a maximum sentence, and the former heralded Penn State defensive coordinator could be dealt a sentence spanning several lifetimes.
Updated at 6:45 p.m. Oct. 8
In his first public statement since being incarcerated, Jerry Sandusky blames the victims, media and Attorney General’s office for his conviction, saying that in his heart, he knows he is innocent.
Released to Penn State’s ComRadio on Monday, Sandusky says he’s responding to the worst loss of his life and starts out by asking, “why?”
“Why didn’t we have a fair opportunity to prepare for trial … Why have so many people suffered as the result of false allegations,” Sandusky said.
Still, as his attorney, Joe Amendola said earlier on Monday, Sandusky remains optimistic and maintains his innocence.
“I would cherish the opportunity to become a candle for others as they have been a light for me,” Sandusky said.
“They can take a way my life, they can make me as a monster, they can treat me as a monster, but they can’t take away my heart. In my heart I know I did not do these alleged, disgusting acts.”
Sandusky says his wife, Dottie, is the only sexual partner he’s ever had and says he wonders what these men want who came forward and accused him of abuse and says it was the media and the biased investigation that painted him as a villain.
” … The accusers were products of many more people and experiences than me. Look at their confidants and their honesty. Think about how easy it was to turn on me, given the information, attention and potential perks.”
Sandusky said he did nothing but care for those boys, now men and their families. He will be sentenced after a 9 a.m. hearing in the Centre County Courthouse to determine his status as a sexually violent predator.
Sandusky will speak before Judge John Cleland decides his sentence.
Earlier at 4:36 p.m. Oct. 8
Jerry Sandusky will learn his fate on Tuesday at his sentencing in Bellefonte – but not before he hears from his victims again and asserts his innocence once more.
Sandusky, 68, has been incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility since he was convicted on June 22 on 45 of 48 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. Many of the charges carry a maximum sentence, and the former heralded Penn State defensive coordinator could be dealt a sentence spanning several lifetimes.
A hearing to determine whether Sandusky will be registered as a sexually violent predator at 9 a.m. in the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte will precede the sentencing.
Karl Rominger, counsel for Sanduksy, told reporters on Monday in Bellefonte not to expect the hearing to take long.
At least one victim has announced through his attorney that he will speak at his abuser’s sentencing on Tuesday. Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, told NBC in an exclusive interview that his client will speak at his sentencing on Tuesday.
Exactly what Sandusky will say and for how long is to be determined, but “he’s going to say that he’s innocent,” Amendola said, according to the report.
The defense team also said it is aware the weight carried by the charges could mean a life sentence. Despite what’s transpired in just five months, Amendola told NBC Sandusky remains in extremely high spirits.
“He really believes that he’s going to be vindicated,” Amendola said. “He really anticipates he’s going to get another shot at this.”
In July, a man claiming to be Victim 2 came forward, revealing phone messages he received from Sandusky as recently as 2011. It has not been revealed if that man will speak on his own behalf. Former Penn State wide receivers coach Mike McQueary testified before a grand jury and at Sandusky’s June trial that he saw Sandusky abusing the boy known only as Victim 2 in a shower in the Lasch Football Building locker room on Feb. 9, 2001.
McQueary has since sued Penn State, citing irreparable damage to his personal life and career.
Victim 1, the 18-year-old man who was the first to come forward with accusations against Sandusky that ultimately launched the grand jury investigation and led to the indictment of Sandusky and the ousting of former Penn State President Graham Spanier and former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, is expected to speak to the life he has been forced to live as a result of his abuse.
Victim 1 is also scheduled to release a tell-all book on Oct. 23, when he will also appear for his first interview, granted to ABC News.
