As a crowd gathered outside the courtroom in Bellefonte, Pa. on Friday, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sex abuse, according to the Associated Press.
According to Sandusky‘s lead attorney, Joseph Amendola, Sandusky never considered a plea deal, via Sara Ganim of the Patriots-News in Harrisburg:
#Sandusky never considered a plea, Amendola says
— Sara Ganim (@sganim) June 23, 2012
The jury convicted Sandusky of sexually abusing 10 boys over a span of 15 years, per the LA Times. Eight young men testified against the 68-year-old in court, including one accuser who said Sandusky would offer him gifts in exchange for silence after he sexually abused him in hotels and locker-room showers, according to the AP.
Sandusky faces life in prison and will be subject to sentencing in approximately 90 days, according to USA Today. The maximum sentence is 442 years, according to CNN, via Bleacher Report.
One of Sandusky‘s six adopted children, Matt Sandusky, told authorities that Sandusky had abused him, according to his lawyers. He was prepared to testify against Sandusky in court, per the AP through the Times Union.
Ganim tweeted on Friday that the attorneys of Matt Sandusky and victims No. 3 and No. 7 were “relieved” after the verdict:
Attny for victim 3, 7, and Matt #Sandusky say they were relieved twitter.com/sganim/status/…
— Sara Ganim (@sganim) June 23, 2012
Sandusky was arrested in November, causing a chain reaction that saw then-Penn State head coach Joe Paterno fired, along with university president Graham Spanier. Ex-vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley are currently fighting criminal charges for the failure to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury, via the AP.
According to a grand jury report (per the Patriot-News), Mike McQueary, the wide receivers coach for Penn State when the news broke in November, said he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in one of the university’s locker room showers when he was a graduate assistant, deemed to occur in 2001 (via ESPN).
The Patriot-News has a full breakdown of the charges against Sandusky.
