E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSMSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks to NBC National Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff and Attorney Jeffrey Fritz, who represents Victim Number Four, about the sentencing in the sexual abuse conviction of Jerry Sandusky.
Updated at 4:08 p.m. ET: BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison Tuesday for abusing 10 boys he met over 15 years through his charity for troubled children.
Sandusky — who was defensive coordinator and for many years the presumed heir-apparent to legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno — could have faced as long as 400 years for his convictions on 45 counts of child sexual abuse.
But McKean County Common Pleas Court Judge John Cleland, who was brought in to hear the trial after all of Centre County's judges recused themselves, told Sandusky that at age 68, he would be in prison "for the rest of your life."
"The crime is not only what you did to their bodies but to their psyches and their souls and the assault to the well-being of the larger community in which we all live," Cleland said.
Read the full sentencing order (.pdf)
Sandusky's lead attorney, Joe Amendola, told reporters outside court that he would file an appeal within 10 days, saying he hadn't had enough time to prepare an adequate defense.
Legal analysis: Sandusky sentencing was logical and reasonable
Three of Sandusky's victims addressed the court, some of them speaking tearfully to Sandusky. They told of how they had looked up at Sandusky as a mentor, only to have him betray their trust.
The former Penn State coach will spend at least 30 years in prison for sexually abusing young boys. NBC's Danielle Leigh reports.
"You were the person in my life who was supposed to be a role model, teach honor, respect and accountability, and instead you did terrible things that screwed up my life," said one of the victims, whom NBC News isn't identifying.
"You had the chance to plead guilty and spare us the testimony," he said. "Rather than take the accountability, you decided to try to attack us as if we had done something wrong."
Another said: "I have tried to think of the words to describe how Jerry Sandusky has impacted my life. There are no words adequate to express the pain and misery he has inflicted in the past, present and future.
Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan applauded the victims' courage to "speak truthfully" and condemned Jerry Sandusky for his unwillingness to accept responsibility.
"He promised to be my friend and mentor. Then came the ultimate betrayal and deeds. He humiliated me beyond description."
For his part, Sandusky — as he did in a surprise audio statement Monday night on the Penn State student radio station — insisted that "I didn't do these alleged disgusting acts."
Saying he had been advised against speaking at length, Sandusky told Cleland that "as I began to relive everything, I remember my feelings. So many people were hurt, and my eyes filled with tears. It was a horrible time in life to witness, to listen to, be a part of."
Sandusky said he had "hope in my heart for a brighter day, not knowing when that day will come."
"Many moments I have spent looking for a purpose," he said. "Maybe it will help others — some vulnerable children who may have been abused may not be as a result of all the publicity — but I'm not sure about it. I would hope that it would happen.
"I would cherish the opportunity to be a little candle for others as my life goes on as they have been a huge light to me."
After the hearing, Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan, who prosecuted the case for the state, called Sandusky's comments "banal self-delusion completely untethered from reality."
"It was, in short, ridiculous," he said.
Sandusky alleges massive conspiracy
Wearing a red prison jumpsuit and appearing notably thinner than before he was convicted in June, Sandusky was transported to Centre County Court from jail in a sheriff's patrol car shortly before the hearing. His wife, Dottie, was in attendance.
Jerry Sandusky spoke out from jail on the eve of his sentencing. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.
Sandusky's statement echoed many of the ideas — some of them word for word — that he broached in his surprise statement Monday night, in which he blamed a widespread conspiracy among police, university administrators and the media for his conviction.
After the hearing, Amendola alluded to that theory, alleging that there was "an undercurrent" in some parts of state government to bring down Penn State because of the power Paterno had amassed in 46 years as head football coach.
"Folks, my understanding is for years opponents had ongoing battles with the state Legislature over funding," Amendola said. "Penn State always held itself over and above" other state institutions, which rankled some officials, he said.
But in sentencing Sandusky on Tuesday, Cleland called that theory "unbelievable."
Transcript: Full radio statement from Jerry Sandusky
Related: Audio of Sandusky's statement on Penn State student station ComRadio
In a statement, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said: "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 and help them continue down the road to recovery."
The statement reflected how deeply the scandal rocked Penn State and Centre County.
Paterno, who was a revered figure representing integrity in college football, was fired Nov. 9 amid allegations that he didn't properly report concerns about Sandusky to authorities. He died in January at age 85.
University President Graham Spanier resigned in November. Athletic Director Tim Curley is on administrative leave, and Senior Vice President Gary Schultz retired. Curley and Schultz face separate trials on charges that they lied to a grand jury about what they knew.
Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com
Penn State's storied football program, meanwhile, was fined $60 million by the NCAA and was stripped of all victories back to 1998.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Deadly crossing: Death toll rises among those desperate for American Dream
- Military suicides: Defense officials spending $10 million to learn if fish oil can help
- Florida man dies after winning cockroach-eating contest
- Video: Mexican authorities arrest suspect in tourist murder
Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
60 years is the joke -- denying it all the way. They say denial is 9/10's of the law and now he is appealling it -- Appellate judges (hope you get it right). Now -- what about all his abettors -- all the people who kept their jobs with winning seasons sacriicing little boys. The person who spoke up -- got an assistant coaching job -- and closed his eyes to keep his job and is now suing for $4M because is reputation is tarnished and can never work again. Then there is the infamous Mrs. Sandusky -- knew it all and turned her head to keep her "celebrity" status. When are their court dates?
Being a casual observer of his trial and a reader of the victims statements, this guy is definitely guilty and deserves to be punished. My vote is for is hanging him and all child rapists and molesters in the public square. His mode of operation was basically the same in each instance. He did not admit his crimes only because he still cares what people think about him and perhaps for the few close relatives who still believe he is innocent. My only hope is that he at least suffers the same fate as the children he was supposed to be helping at least until he comes to terms and begs forgiveness for his actions which damaged the children's lives, tarnished the reputation of a great school, and blemished the whole state.
I hope they give it to him up the nose. somewhere he won't enjoy it. or stick something huge and painful up his butt that comes out his sick face!! I'm not an evil person he is.
"we had enough " nothing falls under Cruel and Unusual Punishment. when it comes to this kind of crime. but i like how you are thinking.
From reading the majority of these comments, it is clear to me that abuse victims - who authored many of them - are vengeful people who have their own permanent hate to deal with. Good luck with that. Self-loathing is a pwerful hate generator.
raddbrad, if you aren't shocked, angered, and horrified by the crimes perpetrated against young and innocent victims, then you should be. If you can't understand that this kind of abuse creates years and years of torment, guilt and shame, then you're a shallow individual who needs to learn compassion. And no, I'm not an abuse victim. I'm just a human being.
Raddbrad: I've never been a "victim" of sexual abuse and I'm not into "self loathing", nor am I a vengeful person. I do believe justice is an inhibitor to greater evil. Perhaps you have "issues" of your own to deal with. Are you suggesting that Sandusky's victims, et al, should just "forgive and forget" what this monster has done? Are you suggesting a shorter sentence?
How would you have determined justice in this particular situation? No slipping around the question...just a straightforward answer will do fine. Thanks.
raddbrad needs raped. He can deal with it!
Too bad ALL men who are pedophiles cannot get this prison term...so many are free...husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles, etc...just living life in secret...Just keep your eyes open people...These men are not straight (although many live a life that appears "straight". Nor are they gay, for that matter...These men are predators (pedophiles are in a differnent class) with a mental illness that tells them these relationships are good, consensual and loving...Clearly, Sandusky is one of these men...at least he is in jail now, however he has left far too many victims.
That is 30 years without the possibility of parole, is it not? 30 years is still too lenient imo....this unrepentant monster needs to know he has zero chance of seeing the light of day again, even if he lives to be 98!
whish they would put all pedifiles in the same lockdown !!!
Thats a shame sanduche drew the short straw, just like maddoff . The biggest scam is all the other molesters judging him and now saying he wil spend the rest of his natural life in jail . Sorry cherry sanduche you can file 10 appeals your fate was sealed when the molesters on top pulled your card and you became expendable. The real tragedy is because theses children were poor they wont ever have a real voice they will be discarded . THEY ALWAYS VICTIMIZE THE POOR . this jackass sanduche didnt have the resources to orchestrate the destruction that was done to the families that were affected this goes deeper then just him butt they gave it to him good to throw us off . SAD is a nation that allows those with resources to victimize the innocent
Sandusky's victims are being raped again, of their good reputations and their future lives. When Sandusky and his supporters (many of them brainwashed Penn State alums) claim conspiracy it means that these victims are lying, that they are the criminals who sent an innocent man to jail. Now 2 shadows will hang over them forever - the memory of what Sandusky did to them, and the belief by some that they are the true guilty parties.
Sandusky could have admitted the truth and his guilt, and helped to undo some of the damage he inflicted, and spared his victims continued pain & suffering. But Sandusky and his friends are too delusional, for their separate reasons, to see the evil they perpetuate with this charade of a conspiracy. I even wonder if Sandusky's defenders are inadvertent enablers of other child molesters with similar delusions of victimhood, and entitlement to their perversions.
The cheerleaders for a loathsome criminal bother me almost as much as Sandusky himself. These apologists should tone down their ridiculous claims in his defense, lest they themselves be seen as having a personal stake in exonerating him for his pedophilia.
There are plenty of people out there who have been victims of pedophiles and want no one to know - myself included. I do hope the victims of Jerry Sandusky get a big, fat settlement at least. They were brave to stand up and admit what happened to them. I wasn't able to do that. Jerry Sandusky is never going to own up or apologize for what he did because he honestly doesn't think he did anything wrong. To the victims - take the money and run - most victims don't get that - put this behind you and enjoy the rest of your lives.
My long-time ex-boyfriend and I almost hooked up again a few years ago. I did notice in his emails to me sexual overtures I thought were inappropriate since we hadn't seen each other since we were teenagers. So, I asked him what gives with that? There seemed to be a dark side to him too, which was pretty weird. In some ways he was exactly as I remembered him, but the new, dark dimension left me guarded. One night while trying to locate an old girlfriend of mine, I searched the guy's name and guess what - the sex offender registry came up. I opened it up and saw his picture and info and was completely shocked and horrified. I called him on it immediately and, of course, he said he was innocent - it was a set up because he wouldn't do something for the government. Oh BS! He is now associated with an organization on behalf of sex offenders and seems to think he is a professor or something with his idiotic writings and defenses. Of course, the victims are blamed, not to mention their families! Talk about denial!!! This guy was the nicest guy you could ever meet and so popular when I went out with him. It's hard to believe what happened with him. I do think sex offenders are convinced they are innocent and it's everyone else's fault.
Creepy and sad story, Kat.
when you dumpd him you turned him into a fag
When I broke up with him, he tried to kill himself and ended up in the hospital. I sometimes wonder if something went haywire in him at that time. On the few occasions I saw him over the years, he always seemed to be on the verge of tears. Sad because he had been such a wonderful guy.
I guess giving him life would go against the Masonic oath.
First off "The Second Mile" is the name of a masonic symbols book written by Sarah H Terry(eastern star)
George H. W. Bush(High ranking mason and skull and bones member) called "The Second Mile Foundation" one of his thousand points of light.
LINK
Masonic compass or shaped like a giant penis?
Sandusky was found guilty and I want to trust in the system and believe the victims. I want to believe that a guilty monster was put away. However, for those of you laughing at a conspiracy theory - there was a very big motivation to conspire to put him away, which would be the huge payoffs from lawsuits against Penn State.
I hope that justice was serviced and these young men can move on. But what happens if 10 years from now someone finds religion and recants their story? It's happened before.
Two adults witnessed the raping of children.
Holly, some people (not you) seem to have NO BRAIN (yup, you Patty)!
the old jail house joke is, when he gets to his cell he meets his cell-mate and his cellmate says you can have the top bunk and if you are scared lets do this you be the husband and I'll be the wife OK. After the lights went out that night the cellmate says, come down here and suck your wifes dick.
You get less time for murder. Some justice!
...and good riddance.
Rape is a capital offense in most Muslim countries, punishable by death. Had he committed these child-rapes in one of those countries, Sandusky would be facing an execution date instead of being sentenced to languishing inside a prison for the rest of his life.
In the final analysis, Penn State Univ should pay the price for aiding & abetting Sandusky. It is not blameless, and if it had acted appropriately, Sandusky would have been stopped sooner.
Same if you wife walked around showing ankle skin. If you want to embrace one of their laws, you gotta embrace all of them.
......and his wife knew nothing of what was going on in her own home. UNBELIEVEABLE
The defense attorney says they will appeal because they didn't have enough time to preapre an adequate defense. Sandusky was convicted what, the end of June? Three months isn't enough time when you knew your client was already convicted? If referring to the trial, Sandusky was indicted/arrested on 5 Nov 2011 and not sent to trial until 11 June 2012...by my calculation that is just a hair over 7 months "to prepare a defense".
30-60 yrs...let's say time off for good behavior he won't be eligible for parole for at least 20 years..he's 68 now...88 when possibly up for parole...the judge had it right. He will never see the true outside of prison walls again.
What heart? He doesn't have one.
I am just wondering if there are enough pedophiles in the world will it be an acceptable practice someday?
Considering the "other" things that are being shoved down our throats as an "alternative lifestyle" and championed, for the most part, by Obama, it likely will. I hope I'm dead by the time that rolls around and I'm terrified for my children and grandchildren, considering the downward spiral of this country. It's pathetic and heartbreaking. This country is set to rot from the inside out......no nukes needed.....
Your a @!$%#ing idiot resqmedic. Obama is not championing pedophiles as you put it.
Go blame Obama for you being a loser!
Jim, it's obvious that reading comprehension is not your strong suit. You may get "your rocks off" by calling me a loser and that's fine with me, but, I seriously question who the "idiot" is, based on what you got out of the comment. I would suggest you re-read it but it's terribly obvious you're lacking the skill to understand and comprehend.
I see an operation in Mr. Sandusky's future, one that includes the installation of a colostamy bag, because his O-Ring is worn out........
Hey Jerry, Coach Bubba's setting up a play to land in your End Zone!
OUCH!!!!
Let the "rhythmic slapping sounds" begin.
What comes around goes around you sick old b@stard.
Havefun men when he arrives-BASTARD
See ya! Wouldnt want to be ya!!