Brendan Martin Journal Contributor
In June, former Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky was charged with 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 young boys and on Oct. 9 he was sentenced to no less than 30 years and no more than 60 years in prison. This is essentially a life sentence according to his attorney Joe Amendola.
“Realistically, even if Jerry was to survive the 30 years, he won’t be released,” Amendola said.
The Deputy Attorney General also had no quarrel with the sentence, stating that “The defendant will remain incarcerated for the rest of his life.”
This all stems from a two-year grand jury investigation which ended in 2011 with Sandusky initially being arrested and charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse. This helped in utterly destroying the Penn State Football program, with people in power such as Joe Paterno being accused of knowing about the deeds being committed and not doing enough to stop it. This was concluded by a NCAA investigation which fined the university $60 million, vacated a number of program victories, and barred the football team from postseason play.
Jerry Sandusky has been painted (as he should) as a deeply disturbed person who used his stature in the community both as a football coach and as a mentor through his Second Mile charity for at risk children to take advantage of his victims.
His victims, which most wish to not be named, have had their remarks read in court and they are quite incriminating in nature. One victim, as read by the prosecutor Joseph E. McGettigan III, said “He promised to be my friend and mentor. Jerry Sandusky humiliated me beyond description” the Washington Post reported.
Another part of this story is one of the victims happens to be one of Sandusky’s adopted sons. He came forward during the trial and told prosecutors that he was abused, which made Sandusky decide not to take the witness stand.
Jerry Sandusky again at court claimed he was innocent, that this was all a massive conspiracy, and that all the victims are lying. Almost everyone in the courtroom was visibly upset by these statements.
“Others can take away my life. They can make me out as a monster. They can treat me as a monster. But they can’t take away my heart,” the Washington Post also reported Sandusky as saying. “In my heart, I know I did not do these alleged disgusting acts.”
Sandusky’s defense team plans to appeal the court’s decision, citing not enough time for the defense to prepare before going to court, that no one would listen to Sandusky’s side of the story, and lastly that the victims were not trustworthy.
Judge John M. Cleland in handing down the sentence said to Sandusky “You abused the trust of those who trusted you. . . . The crime is not only what you did to their bodies, but your assault to their psyches and souls.”
