Jerry Sandusky Guilty: Your Thoughts on the Verdict?
Jerry Sandusky will probably spend the rest of his life in prison. Do you agree with the verdict? Vote in our poll.
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Disgraced ex-Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was declared guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sex abuse Friday night, resulting in a likely de facto life sentence for the 68-year-old.
The guilty verdicts, including 25 felony counts, could add up to 442 years in prison.
Sandusky, dressed in a brown sports coat, was immediately taken into custody and led from the courthouse in handcuffs.
The jury—which included many people with close ties to Penn State University—deliberated for only 20 hours, making a guilty verdict seem like a foregone conclusion.
The two-week trial featured damning testimony against Sandusky, who was accused of performing anal and oral sex on boys as young as 8 years old. Even Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt, said his father abused him as well, though his accusations weren't part of the trial.
Despite the lack of physical evidence and the time that had elapsed since the commission of the crimes, Sandusky's attorneys were unable to discredit the eight accusers. They declined to put their client on the stand.
“I feel, like many others, that the rapidity with which this jury has reached [a verdict] makes it all but certain it should be a guilty verdict,” Michael Boni, attorney for “Victim No. 1” told CNN’s Piers Morgan minutes before the decision was announced.
Even Sandusky’s own legal team didn’t expect an acquittal. Earlier Friday, Sandusky’s attorney Joseph Amendola said he would “probably die of a heart attack” if the ex-coach was found not guilty.
Tell us: Did the jury reach the right verdict? Vote in the poll; sound off in the comments.
Bernadette Sahm
9:31 am on Monday, June 25, 2012
As one of the abused boys mother stated, "There are no winners, everyone has lost." These young men will have to carry these scars the rest of their lives. Penn State has a big black eye and what becomes of Dorothy Sandusky and family? Everyone involved is a victim, a survivor and a secondary survivor. Was Jerry Sandusky abused as a child? What made him think it was ok to sexually abuse? What struck me was his complete lack of shame during the entire trial. Prayers for all involved ...
Concerned Mom
10:38 am on Monday, June 25, 2012
He should have been in jail a long time ago. All of the red flags were there. People didn't do their jobs and they covered up for him. Because of that, many more boys had to endure the abuse. Shame on these people for failing to protect children from this monster. They are just as responsible and should pay a price.
No Justice
9:16 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Justice for All?
I feel the only reason Sandusky will serve any significant time is due to the media. There are hundreds of cases where multiple victims with mutiple offenses never get their true "protection". What the system needs is to be fair in all cases. There was a similar case in which the offender served only two years jail time, was on four years probation, and due to the fact that it was an incestual assult the victims now have to face the possibility of spending "quality" family time with their offender. When will we wake up America? Not all sexual offenders are sexually offended as children, look at what we are exposing our children to thru the media. How many times in the past two or three months has someone tried to "eat" someone else? Where are we going? There is no true justice in this world, but there will be in the next, so those who think they have gotten away with "IT" will pay the ultimate price, one way or the other, Karma, or whatever, it's out there....