Jerry Sandusky - Convicted and in Jail!!!

Mug Shot

Jerry Sandusky, twisted monster of Penn State University, the evil coach who raped an endless parade of young innocent boys and got away with it for years, is now in jail in Centre County, Pennsylvania, probably for the rest of his life. His enabling wife, Dottie "Sarge" Sandusky, will either be charged for her own crimes or simply lose everything she owns to countless civil lawsuits still to be filed by the victims. And to top it all off, their own adopted son has come forward to say that he was also molested by dear old Dad, and that son's damning testimony is the reason that Jerry couldn't testify on his own behalf during the trial.

Ah, sometimes there is Justice in the world.

From MSNBC:

Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse Friday night and faces spending the rest of his life in state prison. His attorney said he would appeal the verdict.

Sandusky's attorney, Joseph Amendola, asked Judge John Cleland to allow Sandusky to be released on house arrest, but Cleland summarily rejected the request, saying: "Bail is revoked. Mr. Sandusky is remanded to the custody of the sheriff."

. . . Several of the counts are so-called mandated felonies, meaning Cleland has no discretion in sentencing. NBC News reported that he faces a minimum of 60 years in prison.

Perp Walk!!! Goodbye Forever!

Sandusky Trial Starts Today ~ with Live Links

The Jerry Sandusky child abuse trial starts today in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

You can follow the proceedings with these links:
WGAL Livewire - Frequent Updates
Sara Ganim from Patriot News on Twitter
Patriot News Full Coverage

This one twitter just about says it all:

#Sandusky had asterisks next to victim names on lists of second mile children, prosecutor said

— Sara Ganim (@sganim) June 11, 2012

Prosecutor Makes Opening Statement

It is Sandusky -- who sat in a wrinkled green suit and turned his chair and faced a 12-foot projection screen as McGettigan showed pictures of each of his accusers as boys.
One juror shook her head as the prosecutor explained the abuse that each allegedly endured.
All 16 -- 12 jurors and four alternates -- were listening intently, wide-eyed, as McGettigan and defense attorney Joe Amendola made their opening arguments in the historic child sex abuse case against the 68-year-old football great.
Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, and adopted son Matt, both left right before opening arguments when the judge ordered that all witnesses be sequestered.
Almost flush up to the jury box, and in a soft-spoken voice, McGettigan did a rundown of the 10 cases against Sandusky, calling it the “systematic behavior ... of a serial predatory pedophile.”

But the Defense says:

“Jerry loves kids so much that he does things none of us would ever dream of doing,” Amendola said. “The evidence will show these kids had problems. Over the years, Jerry dealt with hundreds of thousands of kids. There’s eight accusers.”
Almost immediately, Amendola attacked the case of Victim 2 -- the case in which assistant coach Mike McQueary says he witnessed Sandusky assaulting a young boy in the Penn State locker room showers in 2001.
Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley, vice president Gary Schultz, McQueary’s father John, his friend, Dr. Jonathan Dranov all heard McQueary’s story and never called police.
“Not one of them said call the police,” he said. “Even after nothing happened (McQueary himself) never called the police.”
Amendola also told jurors that six of the eight men who will testify have civil attorneys.
“You saw those 8 photos, cute kids,” he said. “Why would they lie? Folks, I don’t know if any of you have been involved in family disputes over money. ... The evidence will show these young men had a financial interest in pursuing this case. All of these kids came from The Second Mile by recommendation and referrals ... because they had issues.”
Showering naked with young boys -- that was part of a culture that Sandusky knew, Amendola said. Partly because of his history in sports, and partly because of the way he grew up.

Sara Ganim Wins Pulitzer for Penn State Stories

Congratulations to ace reporter Sara Ganim of The Patriot News in State College, Pennsylvania. She has won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting thanks to her brilliant coverage of the Sandusky child-abuse scandal and subsequent cover-up at Penn State University. As a direct consequence of her reporting, legendary Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno was fired, Jerry Sandusky is is now facing multiple child rape charges from several victims along with an investigation of the charity for boys that founded, Second Mile. Several Penn State employees have been charged with covering up the scandal and perjuring themselves to a Grand Jury.
Recently the scandal deepened when MSNBC reported allegations from as early as 1998 when a psychologist warned police that Sandusky was a pedophile. Despite a series of Grand Juries looking into the case, nothing happened with the investigation into Sandusky until last year when Ganim broke her stories.

Pulitzer Prize Citation

For a distinguished example of reporting on significant issues of local concern, demonstrating originality and community expertise, using any available journalistic tool, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Awarded to Sara Ganim and members of The Patriot-News Staff, Harrisburg, Penn., for courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky.

More from Poynter.org

The night Paterno was fired, Ganim captured scenes and interviews on her cell phone and emailed them directly to the newsroom. “The copy desk watched them and translated quotes,” she told WOUB. “If I had gone with a notebook and pen, we would have never made deadline by the time I got them.”
Several news organizations have recognized Ganim’s watchdog reporting. The Baltimore Sun said it’s “every bit comparable to the guts and drive of The Washington Post in breaking the Watergate scandal.” Jason Fry and Kelly McBride, who serve as ESPN’s ombuds through the Poynter Review Project, wrote: “With the biggest staff of sports journalists in the world, ESPN should have been leading the charge to ask tough questions and shed light on this scandal. Instead, it was the tiny Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., out in front of the journalism pack.”