Jerry Sandusky was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought disgrace to Penn State and led to head football coach Joe Paterno's fall from grace.
Judge John Cleland sentenced him to 30 to 60 years in prison. Under Pennsylvania law, Sandusky cannot be released on parole before the minimum term is up.
At his sentencing Tuesday, three victims spoke and recalled the events that took place during the molestation with Sandusky.
"I've been left with deep painful wounds that you caused and had been buried in the garden of my heart for many years," said a young man who was 11 when Sandusky groped him in a shower in 1998.
Another man who spoke said he was 13 when, 2001, Sandusky lured him into a Penn State sauna and then a shower and forced him to touch the ex-coach.
"I am troubled with flashbacks of his naked body, something that will never be erased from my memory," he said. "Jerry has harmed children, of which I am one of them."
The 68-year-old former Penn State assistant coach was found guilty in June of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period.
Witnesses testified that Sandusky used the charitable organization that he founded for troubled children to lure and groom boys to becoming his victims.
His arrest 11 months ago, along with details about his trial over the summer, took his public image from a widely admired college coach turned to a reviled pervert who preyed on youngsters who sought his help.
Eight of the boys he was found guilty of molesting testified at his trial, describing a range of abuse that included fondling, oral sex and anal intercourse. One of the prosecution's star witnesses, former graduate assistant Mike McQueary, testified that he saw Sandusky raping a boy in a locker room shower.
Throughout the trial leading to his sentencing, Sandusky has consistently maintained his innocence and plans to appeal.
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