Jerry Sandusky Sentenced to 30 to 60 Years in Prison Patrick Smith / Getty Images Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky walks into the Centre County Courthouse before being sentenced in his child sex abuse case on Oct. 9, 2012 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Jerry Sandusky languished the summer away in prison, scrawling what he intended as his opus to proving his innocence. But the 18-minute statement he gave in court Tuesday morning fell flat as Judge John Cleland sentenced him to between 30 and 60 years in prison. The former Penn State assistant football coach, now a convicted child sex abuser, made his first public appearance Tuesday at the same Bellefonte, Pa. courtroom where he was convicted of 45 counts of abuse back in June. Tuesday's conviction hearing was over in less than 90 minutes. He faced a maximum sentence of 442 years but received far fewer. Still, it's almost certainly a life sentence for the 68-year-old Sandusky. LIST: 7 Key Players in the Penn State Abuse Case The trial began with Cleland discussing if the defendant should be classified as a sexually violent predator, which could affect the number of years until he's eligible for parole. He'll serve no fewer than 30 years and no more than 60. According to MSNBC, Judge Cleland, in his stern and measured statement to the court handing down the sentence, recognized that a minimum of 30 years would mean essentially a life sentence for the abuser. But Sandusky and his lawyers were prepared for such a sentence. Though a number of the counts were tossed out, the defense team widely expected him to spend the remainder of his life in prison. "Whatever the sentence, because of the number of offenses and Jerry's age, it is tantamount to life," Amendola told USA Today. We've talked about the possibility of this from the very beginning. It's not going to be pleasant. Tuesday marked the first time Sandusky has spoken publicly in court about the crimes of which he's been convicted. Despite extensive speculation and expectation, he didn't take the stand during his trial. His only comment on the case was limited to a few highly awkward interviews with NBC's Rock Center and the New York Times around the time the scandal initially broke. It's thought that his lawyers advised him to not speak out after these interviews, which some called "damning." READ: TIME's Full Coverage of the Sandusky Scandal But he gave an 18-minute speech to the court Tuesday, described as a "rambling" statement in which he talked about his days spent as an assistant coach with the Penn State football team and valuing the time he spent with children at football games and charitable events. But he did little to curry favor with the judge or accusers. He has spent the last three months in the Centre County Correctional Facility just three miles from the Bellefonte courtroom, reportedly spending many of his days penning the speech in a last-minute attempt to convince a judge of his innocence. Today, he will be moved to the Camp Hill State Prison near Harrisburg where he will serve out his sentence. But his statements were somewhat preempted by an audio tape he recorded from prison, which aired Monday night. The voice recording aired late Monday on a local Penn State radio station, featuring a defiant - and some said, delusional - Sandusky, proclaiming his innocence. They could take away my life, they could make me out as a monster, they could treat me as a monster, but they can't take away my heart. In my heart, I know I did not do these alleged disgusting acts," he said in the statement on Penn State's ComRadio. Sandusky arrived at the courtroom just before the 9 a.m. hearing began. He sported the red jail garb of the Centre County facility, but this wasn't the most striking image. Reporters at the courtroom remarked on Sandusky's seeming frailness. He appears to have lost as many as 20 pounds in the past three months. The June trial spanned eight days of testimony and 20 short hours of deliberation, with the jury of seven women and five men delivering a speedy guilty verdict late one Friday night. After the former Penn State assistant football coach was pronounced guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse against 10 young boys over the course of 15 years, he was whisked away to the local prison. His remarks to the court were widely expected. "He is not going to apologize," Amendola told USA Today of the statement. He will not be asking for mercy. He's always said he is innocent; he firmly believes that, and he's hanging on to that. PHOTOS: Riots Rock Penn State After Paterno Firing Three victims gave emotional statements to the court about their years of abuse at Sandusky's hands. According to MSNBC, they were all witnesses in the original trial whose graphic testimonies helped convict the once-respected coach. Sandusky, once a revered community member who founded The Second Mile charity near the Penn State campus in order to provide a father figure to disadvantaged young boys in the community. It has emerged that Sandusky met many of his victims through this charity, which has since been shut down. But since the scandal broke in November of last year, the impact has been much wider-reaching. Sandusky has been demonized in the Penn State community. The allegations also led to the downfall of many prominent Penn State officials, including praised head football coach Joe Paterno, who died in January after a struggle with lung cancer. The Freeh report, an independent report commissioned by the Penn State Board of Trustees, found that high-ranking administrators, including Paterno, former president Graham Spanier, former Senior VP for Finance Gary Schultz, and former athletic director Tim Curley had a "total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims." All have proclaimed their innocence in the matter, especially Curley and Schultz who face perjury charges related to the case. But the Freeh report asserted that there was an extensive dialogue, particularly in emails, related to the allegations of child sexual abuse against Sandusky - and these conversations were happening as early as 1998. It's no surprise that these officials also fell quickly out of favor with the Penn State community. Much of the heralded imagery starring the hugely popular Nittany Lions football team has been scrubbed in recent months, as students, professors, and Penn State's far-reaching alumni community have sought to repair their tarnished image. Sandusky has been entirely erased from a mural adjacent to the Penn State campus, replaced with a child-abuse advocate. A statue of Joe Paterno that once stood on the campus was taken down after protests by students after the Freeh report was released in July. And now, the most important figures in the Sandusky trial, the victims, were able to see the convicted abuser led off to prison, presumably for the remainder of his life. MORE: Jerry Sandusky Guilty of 45 Counts of Child Sexual Abuse