Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse after being sentenced in Bellefonte, Pa. (Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP) Story Highlights Unless appeal successful, Sandusky will spend rest of life in prison 
 
 Former coach convicted in June of abusing 10 children over 15 years 
 
 Sandusky delivered a sometimes rambling statement in which he denied his crimes 
 
 BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, whose sexual abuse of children triggered a cascading crisis that still shadows the state's largest university, was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison Tuesday. 
 
 The sentence issued by Judge John Cleland means that the 68-year-old former coach, convicted of abusing 10 children over 15 years, will spend the rest of his life in prison barring a successful appeal. 
 
 Sandusky, appearing in court in a bright red jail jumpsuit, delivered a sometimes rambling four-minute statement in which he denied his crimes, saying that he would "fight" to overturn the verdicts against him. 
 
 "They can make me out as a monster, but in my heart I know I didn't do these alleged, disgusting things," Sandusky said before the judge. 
 
 Sandusky was preceded by three of his victims, two of whom spoke through tears, about how he had "betrayed" their trust. One of them, designated by the state grand jury as "Victim 4," looked directly at Sandusky and told him: "You should be ashamed of yourself. I want you to know I will not forgive you. I don't know if I could ever forgive you." 
 
 The short hearing ended with Judge Cleland describing Sandusky's statement as "unbelievable." 
 
 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky released an audio statement ahead of his sentencing on 45 counts of child sexual abuse saying he is innocent. AP 
 
 Cleland said the "ultimate tragedy of this case is that the very victims you abused had your trust, they trusted you. This crime is not only about crimes of the body, it is also about the assaults on their psyches and their souls." 
 
 Before pronouncing sentence, Cleland acknowledged that he could impose a sentence of "centuries," referring to the maximum punishment of 442 years. But given Sandusky's age, 68, the lesser term still ensured that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. 
 
 Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan said the sentence represented "a great service to justice." 
 
 "It ensures that he spends the rest of his natural life in prison," McGettigan said. 
 
 He describes Sandusky's courtroom statement as "delusional, self-reverential and untethered to reality." 
 
 "He displayed the same cowardice as when he preyed on children." 
 
 Karl Rominger, one of Sandusky's attorneys, said the defense team was "pleased" with the sentence because the judge didn't impose a "gratuitous" number of years beyond the lifetime of a 68-year-old man. 
 
 Reaction on the Penn State campus was immediate. 
 
 Penn State President Rodney Erickson released a statement moments after Sandusky's sentencing: "Our thoughts today, as they have been for the last year, go out to the victims of Jerry Sandusky's abuse. While today's sentence cannot erase what has happened, hopefully it will provide comfort to those effected by these horrible events and help them continue down the road to recovery." 
 
 "Most of the community after the trial put that issue to bed," said Scott Kretchmar, who taught sports philosophy at Penn State for 25 years. "Jerry was guilty as charged and he would in all likelihood spend the rest of the his life in jail. Most of us felt that was in the cards," said Kretchmar, who has Penn State's faculty representative to the NCAA from 2000-2010. "That was not news. It's just the aftermath of what was put in place. 
 
 ""I think we're getting pretty close to closure. …. I think we are going to end up moving on and building back up." 
 
 Graduate student John Hanson, 23, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., said he does not think the sentencing will bring much closure to members of the Penn State community, as it will likely reopen many healing wounds. 
 
 "Penn Staters looking for closure should avoid these conversations and instead focus on the fight against child abuse and helping victims heal," Hanson said. "Arguing over how many decades Mr. Sandusky spends in jail is counter-productive to that cause. " 
 
 Sandusky's sentence comes just more than three months after a jury rendered its guilty verdicts and nearly a year after a Pennsylvania grand jury first published a gruesome catalog of crimes directly implicating the once-revered former coach. 
 
 Within days, the fast-moving scandal prompted the ouster of longtime university President Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno, the iconic head football coach who had become university's public face. 
 
 
 
 Two other university officials, Athletic Director Tim Curley and retired Vice President Gary Schultz, also have been charged with failing to report Sandusky's abuse to police and lying to the grand jury about what they were told about the coach's activities involving a 2001 assault of a young boy in a locker-room shower. 
 
 
 
 Both men have denied any wrongdoing and are awaiting trial in January. 
 
 
 
 Sandusky's court appearance marks his first trip outside protective custody at 
 
 the nearby Centre County Correctional Facility where he has been held since shortly after the jury delivered its verdict June 22. 
 
 
 
 He is expected to be transferred to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections admissions center near Harrisburg where he is slated 
 
 to undergo psychological and physical evaluation before a more permanent 
 
 assignment within a state system that holds 51,638 inmates, including 6,777 prisoners classified as sex offenders. 
 
 
 
 Joe Amendola, Sandusky's lead defense lawyer, said his client will launch an appeal. But the attorney suggested that the effort will be difficult. 
 
 "The only way (Sandusky) walks out of jail is if he gets a new trial,'' the attorney said. 
 
 Among the issues Amendola said he will press is a claim that Cleland pushed the case to trial too quickly by declining repeated defense requests for delays, leaving little time to review the mass of evidence assembled against his client. 
 
 "With the number of victims in this case, we had the equivalent of 10 separate cases to prepare for all rolled into the same trial,'' Amendola said. "We had virtually no time to prepare a case. We were forced to piece together a defense by the seat of our pants. That's going to be the issue.'' 
 
 Sandusky's appeal, the pending criminal cases against Curley and Schultz and victims' civil lawsuits lodged against the university ensure that the coach's crimes will continue to shadow the university for months, and perhaps, years to come. 
 
 In July, a blistering internal review of the university's initial response to the first allegations of abuse involving Sandusky triggered NCAA sanctions resulting in $60 million in penalties, scholarship losses and a four-year bowl ban for the school's beloved football program. 
 
 Last week, former Penn State assistant football coach Michael McQueary filed a lawsuit against the university seeking $4 million in lost future wages when his employment was terminated this summer. 
 
 The former coach alleges that the university defamed him and fired him because of his cooperation with law enforcement officials in the Sandusky investigation. 
 
 McQueary, a key witness in the prosecution of Sandusky, testified at trial that he told Paterno, Curley and Schultz about the 2001 shower incident involving Sandusky and a young boy. Paterno, who died in January, was not charged because he reported McQueary's concerns to Curley and Schultz. 
 
 The 2001 incident was never reported to police, resulting only in the admonishment of Sandusky who was directed not to bring children on campus in the future. 
 
 Contributing: Tom O'Toole, Jessica Tully 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/T1lMg5 ||||| Story highlights Sandusky will have to cover prosecution costs 
 
 Groups for abused people hail the sentence 
 
 "He took my childhood," a victim says 
 
 Sandusky was also designated as a sexually violent offender 
 
 After spending years of his life sexually abusing boys entrusted into his care and recent years denying it, Jerry Sandusky is likely to spend the rest of his life in jail. A judge sentenced the 68-year-old former Penn State assistant football coach Tuesday to at least 30 years in prison. 
 
 He had faced a maximum of 400 years for dozens of charges stemming from his sexual abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year period. Sandusky was convicted in June 
 
 After an emotional hearing in which victims detailed the horrors they endured -- and Sandusky still maintained his innocence, portraying himself as a victim -- Judge John Cleland ruled that the "dangerous" Sandusky will not be eligible for parole for 30 years. His maximum sentence is 60 years. 
 
 The once-beloved coach, whose abuse triggered a scandal for one of the nation's most storied college football teams, was given credit for 112 days served. 
 
 He will also have to cover costs of the prosecution, Cleland said. The amount was not immediately known. 
 
 "All the qualities that make you successful concealed your vices," Cleland said. "This, in my view, makes you dangerous." 
 
 He noted the long-term damage Sandusky inflicted on victims: "This crime is not only what you did to their bodies but their psyche and souls." 
 
 Despite the mountain of testimony that convicted him and a plea from a victim Tuesday that Sandusky finally admit his guilt, Sandusky remained stalwart. "I did not do these disgusting acts," he said repeatedly. 
 
 His attorneys have 10 days to appeal the judge's decision. They have already vowed to appeal his conviction. After the sentencing, defense attorney Joe Amendola insisted that if the team had had more time to prepare for the trial, Sandusky would have been acquitted. 
 
 Cleland designated Sandusky as a sexually violent offender, which will partially determine where he will be housed in prison and which programs he will be required to participate in, according to Jean Casarez of HLN's "InSession." Sandusky told the judge he did not oppose the status but maintained his innocence. 
 
 One of his attorneys said before the hearing that Sandusky's legal team would not contest the classification but would stipulate that they disagree with it. 
 
 Across the country, victims of sexual abuse and organizations that represent them hailed the downfall of the notorious abuser. 
 
 "Now that Sandusky will be locked up and unable to harm more children, our hope is that even more survivors will take their first steps towards recovery -- with the confidence that their family, friends and community will believe them and support them," said Scott Berkowitz, president of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. 
 
 But the most emotional words of the day came from Sandusky's victims. Some spoke at the hearing, pushing for a harsh sentence, while one and the mother of another offered written impact statements read by the prosecution. 
 
 "The pain is real, and it will be inside me forever," said a man identified as Victim No. 5. 
 
 He added that he will never forget the image of Sandusky "forcing himself on me and forcing my hand on him." 
 
 "He took away my childhood the day he assaulted me, and he should be sentenced accordingly." 
 
 Another victim, No. 6, described the "deep wounds" that left him praying for help. 
 
 "As I put the 1998 incident in the shower into focus, I think about how you manipulated me," he said, adding that Sandusky "called yourself the tickle monster so you could touch me." 
 
 Victim No. 4 assailed Sandusky's refusal to acknowledge what he had done. "Rather than take responsibility for your actions, you attacked us," he said. 
 
 "My only regret is that I didn't come forward earlier." 
 
 In her written statement, the mother of Victim No. 9 said, "Words cannot describe the pain and impact on my son and family." 
 
 "Because of you, we had to move four times," she said. 
 
 "I had to endure two attempts from my son trying to take his life. ... You caused him a lifetime of sorrow and suffering. 
 
 "I question every decision I made as a parent," she added. 
 
 "Shame on you, Mr. Sandusky, for your narcissistic and selfish acts. 
 
 "Whatever comes to you I hope it is tenfold for what you did to my son and others." 
 
 Victim No. 1, in his statement, said of Sandusky, "There is no remorse ... just evil." 
 
 Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan said Sandusky is among "the most insidious and depraved of criminals." 
 
 Sandusky founded his charity for young people, Second Mile, to help children but used it to identify victims, McGettigan said. 
 
 "He inserted himself into the lives of children, deceiving their mothers." 
 
 A touch became a grope and "too often a penetration," McGettigan said. 
 
 "No deceit was too shameful for him," the prosecutor added. "He relied on shame to silence his victims. ... He treated his victims like sexual property, which he used as he saw fit." 
 
 McGettigan also slammed Sandusky for whining about "his own pain" in an audio statement Monday night. 
 
 Sandusky, speaking for about 13 minutes at the hearing, called his situation "the worst loss of my life." 
 
 "I will cherish the opportunity to be a candle for others," he said, adding that "somehow, some way, something good will come out of this." 
 
 His wife, Dottie, had tears in her eyes. 
 
 Cleland addressed the victims: "The fact that you were assaulted is no cause for shame. ... It is for your courage that you will be remembered." And, he said, they will heal. 
 
 Sandusky entered the courthouse Tuesday wearing a red jumpsuit with a bullet-resistant vest underneath. Though he was handcuffed, he clutched a manila envelope and smiled briefly as he got out of a police vehicle. His wife arrived in the parking lot moments earlier. 
 
 In his audio statement Monday, Sandusky said, "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." 
 
 He accused the judge of bringing the case to trial too quickly, the victims of conspiring together and the attorneys of trying to make money in future civil suits -- which an attorney for Victim No. 5 called "preposterous." 
 
 It has been nearly a year since the Penn State scandal erupted, leading to the firing of iconic head football coach Joe Paterno and the ouster of the university's longtime president, Graham Spanier. 
 
 Jurors determined in June that Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999, used his access to university facilities and his foundation for underprivileged youth to sexually abuse the boys. 
 
 On June 22, Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse, ranging from corruption of minors to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, which were laid out in graphic testimony by his accusers over the course of the less-than-two-week trial. 
 
 During the trial, which garnered national attention and cast a shadow on Penn State's heralded football program, the 23-year-old Victim No. 4 testified that he was only 13 when Sandusky sexually abused him in a university shower. 
 
 That account is separate from a 2001 incident that Mike McQueary, a former Penn State assistant football coach, testified about, saying he saw the former coach pressed up against the back of a boy in the shower room of the Lasch Football Building. 
 
 McQueary filed a whistle-blower lawsuit last week against the university, according to a court document from Centre County, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Less than a month after Sandusky's conviction, former FBI Director Louis Freeh released his university-funded report that blamed Paterno, Spanier, suspended Athletic Director Tim Curley and ex-Vice President Gary Schultz for taking part in a cover-up to avoid bad publicity. 
 
 Freeh also said Paterno could have stopped the attacks had he done more, though neither McQueary, Sandusky nor Paterno -- who died in January -- were interviewed by his investigators. 
 
 Attorneys for Spanier blasted the review, calling it a "blundering, indefensible indictment" and "a flat-out distortion of facts" that was "infused with bias and innuendo." 
 
 In July, the NCAA imposed sanctions against Penn State, including a $60 million fine, scholarship reductions, the vacating of 112 wins of the football team, five years' probation and a bowl ban for four years. 
 
 After the sentencing decision was announced, the university's president released a statement. 
 
 "Our thoughts today, as they have been for the last year, go out to the victims of Jerry Sandusky's abuse," Penn State President Rodney Erickson said. "While today's sentence cannot erase what has happened, hopefully it will provide comfort to those affected by these horrible events and help them continue down the road to recovery." ||||| Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., for a sentencing hearing. Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys in a scandal that rocked the university and brought down Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno. 
 
 Oct. 9, 2012 Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., for a sentencing hearing. Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys in a scandal that rocked the university and brought down Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno. Matt Rourke/AP 
 
 Jerry Sandusky rested his elbows on the wooden lectern and leaned toward the judge. He didn’t speak of remorse or plead for leniency, as many convicted felons do at sentencing. Instead, the former assistant football coach launched into a rallying speech, the type he might have once presented during an especially tough game at Penn State, where some remember him as “Touchdown Jerry.” 
 
 “We’re definitely in the fourth quarter now,” said Sandusky, 68, who was convicted in June on 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 young boys. “We will continue to fight. There’s much to fight.” 
 
 Though Sandusky has maintained his innocence and argued publicly that he was targeted by a “veteran accuser” who conspired against him, Judge John M. Cleland on Tuesday ordered the former Penn State University coach — and now notorious child molester — to spend at least 30 years in prison. 
 
 “That has the unmistakable impact of saying, clearly, for the rest of your life,” Cleland told Sandusky, in handing down a sentence that could range from 30 to 60 years. “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.” 
 
 Sandusky’s methods of luring victims have been detailed in grand jury reports and trial testimony, horrifying and stunning the residents of Happy Valley and toppling the storied Penn State football program he helped build. Some of Penn State’s most powerful leaders, including the late legendary football coach Joe Paterno, have been accused of knowing about the abuse and not taking enough action to stop it. 
 
 But Sandusky’s methods, it turned out, were a textbook example of how abusers operate. Sandusky met his young victims through a mentoring program he started for at-risk children, Second Mile. He slowly built their trust and earned their admiration by showering them with attention and gifts, involving them in Penn State’s revered football culture and being the father figure they lacked. He also became skilled at deflecting accusations of impropriety. 
 
 Eight victims testified against Sandusky at his trial. Two other victims have never been identified, but jurors heard from those who witnessed or heard about their abuse. On June 22, a local jury found Sandusky guilty of 45 of the 48 charges against him, which included several counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse spanning more than a decade. 
 
 “He promised to be my friend and mentor,” one victim wrote in a statement that lead prosecutor Joseph E. McGettigan III read aloud in court. “Jerry Sandusky humiliated me beyond description.” 
 
 Three victims pleaded with the judge Tuesday morning to give Sandusky a sentence that matched their anguish and hurt. The Washington Post generally does not identify victims of sex crimes. 
 
 A young man known in court records as “Victim 4” stared at Sandusky as he said: “I don’t forgive you, and I don’t know if I ever will forgive you. I grew up in a bad situation, and you only made it worse.” 
 
 After emotional statements from the victims, Sandusky took the stand, wearing a bright red jumpsuit with “Centre County” written in black letters on the back. He was noticeably thinner than when he entered jail three months ago, at one point stopping to hike up his sagging pants. 
 
 Sandusky again insisted he is innocent and said he is the victim of a conspiracy driven by the lies of troubled young men. Sandusky detailed life in the county jail, where he lives in a small cell and fills his time with meditation, reading, writing and exercising. 
 
 “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,” Sandusky said. “In my heart, I know I did not do these alleged disgusting acts.” 
 
 Sandusky’s words angered prosecutors, civil attorneys and victim advocates who attended the hearing. McGettigan said after the hearing that Sandusky seemed “completely untethered from reality.” 
 
 When the sentence was announced, Sandusky stared down briefly. After court recessed, he spoke with his attorney, smiling broadly and laughing. The former coach was then led away by officers. 
 
 Joe Amendola, Sandusky’s lead attorney, said he plans to file an appeal. After the hearing, Amendola counted off his complaints: The defense was forced to go to court before it could properly prepare; no one would listen to Sandusky’s side of the story; the victims were not trustworthy. 
 
 The ramifications of Sandusky’s actions are far-reaching. Days after Sandusky’s arrest in November 2011, Paterno and Penn State President Graham Spanier lost their jobs, along with their sterling reputations. This summer, the university removed an iconic statue of Paterno that stood outside the football stadium. 
 
 Investigators hired by Penn State concluded that some of the university’s most powerful leaders failed to protect children from abuse. The NCAA punished Penn State for Sandusky’s crimes, fining the school $60 million, vacating previous football wins and barring the team from postseason play. 
 
 Two former Penn State officials, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, have been charged with perjury and failure to report child abuse. Their trial is scheduled for January. 
 
 Still, Tuesday’s hearing, just a few days after Penn State’s homecoming win over Northwestern, brought some closure. 
 
 “We all have a sense of relief that Jerry Sandusky is going to die in prison, that he’s not going to be able to do this again,” said Matt Casey, a Philadelphia attorney whose firm represents several victims, including one of Sandusky’s adopted sons.
– Jerry Sandusky remained defiant today, insisting that "I did not do these disgusting acts" as he was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in the child sex abuse scandal that rocked Penn State to its foundation, reports CNN. Sandusky, who apparently arrived in court this morning wearing a smile, addressed the court in what USA Today calls a "sometimes rambling" statement, saying at one point, "This is the time when you find out who your friends are in the fourth quarter, those who stand by you." Judge John Cleland called Sandusky's statement "unbelievable," telling the former coach he would be in prison "for the rest of your life," reports the Washington Post. He told Sandusky that the "ultimate tragedy of this case is that the very victims you abused had your trust, they trusted you. This crime is not only about crimes of the body, it is also about the assaults on their psyches and their souls." The court also heard victim impact statements from some of Sandusky's victims, with Victim No. 5 telling the court: "The sentence will never erase what he did to me. It will never make me whole." Victim No. 4 addressed Sandusky directly, saying, "You should be ashamed of yourself. I want you to know I will not forgive you."