 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. 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. 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. The defense team said it will appeal for a new trial, contending, among other things, that it was granted too little time to prepare for the case (see 10:45 a.m. entry). ET] Here's a little detail of how Judge John Cleland explained his sentence in court: 
 
 The law allows a sentence of hundreds of years, the judge told Sandusky, but he called such a sentence too esoteric. 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. ET] Lead prosecutor Joe McGettigan, who is now speaking at a press conference, praised the victims’ courage in taking the witness stand. McGettigan said after the hearing that Sandusky seemed “completely untethered from reality.” 
 
 When the sentence was announced, Sandusky stared down briefly. He called Sandusky's statement in court "a masterpiece of banal self-delusion" adding that he "displayed deviance, narcissism, a lack of (acknowledgement) for the pain he caused others.” 
 
 "It was, in short, ridiculous," the prosecutor said of Sandusky's statement. He said that when Sandusky didn't take witness stand during trial, “he displayed the same cowardice that he displayed when he preyed on children." That was an issue the former Penn State coach brought up in an audio statement he made on Monday night. Sandusky was preceded by three of his victims, two of whom spoke through tears, about how he had "betrayed" their trust. … The person I was, I changed, I became a social outcast. He didn’t speak of remorse or plead for leniency, as many convicted felons do at sentencing. "The only way (Sandusky) walks out of jail is if he gets a new trial,'' the attorney said. Eight victims testified against Sandusky at his trial. 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. “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. “I will not forgive you, but I ask that all the other victims forgive me for not coming forward sooner.” 
 
 [Updated at 10:47 a.m. ET] Penn State President Rodney Erickson just released this statement following 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 affected by these horrible events and help them continue down the road to recovery." ET] Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola echoed Rominger's statements about an appeal, saying they needed more time to prepare their defense. He compared Sandusky’s case with the separate cases against former Penn State officials Graham Spanier and Gary Schultz, each of whom face charges of perjury and failure to report in connection with the Sandusky case. Amendola said that should Spanier and Schultz go to trial in January as scheduled, their attorneys will have had 14 months to prepare for two charges. ET] Jerry Sandusky attorney Karl Rominger said his team has a number of grounds for appeal, including their contention that they were wrongly denied a continuance, which would have given them more time to prepare for trial. Criticized for smiling and smirking in court today, Sandusky said, “This is what my family does. “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. “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. “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. But I don't believe that what I'm going to hear." "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," the former coach at Penn State said in his statement before the sentencing. “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. "A young man who was dramatic, a veteran accuser, and always sought attention, started everything," Sandusky said. "He was joined by a well-orchestrated effort of the media, investigators, the system, Penn State, psychologists, civil attorneys and other accusers. 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. "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," the former coach at Penn State says. 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. 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. 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.
– 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."