http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-10/us-college-coach-sandusky-jailed-for-life-for-child-sex/4304366
The once-famed coach at the helm of the prestigious Penn State University football program has been sentenced to between 30 and 60 years in jail for sex abuse.

The sentence means Jerry Sandusky will spend the rest of his life in jail.

It is the culmination of a high-profile US sex abuse case that saw the former football coach convicted in June of 45 counts of molesting 10 boys over 15 years.

In court, the convicted paedophile delivered a rambling 15-minute statement protesting his innocence and accusing his victims of lying, a performance that appalled the lead prosecutor, Joe McGettigan.

"He displayed deviance, a lack of feeling for the pain he caused others, and to the end an unwillingness to accept responsibility," he said.

Sandusky's lawyer plans to appeal against the conviction on the grounds the defence was not given enough time to prepare its case.

At the emotional hearing marked by tearful statements from victims, Judge John Cleland told Sandusky, 68, that he was imposing a prison term that had "the unmistakable impact of being for the rest of your life."

Sandusky allegedly recruited his young victims through a program he ran for abused and neglected youths between 1994 and 2008.

The former university coach, clad in a red prison outfit, gave a rambling statement during his sentencing hearing in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

He spoke about seeing visions on the dank walls of the prison where he has been incarcerated for the past 112 days since his conviction.

"I see me throwing thousands of kids in the air," Sandusky said. "And hundreds of water balloon battles."

Sandusky protested his innocence and did not apologise to his victims.

Prosecutors said Sandusky had all the advantages that should have led to a productive life, but instead spent his time setting up a charity that he used as a vehicle for child sex abuse.

"Instead of being a productive citizen," assistant attorney general Joseph McGettigan told the court, "he worked diligently to construct a mechanism to acquire victims."

'Pay for his crimes'Sandusky's attorney, Joe Amendola, asked the judge to take into account his client's charity work.

But victims underlined the scars left by Sandusky's behaviour.

One said he never left his son with other people for fear that he would become a victim of sex abuse. Another said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The sentencing of Jerry Sandusky will never make me whole," said a third victim, identified only as victim five. "He must pay for his crimes."

Eight victims took the stand at his trial, offering graphic testimony about Sandusky's actions on campus, in hotel rooms and at his home. Another coach told the court he saw Sandusky rape a boy in the showers at Penn State.

The headline-grabbing scandal has tarnished the legacy of Pennsylvania State University, which boasts one of the country's most illustrious football teams.

The scandal led to the downfall of Penn State's legendary head coach Joe Paterno, a national icon whose fall from grace came just a few weeks before his unexpected death from lung cancer in January at the age of 85.

Paterno was fired in November for failing to notify authorities when he was told Sandusky had been seen molesting a boy in the shower. The university's president, Graham Spanier, was also sacked.

Two other Penn State officials, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, face trial for lying to a grand jury investigating Sandusky.

'Insult to victims'Prior to sentencing, a Penn State-related news site published a statement in which Sandusky tried to cast doubt on the credibility of his accusers.

"Realise they didn't come out of isolation. The accusers were products of many more people and experiences than me," he said.

Prosecutors said the recording was yet more evidence of Sandusky's self delusion. "His statement is an insult to the true victims," Mr McGettigan said.

Sandusky's lawyers say they plan to appeal the sentence. An appeal of the conviction, on the grounds that the case was rushed to trial, is ongoing.

The case did move quickly by US norms. Charges against Sandusky were levelled in November 2011. A jury returned a guilty verdict on 45 of 48 counts in June.

Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett reacted by praising the "resilience of the victims," whose testimony had built "an airtight case."

"Today's sentence will hopefully give comfort to those young men, whose trust in the justice system is rewarded by seeing this man go to prison for the rest of his life."

ABC/AFP

Topics: courts-and-trials, sexual-offences, united-states