Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse with a Centre County Sheriff`s deputy after being found guilty of multiple charges of child sexual abuse in Bellefonte, Pa., Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP-Yonhap News)
BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (AP) _ Jerry Sandusky, a top coach in one of America's prominent college football programs, was convicted Friday of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years in a case that shocked the nation and led to the firing of one its most revered sports figures, Penn State University head coach Joe Paterno.
Sandusky, a 68-year-old retired defensive coach who was once Paterno's heir apparent, was found guilty of Friday of 45 of 48 counts. He faces life in prison at sentencing, which is weeks away.
Sandusky showed little emotion as the verdict was read, then the judge ordered him to be jailed while awaiting sentencing in about three months. Sandusky half-waved toward family as the sheriff led him away. Outside, he calmly walked to a sheriff's car with his hands cuffed in front of him.
As he was placed in the car, someone yelled at him to ``rot in hell.'' Others hurled insults and he shook his head no in response.
Eight young men testified in a central Pennsylvania courtroom about a range of abuse, from kissing and massages to groping, oral sex and anal rape. For two other alleged victims, prosecutors relied on testimony from a university janitor and then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, whose account of a sexual encounter between Sandusky and a boy of about 10 ultimately led to Paterno's dismissal and the university president's ouster.
Sandusky did not take the stand in his own defense.
Penn State's hallowed football program plays its home games in State College, a small community of about 40,000 with the nickname Happy Valley. The contests draw more than 100,000 people and the team's success has raked in millions of dollars in television broadcast rights, merchandising and more.
The Penn State program also captured fans' imaginations because it had a reputation of being honorable and avoiding the usual pitfalls of American college sports, including academic cheating by athletes to meet the required grades.
Allegations were made, however, that Sandusky had for years molested young boys and that the college's administration had hushed it up or ignored it to protect the sports program shattered the public university's image.
Sandusky had repeatedly denied the allegations, and his defense suggested that his accusers had a financial motive to make up stories, years after the fact. His attorney also painted Sandusky as the victim of overzealous police investigators who coached the alleged victims into giving accusatory statements.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly thanked the accusers who testified, calling them ``brave men.'' She said she hoped the verdict ``helps these victims heal ... and helps other victims of abuse to come forward.''
She said: ``One of the recurring themes in this case was, `Who would believe a kid?' The answer is `We here in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, would believe a kid.''
After the verdict was announced, defense attorney Karl Rominger said it was ``a tough case'' with a lot of charges and that an appeal was certain. He said the defense team ``didn't exactly have a lot of time to prepare.''
But jurors believed the testimony that, in the words of lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan III, Sandusky was a ``predatory pedophile.''
The accuser known in court papers as Victim 6 broke down in tears upon hearing the verdicts in the courtroom. Afterward, a prosecutor embraced him and said, ``Did I ever lie to you?''
The man, now 25, testified that Sandusky called himself the ``tickle monster'' in a shower assault. He declined to comment to a reporter afterward.
His mother said: ``Nobody wins. We've all lost.''
One accuser testified that Sandusky molested him in the locker-room showers and in hotels while trying to ensure his silence with gifts and trips to bowl games. He also said Sandusky had sent him ``creepy love letters.''
Another spoke of forced oral sex and instances of rape in the basement of Sandusky's home, including abuse that left him bleeding. He said he once tried to scream for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but figured the basement must be soundproof.
<한글기사>
미국판 '도가니'의 결말...끔찍한 기록
'미국판 도가니 사건'의 주인공인 미국 펜실베이니아 주립대학 미식축구팀 전직 코치 제리 샌더스키가 22일 (현지시간) 성폭행 혐의로 유죄판결을 받았다.
샌더스키는 1996년부터 15년간 미성년자 10명을 성폭행하는 등 52건의 혐의로 지난해 11월 구속 기소된 바 있다.
펜실베이니아대가 샌더스키 사건을 은폐했다는 것이 알려지면서 전설적인 대학 미식축구 지도자로 평가받는 조 패터노 감독과 그레이엄 스패니어 총장이 해임되기도 했다.
68세인 그는 이번 유죄판결로 남은 평생을 감옥에서 지내게 될 예정이다.
이날 법정에서는 6번째 피해자로 알려진 증인이 이날 최종 판결을 듣고 눈물을 흘리기도 했다.
현재 25세인 이 피해자는 샌더스키가 자신을 햐워실안에서 성추행 했다고 증언하며 샌더스키가 한때 자신을 “간지러움 피는 괴물” 이라고 부르기도 했다고 진술했다.
최종 유죄판결이 내려진 후 법정 안팎에서는 환호의 함성이 들리기도 했다.
8명의 피해자는 펜실베니아 법정에서 샌더스키가 행한 성폭행의 행태에 대해 진술하기도 했다.
펜실베니아 검찰총장 린다 켈리는 법정에서 증언한 피해자들에 대해 “용감한 남자들”이라고 부르며 최종 판결이 피해자들이 받은 상처를 치유하는데 도움이 되기 바란다고 말했다.
여러 증언들 중 한 피해자는 샌더스키가 라커룸에 있는 샤워실과 호텔에서 자신을 성추행 했다면서 나중에는 선물과 경기장에 데려가는 조건으로 입막음을 시도했다고 했다. 그는 또한 샌더스키가 자신에게 오싹한 러브레터를 보냈다고 진술했다.
(코리아헤럴드)
