A jury in Bellefonte, Pa., on Friday found Jerry Sandusky, former assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University, guilty of sexual abuse, reports The New York Times. The arrest last November of the coach, who ran a program for disadvantaged boys, threw the university into turmoil, resulting in the dismissal of the legendary Coach Joe Paterno, who died of cancer a few months later. President Graham Spanier resigned.
Mr. Sandusky, 68, had maintained his innocence throughout his arrest and trial. But the jury—which included seven women and five men, many with connections to Penn State—took just 21 hours of deliberation to convict him on 45 of the 48 charges he faced. He could spend life in prison for the charges, which include rape and sodomy of 10 boys.
The verdict closes one chapter in the scandal at State College, but Penn State’s reckoning is not over. Two former university administrators still face charges that they failed to report Mr. Sandusky’s abuse and perjured themselves before a grand jury. (A hearing is scheduled for July, according to the Centre Daily Times.) And after e-mails surfaced that appeared to show Mr. Spanier choosing not to act on allegations about Mr. Sandusky, Pennsylvania prosecutors said they may bring more charges.
The university made an unusual move on Saturday, asking victims to resolve civil suits against the institution as soon as possible, according to a report from Reuters.
And Mr. Sandusky’s lawyers said they had tried to quit at the beginning of jury selection, saying they had not been given time to prepare. They raised the possibility of an appeal on that basis.
