most or many, but certainly there's a significant number of people who feel all these allegations couldn't be wrong, all these young men wouldn't put themselves through what they did he to come here and to speak to investigators first, to make what happened to them public. remember, these -- they were 10, 11, 12, 13-year-old kids when this happened. some of them went to counselors at school. they went to other people in the community. they weren't believed. they were told, oh, jerry sandusky wouldn't do something like that in one case or more. so when -- and this is a relatively small community. when you're confronted with that as a young teen, certainly you bury this deep. and now for this to come out so many years later, it took a lot for them to -- they're now parents, they have families. they have spouses. and to bear all that out, so many people here i think that this just has to be -- there has to be some element, a lot of elements of truth to it. but again, there are multiple

counts against involving each of these victims. so some involve intercourse. penetration. some involve basically endangering the life of a minor which is a lesser, a misdemeanor. anywhere up that scale of four or five different charges, some are felonies, are misdemeanors, sandusky could be found guilty or innocent of. that's why it's taken so much time. again, 48 decisions to be made and if you get hung up on one or another, this could go on for a while. the two questions that the jury asked in recent days had to do with the two cases where the -- where the alleged victim has not been located. there were questions about what is hearsay evidence and what is circumstantial evidence. one case involves a janitor who saw something and told another janitor who then repeated his testimony, the original janitor has dementia and couldn't testify and the other is the well-known case that involves mike mcqueary, the former

assistant football coach who was then a graduate constituent who says he saw sandusky assaulting a boy in the showers at penn state university. so that may give some indication of what they were divided about or what they were trying to figure out what they were stuck on, but again, maybe it doesn't. you know, the juries, you just don't know the till they come out and tell you or don't tell you. so many people are reading the tea leaves trying to figure out what this was. we'll know. i think we're probably 10 or 15 minutes into this process now. it won't be long and a lot of people are really just want to know because again, they really want to get this done, poof onto the next thing, get some sense of closure around this. but again, i dare say as i think you're feeling is that most people here you talk to, they just can't believe that he's going to be found not guilty of a preponderance of these charges. >> ron allen stay with us, reporting outside the courthouse in bellefonte, pennsylvania. if you're just joining us at the

top of the hour, it's two minutes and 45 seconds past the hour. 10:00 eastern time here in new york. we are waiting for the verdict to be read. in the jerry sandusky sex abuse trial. 48 counts, ten victims testified. there will be civil cases and criminal cases to follow all of this. nine of the jurors who are are on the jury have ties to penn state university. and jerry sandusky and his entire family are in the courtroom at this hour. catherine crier is with us, ron allen on the ground outside the courthou courthouse. and we're joined now by telephone kendall coffey, msnbc and nbc analyst. the associated press reports that the jerry sandusky's lawyer said today that he would be shocked and die of a heart attack if the ex-penn state assistant football coach were acquitted on all counts. kendall, is that pretty normal for a defense attorney to say

something like that? thank you for joining us tonight. >> no, that's kind of shocking i think that you're supposed to be your client's champion and to suggest you've gone through this whole trial and now it's publicly, you expect him to be found guilty, very, very unusual. but what's been normal about this trial and the reality is that anyone looking at the overwhelming evidence, eight different alleged victims, graphic compelling testimony, barely diminished if diminished at all by defense cross-examination. it is certainly a realistic thing to say that some number of convictions on some number of counts are expected but an unusual comment for a defense lawyer tore make. that's for sure. >> mr. coffey, i know you have followed this trial throughout and been with us throughout. the defense, what was their best moment in this trial? >> well, i think their best moments came when they were -- had some comments basically

recorded comments by some of the -- by one of the investigators who was basically talking to an alled victim witness and suggesting that this is what some of the other victims were saying as if to provide some little bit of nourishment for the defense's thesis that all these folks got their stories scripted together, cooked up together because it was a conspiracy of greed among a lot of folks that wanted to hit a big payday through litigation. i think in addition to that, the defense did a credible job in closing argument. look, the theory is a tough sell but they did the best they could with the paltry evidence that was available to the defense. so those would be the moments that i think were a few of the not so bleak spots in what was otherwise a devastating series of prosecution witnesses and evidentiary presentations. >> well, we have numerous outcomes that are possible here but let's explore some of them. what happens next if we get a

guilty verdict? >> well, i think that jerry sandusky will go immediately to jail. this is not going to be a situation where he's going to be released back into his home. he will be -- they say remanded into the custody of the commonwealth of pennsylvania. and await sentencing. and unless there's just a remarkable defense result where the serious felony charges result in not guilties, then almost any sentencing calculus is talking decades for jerry sandusky. it's very hard to think that if he's convicted on a significant number of the felonies that he will ever leave prison alive. and i've suspected at times, many people watching this case are saying why didn't the prosecution give a plea deal? why didn't the defense want to make a plea deal. >> why did the defense go through this incredible

succession of strong prosecution witnesses and heartbreaking firsthand accounts? think the answer is the prosecution looking at this considering what they believed jerry sandusky has done over the years did not want a scenario where he would get out of prison in five years or six years or eight years or anything like it. their view was he should be put away for the rest of his years. not perhaps literally a life sentence but instinct with enough years that is it becomes an effective life sentence. and i think the likely result here is that between what the jury finds is a matter of guilt or innocence and what the judge does as a matter of sentencing is going to achieve that result, that he will not ever walk home again after today. >> what happens if he's not guilty on all counts? where does the prosecution go now in the light of the last 24 that yours, his adopted son has come out and accuses him of abuse to prosecutes. >> those are other alleged

victims that would be the basis of new charges. it couldn't be a matter of double jeopardy because they are simply different events, different crimes that could be separately charged. don't forget the federal authorities have been looking at this. it's not double jeopardy for the feds to look at some of the same conduct that may have even been acquitted conduct understate charges and especially if the feds could link crossing state lines, going, for example, to a bowl game with a minor and then inflicting some sexual crime and the feds would certainly have jurisdiction, too. so even the best imaginable result for jerry sandusky would not be the end of this. >> kendall coffey, msnbc and nbc news legal analyst with us on the phone. ron allen, nbc correspondent is outside the courthouse tonight and catherine crier here in the studio with me in new york city. it is eight minutes after the hour. 10:00 eastern time. the verdict will be read shortly in the jerry sandusky sexual

abuse trial. 48 counts, eight victims have testified. just over 20 hours of deliberation by the jury and a few times the jury asking for clarification and more material -- more direction from the judge. you can see the crowd outside the courthouse. this has been certainly a focal point of this community and conversation in bellefonte, pennsylvania, for months on end. ever since this story broke that actually shocked the world. and certainly shocked the university community across america. and as i said earlier, every university president and administrator will now view these kinds of charges in a totally different light on how to handle them in the future. and we're going to be reading and reporting on this story for a long time because of the way this whole thing has unfolded. kendall, if i can ask you to stay. i want to go out back now to ron allen just outside the

courthouse in bellefonte, pennsylvania. ron, if you could just give us a sense on who was jerry sandusky? the people of that community around penn state, who did they know? >> well, i'm a college football fan. jerry sandusky made opinion state university linebacker university. there are any number of professional football player who's owe theear careers to jer sandusky. he was perhaps the best known most famous assistant football coach in college football history. behind me, there's a hush falling over this crowd. i can see people starting to come out of the building. so maybe we have the verdicts now. you can see there coming out down the main steps of the courthouse, yes, as soon as we can -- as soon as we know, our people trying to get to us. we'll hear it. there's a loud cheer you can

hear. there's a loud roar going up. there's a loud roar going up. there's a huge number of people out here in the community who are gathered here. we're trying to determine the numbers still of counts that have come up and we don't quite have that information yet. about you. >> ron. >> i've just been. >> ron we're being told. >> i've just been told it's 45 out of 48 guilty. 45 out of 48 guilty. there you go. he's remanned into custody. he's going directly to jail. the charges carry decades of prison time. jerry sandusky will never be seen in public again. you can hear the reaction. while we've been standing out here, a huge crowd has been forming outside. there are people from the

community here trying to get a glimpse of this is the moment that is so profound in the life of this community and they want to hear from the prosecutors, they want to hear from everybody about what has happened, but again, 45 out of 48. i think that's stunning. i think that's -- i think that's just stunning. i'm trying to read more to see if i can determine why what the three were that weren't. certainly it's much more important that there are 45. the charges were under the terms of the law, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of endangering the welfare of children, i made a list of the victims. victim 1, an 11-year-old who sandusky gave gifts to. and who he said that sandusky forced him or performed oral sex on him more than 20 times. his mother went to the school and the police and complained and they didn't believe them at first. there was a shower incident involving victim two.

this is the victim who was not located. this is the case that involves michael mcquery, the assistant football coach and former graduate student. there was a 24-year-old now who says that sandusky befriended him when he was 11. there's another shower incident. the assaults continued until he was 16 years old. victim four is now 27. he met sandusky back in 1996 or in 1997. he says he was 14 years old when it started. this is the victim who famously said he treated me like his girlfriend. and there again, you hear more cheers coming up from the crowd. >> well, a tremendous amount of sadness as well that goes with all of this. ron allen reporting outside the courthouse. guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse. jerry sandusky is in custody. he will not be released ever again. it is absolutely amazing. this man led a double life in

the athletic world, he was a renowned college football coach for many years, reveered, viewed as the man to succeed joe paterno at penn state university. in real life, we can report tonight that he was a monster. guilty on 45 of 48 counts. catherine crier with us here in studio in new york city. your response to this. >> remember too, there's a difference between innocent and not guilty. the three counts maybe the jury literally said we're uncomfortable. there's not sufficient evidence on those particular counts supposed to a finding of innocent. given the information that we've seen, right from the start when the story broke, you know, i've been doing this as a prosecutor, judge, known this stuff. this is a pattern of behavior. and when i said earlier that he thinks he's loving, part of the reason saying this is that people need to understand when you have someone who can groom,

who can. >> there he is. that is a live shot right there of jerry sandusky. >> second mile kids. >> what do you want to say to the victims. >> jerry what, do you have to say about the verdict? >> do you have anything to say to the victim s? >> you want to get that cleared? >> yep. >> okay. >> watch that car right there. >> it's amendola's. it's amendola's. just go straight back. >> watch this car. go straight back. >> guys? >> good. >> you are looking at a live shot of jerry sandusky in the police car following the verdict tonight. he is guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse. when he came out of the back of the courthouse, people were

yelling to him saying, what about the victims? what do you have to say to the victims? and ron allen, i don't know if you have a monitor there or not in front of you, but it seemed to me that jerry sandusky was somewhat stunned and had a look of bewilderment as he came outside the back of the courthouse tonight. that may be the last we see of jerry sandusky, a live picture, for a long time. >> catherine -- >> what i understand. >> go ahead, ron. >> in the court he -- from what i understand from people who were in the courtroom, when the verdict was finished he looked at his family with a very blank look, looked away, turned his head down and walked off with expressionless is how it was described to me. so yes, i can't believe he was but so stunned. the weight of the evidence was just incredible. 45 out of 48 counts and again, these are multiple allegations the allegations were that this behavior went on for years and

years and years and involved very young boys. 10, 11, 12 years old over a period of years, grooming them, taking them on the road. these incidents happened in the basement of his home. the victims testified that it happened after the family went to sleep. sandusky would come down stairs and they knew what was going to happen. he took them on the road to bowl games, to penn state football games, lavished them with gifts with computers with all kinds of things to win their favor. and win their affection and win their commitment essentially, win their loyalty. but yes, i can't believe he was but so stunned, ed, because he had to know what was coming. yes, we'll probably never see him in public again. >> michael isikoff of nbc is reporting that it will be a minimum of 60 years. a minimum of 60 years for the 69-year-old jerry sandusky who has been convicted tonight on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse.

catherine crier with us here in the studio in new york. of this closes part of the chapter which is a very ugly book. >> it's back to people need to, number one, obviously be aware and again, don't look under every rock but be aware and you've got someone who is engaging with these children. there was one mother of a victim who basically said, he -- the little boy said something. she didn't want to know. she didn't want to upset him. she didn't want to know. and it's one of those situations where these problems don't occur with someone evil you know coming down the street. it happens in environments like this. and they may be expressing, you know, such loving and concern and care and that's where their minds are. so you can't expect them to appear malevolent. for all of the signs, for all of

the outcries by the victims, all of the individuals who knew, there is a leadership in that community that must had shamed and many of them held accountable. >> catherine, where does the prosecution go from here in the wake of the statement that was made by jerry sandusky's step son who said that he had been abused? is this it? is this the end of the road for the prosecution and give us your -- >> 60 years. the man's going to die in prison. they don't need. >> they won't go any further. >> there may be civil actions. that's where you may see civil court as the place to go. >> 45 out of 48 guilty. was this a fabulous job by the prosecution or was just this an easy case for them? >> i won't say it's easy because anytime you're talking about basically a swearing match because you don't have after the years have the kind of evidence that we might like, forensic evidence. so it was certainly a major victory. but you know, thank goodness that the overwhelming evidence

you know, was seen by the jury and that no one was buying the notion of some amazing enormous conspiracy. >> what was the best move by the prosecution? what was their best evidence to convict jerry sandusky as you saw it. >> i thought that mcquery was very, very powerful. >> the assistant coach. >> he was very, very powerful. i thought sandusky's own words, i thought the playing of the kostas interview, when you listen to him, i personally thought he was exhibiting a confession, he was indicting himself and then certainly the victims having the bravery, the currently to finally come forward, state this in public, take the stand. you just have to say that is so, so difficult for those young men. >> this was just moments ago in the back of the courthouse in bellefonte, pennsylvania. jerry sandusky. >> what do you have to say about the verdict. >> leaving the courthouse after being convicted on 45 of 48

charges in the child sexual abuse case. sandusky a long-time football coach at penn state university. let's go to michael isikoff who reported just moments ago that it would be a minimum of 60 years. michael joining me from outside the courthouse. michael isikoff, nbc news national investigative reporter. michael, your reaction to this verdict tonight. >> well, i don't know that it was entirely a shock to anybody who listened to the very powerful testimony that was presented in this case. eight alleged victims some of them giving just gut wrenching testimony. two of them breaking down on the stand about how jerry shkd abused them over many, many years in various locations in the basement of his home in, penn state showers, in a local hotel, at an out of state bowl game. jerry sandusky came into the courtroom for the verdict looking quite somber. but stood no visible emotion as

that verdict was read out. count by count all 1458 guilty, three not guilty findings. jerry had his hand in his left pocket. didn't seem to react at all and then immediately after the verdict was read and the jury was polled, the commonwealth moved to revoke his bail. his lawyer joe am amendola made a plea for him to remain on bail under house arrest saying he's not a flight risk. he's been a long-time resident of the community. judge john cleland just sum airily said bail is revoked. mr. sandusky is remanded to the custody of the sheriff to go to jail. the sheriff's deputies came and escorted him out. sandusky looked over at his wife dottie, said in the a word and was escorted out of the courtroom. >> you were there are in the courtroom when it was all unfolding, michael. the closing argument by the

defense, what was stated by them? >> well, joe amendola did a credible job with the material that he had. he tried to suggest this was all a conspiracy of plaintiff's lawyers and overzealous prosecutors who had planned these stories with the victims who were out for money through civil suits. the one strongest argument he had was that there was not, as he put it, not one piece of physical evidence to support the charges. and that was true. they had also, the defense has also tried to argue that these charges were vague, that the -- that the sexual assaults, we don't have to say alleged sexual assaults anymore. but clearly the totality of the evidence, the fact that you had eight witnesses in this case give these compelling stories, and in addition, it is

interesting to note that you had the two other counts, one revolving around the shower incident with mike mcqueary. in that case, that was one of the not guilty verdicts because it related not to the shower incident itself, the not guilty verdict said that there was no sexual -- the charge there related to sexual penetration. mike mcqueary didn't testify to that, so the jury clearly listening to the evidence very carefully found him not guilty on that point but guilty on three other points involving indecent assault and endangerment of children. in addition, there was one not guilty count relating to victim number six who was the young boy in 1998 who triggered the entire investigation when he talked -- whether he told his mother about how jerry sandusky had bear hugged him in the penn state shower and made him feel uncomfortable. in that case, there was one not

guilty, one not guilty finding in that one. but other guilty counts related to that charge. and what what leapt out to me there is if that case had been brought in 1998 with this evidence, it is possible that a jury might have found him guilty back then and none of these other victims would have had to have suffered what they testified to in this courtroom. >> michael, what was -- there was emotional testimony throughout this trial, but from your vantage point, what did you think was the most compelling, the most intense and the most damaging? >> you know, i have to say you know, the victims varied in their demeanor. some were cocky on the witness stand. at least one was, victim four, a little confident. very testy. others were -- and a bit angry for justifiable reasons. others were sort of much more mild mannered, too, as i

mentioned broke down on the witness stand. i thought mike mcqueary for all his faults and people found lots of faults with mike, why didn't he barge into that shower and stop what was going on, came across as a very strong witness and the supportive evidence, even the witness brought by the defense, dr. john dranoff who was brought on top tell the zwlar mike mcqueary when he spoke to him that night did not say he had seen a sexual act, talked about how mike mcqueary was trembling as he related what happened. how it was clearly shaken up by what he had seen in that shower and that is reflected by what he did the next morning, calling joe paterno, the coach of penn state and tell him on a saturday morning, i need to talk to you, coach, it's about something important and he went and talked about it. mike doesn't cover himself in glory with this story because a lot of people think he could

have done something right there that night at the shower. but he did report it up to higher level penn state officials. i should mention one other point that is important. this whole matter is far from over. jerry sandusky is convicted. he is now going to jail for a long time. certainly for the rest of his life. but there are on going investigations into higher level initials at penn state university, two of them are already charged with perjury. another the president, is being investigated. the former president graham spanier is being investigated. others who enabled, who made have enabled jerry sandusky. people on the second mile. people on the board of the second mile are all under investigation in an ongoing grand jury inquiry in this case. and we have not heard the end of this matter at penn state. >> talk about the charity. this man in the community of penn state was a revered man. he had tremendous credibility with people.

the news absolutely shocked people months ago when this came out. but the charity was one of the bright spots of that community. was it not? >> it absolutely was and in fact, when one of the really heart rendering moments in this trial, victim number one, talked about how he went to his guidance counselor and that was one of the first people he told about jerry sandusky's sexual abuse and the guidance counselor wouldn't believe him. he said jerry has a heart of gold. he would never do anything like that. and that was because of jerry sandusky's association with the charity the second mile a charity to help troubled kids. and as anybody who follows this case knows, every one of these victims had been recruited by jerry sandusky and groomed while they were participating in second mile programs. so evetively, he used the charity to find his victims who he groomed and then subjected to

these horrific acts of sex abuse. >> michael isikoff reporting here on msnbc outside the courthouse in bellefonte, pennsylvania. remarkable reporting. you've been on this story. i have to get your insight, michael, before you leave us tonight, the community. you have been there. you've been around there. give us your sense of what has been said by the community folks there about this trial, the way it's going on. i know when the story first broke, it was absolute shock and disbelief. and through the months as it's gone through all the months there's been a wide range of emotions that have been played out. what have you experienced in your interaction with the people in that community? >> well, look, so many bream shaken to the corby these allegations when they first came out when jerry sucked was arrested and it tarnished not just the second mile charity but

penn state university. remember, the president of penn state university was fired over this. joe paterno, one of the legendary coaches of college football and an almost iconic figure in this community, a god-like figure in penn state, lost his job over this and has now since passed away. i think people had tried to put this aside in the months after sandusky's arrest and these charges became public in november, but this trial brought it all back. the coverage was just round the clock. everybody was following every beat of it. i think it just brought a lot of emotions, sadness, but also a lot of anger back, and i think that you're going to see that carrying over as this investigation continues because as i said, we've got jerry sandusky now the convicted pedophile led away to jail, but

there are still those unanswered questions how was this allowed to happen over so many years without people at the highest levels of penn state university who had none about some of these allegations not doing anything to stop it. >> michael isikoff, thank you so much for being with us tonight. it is 31 minutes past the hour. 10:00 eastern time here in new york. you're watching continuing coverage of the jerry sandusky sexual abuse trial. he has been convicted on 45 of 48 counts. and he will get a minimum of 60 years in prison. the associated press reporting tonight that the sentencing won't take place for three months. in studio with me here in new york, catherine crier. your impressions of what has unfolded. >> a important a public trial is. this case could have been pled out. i don't know whether they ever pursued a plea, but this is one of those situations where the public in that community, the public across the country, needed to hear the facts.

we need that self-examination whether it's when we don't listen to the kids that we could be dismiss i be, that we tolerate conduct, which this is of the worst, but how much in our lives do we tolerate when we should speak out. i think this shows that it can be painful excruciating, yes, healing but also a very important teaching tool. >> i want to explore the future for just a moment because michael isikoff, certainly in his reporting pointed out that there's going to be a lot more legal action certainly surrounding the former president spanier of penn state university. but what about the university? what about the financial liability and obligation that could be on the horizon for one of the most renowned universities in the country, penn state? >> there could be substantial liability because if you've got officials where that sort of authority in a program sponsored

sanctioned by the school who have allowed this sort of thing to go on, you have got liability on the part of the institution itself. >> this could be -- it could be -- >> the charity. >> break their back financially. >> it could. you've got eight victims that we know of, plus the others that we know the prosecution held in abeyance. >> this could affect the university for years to come. financially. >> yeah. and the charity could well go down the tubes. but i also think that there are others above and beyond that -- but i hate to say it, and i said this to you earlier that the finances because a lot of people say they're doing something for the money. i rarely have met a victim, a family that will goes through this kind of torture for the money, but very sadly, often times people don't pay attention until they're having 0 write checks. >> there were many more victims than the ones that testified.

from your experience, what do you think those other victims are feeling tonight in the wake of this conviction? >> i'm sure they're feeling relief. i'm sure they're still angry. there are probably some of them who don't want to go public, others who feel the need to express their story. so i wouldn't be surprised if we didn't hear public stories from others. >> jerry sandusky has been convicted on 45 of 48 counts. the prosecution a mountain of evidence all coming to fruition. he will never see the light of day outside of a jail cell. had the judge said he's not a flight risk and allowed him to be under observation, house arrest, whatever you call it for the next three months before sentencing, how unusual would that have been? was this a slam-dunk to put him away tonight? >> pretty close because the judge also in the back of his mind had to be thinking, it

could be dangerous to this man if i let him out and i don't want something to happen to him because that can be very detrimental to the justice system. >> what about his incarceration? what's that going to be like. >> general population is a scary place. a man of this age, abuser of children. we used to say you really want to punish these guys, tell the inmates what he did, throw him in general population and they would take care of him. so it's going to be tough. they're going to have to watch this man. you've obviously got whether or not he's got mental instability, whether and certainly his defense attorney tried to raise some mental issues during the course of the trial. mental instability, general population is a very dangerous place for a man, certainly a man of this age. they'll have to watch him. >> do they put convicted sex abusers in the general population? >> depends on the prison. they could he have them segregated. >> would the would the judge give special consideration to jerry sandusky?

that is his wife dottie. a live picture avoiding at home, wiping tears and going into her house. dottie sandusky and all of the family members were in the courtroom tonight when the verdict was read. guilty on 45 of 48 counts of the child sexual abuse case at penn state. certainly a very gut-wrenching moment for them because she, of course, had testified or had gone on record saying that she innocent. >> yeah. again, one of those people that -- i'm hard-pressed to believe she didn't in her gut at least know a lot more than we've heard. but back what you were saying, i would expect some segregation of him in the population. >> let's go live to the courthouse. >> the sandusky family is very disappointed obviously by the verdict of the jury, but we respect their verdict.

you may recall for those of you who have been with this case from the beginning, that we said that we had a tidal wave of public opinion against jerry sandusky and the charges filed against him that he had been determined to be guilty by the public and the media from the very outset of the charges and that we had an uphill battle. i used the analogy that we were attempting to climb mt. everest from the bottom of the mountain. well, obviously, we didn't make it. we always felt, we always felt that jerry's fairest shake would come from a center county jury and we still believe that. the jury obviously believed the commonwealth's evidence, believed the commonwealth witnesses. that's clear from their verdict. i've been asked already inside, is that a surprise and no, actually it was the expected outcome because of the overwhelming amount of evidence

against jerry sucked. y sandusky. >> we asked for a continuance on the basis that we needed more time to sift through the thousands of pages of materials to determine what other types of defenses we might have, but due to judicial constrictions we were forced to proceed to trial at this time. i think most of you would have agreed with me that had someone said last november and december we'd have a trial in early june, that you would have agreed that that was not very likely at all and yet, here we are with a trial now that has concluded and it's still the latter part of june after three weeks in court. we have some appeal issues we'll pursue. we feel we have some decent appeal issues. i do want to say this. the prosecution handled the case in an exemplary manner. they're professionals. they presented their case in a solid fashion.

we congratulate them. the judge in this case was marvelous. judge cleland was the ultimate jurist. he was fair, he was firm. he was reasonable. with everything we asked for, the only disagreement obviously we had was our request for a continuance. but aside from that, it would be my privilege to serve in front of judge cleland in the future in any sort of case knowing that he would give a defendant and give counsel a fair shake and a fair trial. we believe he did an outstanding job. again, as with any case there are issues which we will take up on appeal. a number of people have asked me about what happened with jerry sandusky not testifying after we spoke about that. now i can talk about it. we had a gag order in place which prevented us from doing so, but late last thursday

afternoon, just before the commonwealth was to close its case, the commonwealth asked the court to allow the commonwealth to keep its case open. at least overnight because it had just come into information that it wanted to investigate. later thursday evening, i received a call from the commonwealth attorneys at which time they indicated to me matt sandusky had gone to them, had contacted them late thursday afternoon, then made a statement to them thursday evening indicating that jerry had abused him years earlier. and that they were thinking about introducing matt sandusky as a wit at jerry's trial in this matter. i objected. the court was involved in that conversation. i indicated that our whole case was predicated with jerry testifying. and jerry had always wanted to testify. however, the next day, the commonwealth attorney advised me

it would not call matt sandusky in its case in chief. that it would are the right to call him as a rebuttal witness depending on what evidence we presented. that created a real dilemma for us because if we called jerry sandusky now as a witness, it would almost certainly and we looked at all the different ways we could avoid it, most certainly would have resulted in the commonwealth being permitted to call matt sandusky in rebuttal. so reluctantly, and i say reluctantly because jerry sandusky still wanted to testify. he denied that he had ever inappropriately had contact with his son matt. and in fact, and in fairness to jerry, the remaining number of his children as well as his wife felt the same way and were prepared to testify against matt if matt came forward at jerry's trial in in matter and indicated that jerry had abused him. but that being said, we decided

as a legal strategy position that to put jerry on the stand to set him up to have matt come in to this jury and testify against swloim absolutely destroyed whatever chances he had at acquittal. and so, upon our advice as his attorneys, he reluctantly agreed not to testify, and of course, that resulted in matt sandusky not testifying. and we felt that that might at least give jerry an opportunity to be acquitted of some if not more of the charges involved against him. so that was the reason jerry didn't testify in his trial, contrary to my openingra, that he intended to. i didn't smoke screen you. i didn't mislead you. he fully intended to testify. >> 45 out of 48 counts, does this look to you that your client is sick? >> the question is, does the

fact that 45 out of 48 counts were returned as verdicts of guilty by the jury, does that prove to me that my client is sick. and the answer is no. you know, folks, there are lots of people sitting in jails all across this country who are flnt. there have been people, lots of people -- lots of people -- may i finish? lots of people, lots of people over the years who are have been executed for murder and later determined to have been innocent. so what this tells me is this -- >> you think he's innocent? >> this jury -- folks in the media, can i finish? what this problems to me is i believe the jury acted genuinely. i believe the jury acted in good faith. i believe the jury acted on the evidence that was presented to

it. and i don't dispute or have any problem with the jury's verdict. we had a good jury. you may recall -- the question is why would matt come forward now. you have to ask matt. you may remember is what i'm going to say is exactly what you just commented. you may remember the first day of trial, matt was seated with his family and actually according to family members during the testimony of one of the witnesses was kind of mocking the witness and indicating that he didn't believe what the witness was saying. we had no idea what happened. and that's something that matt and whoever represents him will have to tell you later. shocked? >> yes, we had anticipated matt would be one of our witnesses and we were shocked by it.

his parents, siblings were distraught by it. nevertheless, that's what we were facing. jerry said that matt has had problems ever since matt was with them and that these problems had led matt at times to do things that were irrational. matt had had problems as a juvenile and that there were explanations for it, but unfortunately, as i've said to jerry, that if matt were to testify, because of the fact that this was a surprise situation, the jury would undoubtedly believe him, regardless of what evidence they had. >> joe, can we hear from the prosecution team now? >> jerry indicated he was disappointed by the verdict. but obviously, he has to live with it. >> is he on suicide watch? >> two minutes, joe. >> i don't know. >> joe what, are grounds for appeal? >> was matt living in the house when the trial started? >> matt, i can't say was living in the house but his parents had told me matt had been staying

there temporarily recently. and apparently, there was some issue with his home life where he was staying with his parents. >> joe, what are some of the grounds for the appeal? >> well, we had the continuance request for one. we have the inability of at least one of our experts to appear in court. we have the voluminous amounts of discovery materials we got as close as two to three weeks before the trial which we didn't have a chance to review. i don't know what you folks thought about the trial but we were running many days by the seat of our pants just trying to catch up. maybe it didn't look like that, but that's the condition we found ourselves in. we also have some trial issues. we have some evidentiary issues which we'll address in post sentence motion which can't be filed till after the sentencing. is that it, folks? >> thank you. >> essentially, essentially the sentence that jerry will receive will be a life sentence just due to the length of it.

[ applause ] >> could you folks move back just a little bit? >> go. >> defense attorney joe amendola giving his post verdict press conference there outside the courtroom. talked about appeal. catherine crier, what about that? >> there are a couple of things he said. this is why it's always dangerous to get in front of the microphones and why you don't see the prosecution do it so often. he said due to the enormous evidence, he made a blanket statement, court of appeals you listening in the state had enormous evidence, he said the judge gave me everything i wanted essentially. >> we are going to hear from the prosecution. >> all right, we are. >> which you're surprised by that, aren't you? >> if they do any more than short and sweet, i'll be surprised. >> these are the prosecuting attorneys in the jerry sandusky trial.

>> good evening, everyone. and thank you all for your patience tonight. i'm attorney general linda kelly and joining me are members of the prosecution team and investigators on this case. some of whom you probably recognized from their roles in the courtroom. and -- microphone's not on. >> speak up. >> can you hear me? okay. >> speak loud. >> all right. and others who you may recognize from their behind the scenes work in this case. we have joseph p. mcgettigan right here. frank fina and janelle ashboch

from the attorney generals who were the trial team in this case. major brett wagner from the pennsylvania state police. special agent tony sesano. and regional director randy feathers from our state college office. these men and women along with many other agents, troopers, investigators, attorneys, and other taf of the attorney general's office of pennsylvania and the pennsylvania state police have worked tirelessly for the last few years to bring these charges to light, to bring this case to court, and to see the day in this defendant, a serial child predator, who committed horrific acts, upon his victims causing lifelong and

life-changing consequences for all of them, has been held accountable for his crimes. and i'd like to thank each of the individuals that i just mentioned for the very important role that they played in bringing this case to today's verdict. i also want to offer my most sincere thanks to you at young men, the victims in this case, who came forward to bravely testify during this trial. and to finally put a stop to the crimes that have been committed by this defendant. they've shown great strength and courage during this investigation. candidly and sometimes chillingly telling their stories not only to the jury and the

packed courtroom here in bellefonte, pennsylvania, but also to the entire world. it was incredibly difficult for some of them to unearth long buried memories of the shocking abuse they suffered at the hands of this defendant, and most of us cannot possibly fully comprehend what they endured when testifying in that packed courtroom. this trial was not something that they sought but rather something that forced them to face the demons of their past and to reveal what happened to them and their childhood when they met jerry sandusky. we hope that our search for justice in this case will help them and other victims ho perhaps have been watching from afar and perhaps nearby. as this case unfolded. one of the recurring themes of the witnesses' testimony which

came from the voices of the victims themselves in this case was, who would believe a kid? and the answer to that question is, we here in bellefonte, pennsylvania, would believe a kid. and i think that i speak not only for my own agency but for law enforcement across the country when i say, we would believe a kid. and as reflected by this verdict that we've all just heard, a jury of 12 people here in bellefonte, pa, most definitely would and did believe a kid. although we know that the scars that these victims bear can't be erased by the events in a courtroom, we hope that the outcome of this case not only allows these victims to heal and to begin the process of recovering and rebuilding their

lives but that it also encourages other victims of sexual abuse to come forward. this is a crime that thrives in darkness. it's fed by fear and threats, shame, and secrecy. where predators seek, carefully seek the most vulnerable prey. while often they themselves are cloaked in respectability that sometimes is almost beyond reproach. of all the thousands of cases that stream through our judicial system, every once in awhile, one will for a brief moment capture the attention of the eyes of the world. mesmerizing us until it plays itself out and its stardom begins to fade. i think that we've all recognizedince the return of the grand jury presentment in this case in this matter that this was one of those uncommon cases. and that the eyes of the world

have since then been upon us. you, the media, have covered the proceedings in this case with exceptional an tentativeness and thoroughness. and you have produced much thoughtful commentary and insightful analysis over the course of this trial. resulting i think in the raising of the -- resulting in the raising of the consciousness of your readers and listeners -- sir, i'll answer that question if you'll wait until the end of this. resulting in the raising of the consciousness of your readers and listeners and an increased awareness by the public of the monstrous actions that can be committed by sexual predators like the defendant in this case who live among us, who may appear to be pillars of the community, coaching icons, sports legends, and charitable

executives extraordinaire. but who calculatingly and with meticulous planning mercilessly prey upon the most vulnerable members of our society. they carefully select their victims. in this case as you know, underprinted kids, kids from broken homes, foster homes, one-parent families, and many of them having other issues like learning, behavioral and emotional problems to deal with, as well. and all of whom in their time of need turned to the charity known as the second mile where they knew -- where we now know that will jerry sandusky trolled for victims. there are many important lessons that can be learned from this case. one of them is that we can't let the national focus this case has brought upon child sexual abuse

fade after these cameras are turned off and the media has shifted their attention to the next important story. we have to continue to focus on child sexual abuse and to shine a bright light in those dark, dark places where the jerry seconds of the world lurk. places which definitely exist in our society. we need to continue to protect our children and to learn from the lessons of this case. and as for those who fail to respond to reports of child sexual abuse, their behavior is abominable and has tragic consequences for young victims like the ones that you heard from during the last two weeks. these kids need our help. they need our support. and we as a society must not turn our backs or close our eyes or try to convince ourselves that it doesn't exist when it, in fact, does exist. this is a law enforcement issue and every police department and investigative agency across the

country should take note of this case and ensure that every claim of child sexual abuse is addressed promptly and investigated thoroughly with the understanding that where there's one victim, there very likely are more. this is also an institutional issue. every institution that comes into contact with children should operate under the premise that it's their legal responsibility to report suspected child abuse. the legal part of this is easy to grasp. but more importantly, there's a moral and ethical imperative to do so. concealing or attempting to minimize this type of crime is unacceptable as well as unconscionable and should not and cannot be tolerated. this is also a family issue and hopefully, parents across the country will learn from this case how important it is to be vigilant about your child's personal interactions with others and to make sure that

your child is conscious of their own safety and aware that they must report these types of incidents. and finally, this is a community issue. because outside of our roles as prosecutors and police officers and professionals, we all have an interest in keeping our communities and particularly our children safe and secure and protecting our children who really are truly our most valuable natural resource. and they should always be our priority. every one of us has a responsibility to be aware of the possibility of this type of crime and to speak out if you know the something troubling. i thank all of you for your patience and your dedication in covering this case. your work, your work, too, has carried this story and the lessons that go hand in hand with it far beyond the borders of center county. and it's helped immeasurably to raise awareness about this kind of issue. if there are people out there

watching right now who have been victims of sexual abuse as part of any case anywhere, i encourage you to contact authorities in your community and seek the support and assistance that you need. there are no instant solutions to this problem, but working together we can hope to make progress. we can help the voices of victims be heard and we can try and drive away the demons and the darkness and lift the veil of secrecy that allows predators to hide and top operate in our midst. the commonwealth's interest in a case like this and this kind of criminal prosecution is not merely to win the case, but to see that justice shall be done. the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape nor sentence suffer. -- nor innocence suffer.