BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky was sentenced today to 30 to 60 years in state prison.
Senior Judge John Cleland told Sandusky “that has the unmistakable impact to say the rest of your life.”
Sandusky, 68, was convicted in June on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse.
Mary Noel Jordan said she sat outside the courthouse for hours “to see justice done today.”
Jordan drove up from Hershey, Pa., late last night to join the dozens waiting for public seats to attend the sentencing Tuesday morning.
She arrived just after midnight, and was near the front of the line, alongside Nellie Lykens of Bellefonte.
“I wanted to hear Jerry’s side of the story,” Lykens said. “You can read a lot. But now I’ll hear it for myself.”
The court set aside 85 seats for members of the public, and it appeared those seats will all be filled.
A long line of reporters waited, too, with members of the media extending from the main entrance down the steps to the south toward the burned-out shell of the Hotel Do De.
“I wanted to be here for this historic moment,” said Penn State freshman Ryan Belz, positioned to be the first member of the public to enter the courthouse.
Belz, of Millerton, Pa., said, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, to be here to witness this.”
Lykens said her thoughts were with the victims.
“This case affected the whole community,” she said. “Anybody with a heart was moved by this.”
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©2012 Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)
Visit the Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) at www.centredaily.com
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