'Why we had no doubt Jerry Sandusky was guilty': Juror lifts the lid on sensational verdict as ex-Penn State coach faces dying in jail for 45 child sex crimes

• Sandusky convicted of 45 out of 48 charges of child abuse
• Former Penn State coach placed on suicide watch after verdict
  
• He could face up to 442 years in prison
• Defendant sent to county jail after bail revoked following verdict
• Conviction ends year-long saga which led to firing of Joe Paterno
  

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 20:56 EDT, 22 June 2012 | Updated: 14:47 EDT, 23 June 2012

A juror in the trial of Jerry Sandusky, who was yesterday convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, has told how the ex-Penn State football coach's reaction to the verdict confirmed his guilt.

Joshua Harper told TODAY that Sandusky's facial expression during his sentencing was proof that the jury had made the right decision.

'That was just confirmation, again,' the juror said. 'I looked at him during the reading of the verdict and just the look on his face, no real emotion, just kind of accepting, you know, because he knew it was true.'

Tensions: Paterno hardly got along with his former assistant Jerry Sandusky, left, even before allegations of child sex abuse were raised

Calm: Sandusky showed few signs of emotion as the verdict was read out in court on Friday night

In custody: Sandusky's attorneys have indicated that they will appeal his conviction

Criminal: Sandusky, pictured being escorted to a squad car, is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison

Confirmation: Joshua Harper told TODAY that Sandusky's facial expression during his sentencing was proof that the jury had made the right decision

Sandusky has been put on suicide watch after the verdict came in late yesterday. He is being held at the Centre County Correctional Faciility ahead of sentencing when he could face 442 years in jail..

Jurors were sequestered for just two days while they deliberated the verdict.

But Harper told TODAY how jurors were 'on the same page' during deliberations. 'We really worked together very well and we were patient and we gave time,' he said.

Harper added that finding out Sandusky's son, Matt Sandusky, was prepared to take to the stand to testify against his father was further proof of his guilt.

'That was just confirmation,' he said. 'We heard about it at the same time and we were just looking at each other like we had suspected that, but we had no evidence of it. And it just solidified, you know, our decision.'

The conviction of Sandusky finally brings an end to a horrific saga which has trashed the reputation of a leading public university and ended the career of its president as well as its legendary head coach, Joe Paterno, who died of cancer in January.

After the verdict was announced in the courtroom in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, Sandusky's bail was revoked and he was taken to the Center County Correctional Facility.

The 68-year-old plans to appeal against his conviction, according to one of his defence lawyers.

Sandusky showed little emotion as the verdict was read. The judge ordered him to be taken to the county jail to await sentencing in about three months.

Devastated: An ashen-faced Dottie Sandusky leaves the Bellefonte courtroom after her husband's conviction

Consolation: Mrs Sandusky is hugged by a friend as she is forced to leave without her husband

Jailed: The former coach's bail was revoked immediately after the verdict was announced

Taken away: Sandusky is being taken to a local jail, where he was placed on suicide watch

In court, 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 in response.

The accuser known in court papers as Victim 6 broke down in tears upon hearing the verdicts in the courtroom. Afterwards, 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. His mother said: 'Nobody wins. We've all lost.'

Jailed: The Centre County Correctional Facility released Sandusky's mug shot on Saturday

Defense attorney Joe Amendola said Sandusky was disappointed by the verdict.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly thanked the accusers who testified, calling them 'brave men.'

She says the trial was forced on them and that she hoped the verdict 'helps these victims heal... and helps other victims of abuse to come forward.'

Almost immediately after the judge adjourned, loud cheers could be heard from at least a couple of hundred people gathered outside the courthouse as word quickly spread that Sandusky had been convicted.

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 the Paterno's dismissal and the university president's ouster.

Sandusky did not take the stand in his own defence.

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.'

Sandusky's former employer, Penn State, which has been dealt a damaging blow to its reputation by the scandal, released a statement after his conviction was announced.

'The legal process has spoken and we have tremendous respect for the men who came forward to tell their stories publicly,' the university said.

'No verdict can undo the pain and suffering caused by Mr. Sandusky, but we do hope this judgment helps the victims and their families along their path to healing.'

Crowd: Reporters and other spectators gather outside court to listen to Pennsylvania attorney general Linda Kelly deliver a speech praising prosecutors and witnesses in the case

Arriving: Jerry Sandusky enters the court with his wife Dottie to hear the jury announce its verdict

Speedy verdict: It took the jury less than two days to reach a conclusion on all of the 48 charges against Sandusky, pictured with his wife Dottie, left

The statement added that Penn State had 'established a confidential counseling process for victims of Mr Sandusky’s conduct' and taken other steps to stamp out sexual abuse on campus.

In an apparent attempt to limit the institution's legal liabilities in the light of the verdict, the statement continued: 'The University plans to invite victims of Mr Sandusky’s abuse to participate in a programme to facilitate the resolution of claims against the University arising out of Mr Sandusky's conduct.'

The ex-coach 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.

Doubt: Jurors had issues with the testimony of Mike McQueary, who claimed he saw Sandusky in the showers with a boy

But jurors believed the testimony that, in the words of lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan III, Sandusky was a 'predatory paedophile.'

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', which a psychologist argued were the result of the former coach's 'histrionic' personality.

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.

Another, a foster child, said Sandusky warned that he would never see his family again if he ever told anyone what happened.

And just hours after the case went to jurors, lawyers for one of Sandusky's six adopted children, Matt, said he had told authorities that his father abused him.

Matt Sandusky had been prepared to testify on behalf of prosecutors, the statement said. The lawyers said they arranged for Matt Sandusky to meet with law enforcement officials but did not explain why he failed to testify.

'This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy,' the statement said.

Defense witnesses, including Sandusky's wife, Dottie, described his philanthropic work with children over the years, and many spoke in positive terms about his reputation in the community.

Prosecutors had portrayed those efforts as an effective means by which Sandusky could camouflage his molestation as he targeted boys who were the same age as participants in The Second Mile, a charity he founded in the 1970s for at-risk youth.

Shocking claim: On Thursday night, adopted son Matt Sandusky, seen here at court on June 22, claimed he had been abused by Jerry Sandusky

Sandusky had initially faced 52 counts of sex abuse. The judge dropped four counts during the trial, saying two were unproven, one was brought under a statute that didn't apply and another was duplicative.

Earlier on Friday, his lead defense attorney told reporters that he would be stunned and ‘probably die of a heart attack’ if his client were acquitted of all 48 counts.

The impromptu remarks by Joe Amendola lasted about 15 minutes inside the courtroom and opened a wide window into the defendant's state of mind as he and Mrs Sandusky anxiously awaited a verdict.

Mr Amendola said that in anticipation of a verdict, the Sanduskys were spending a lot of time praying. He described the atmosphere at their home as funereal.

On Friday, jurors listened again to testimony from a key prosecution witness against the former Penn State assistant football coach, then went back behind closed doors for a second day of deliberations.

The jury had talked for more than eight hours on Thursday before adjourning at the end of a long session that featured dueling portrayals of Sandusky as either a 'predatory pedophile' or the victim of a conspiracy between investigators and his accusers.

They started their second day by rehearing testimony given by another Penn State assistant, Mike McQueary, about an unknown boy known only as Victim 2 who was allegedly assaulted by Sandusky inside a football facility shower.

Serious: Sandusky was without his trademark grin on Friday as he arrived at his trial for day two of deliberations

Dottie Sandusky testified on her husband's behalf, saying she witnessed no abuse and had there been any she would have known

The jurors took copious notes, appearing to pay close attention to McQueary's statement that he did not see penetration, but did see a boy pressed up against a wall with Sandusky behind him.

Jurors also reheard the testimony of a McQueary family friend, Dr. Jonathan Dranov, who said that McQueary told him a different version of the story that didn't include the then-graduate assistant seeing sexual contact.

However, McQueary testified that he hadn't told Dranov all that he saw.

As attorneys read the testimony from transcripts, Sandusky paid close attention while his wife, Dottie, sat behind him. It was the first time Dottie Sandusky heard the testimony, because she wasn't present when the two men took the stand.

Jurors were aware of the denials Sandusky gave NBC's Rock Center just after his arrest. In it, Sandusky seemed to stumble at times and struggled to give direct answers to questions about his conduct.

Asked if he was sexually attracted to boys, Sandusky told NBC's Bob Costas: 'Sexually attracted, you know, I, I enjoy young people. I, I love to be around them... No, I'm not sexually attracted to young boys.'

Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan III seized on that in closing arguments, saying: 'I would think that the automatic response, if someone asks you if you're a criminal, a paedophile, a child molester, or anything along those lines, would be: "You're crazy. No. Are you nuts?"'

Sacked: Penn State head coach Joe Paterno lost his job over claims that he failed to report the allegations about Sandusky; he died in January

Silence: Mike McQueary, left, told Mr Paterno he had seen Sandusky abusing a child, but the football legend did not pass on the claims

Prosecutors said Sandusky used gifts and the allure of Penn State's vaunted football program to attract and abuse vulnerable boys who came from troubled homes, often ones without a father figure in the house.

'What you should do is come out and say to the defendant that he molested and abused and give them back their souls,' McGettigan told jurors. 'I give them to you. Acknowledge and give them justice.'

Defense attorney Amendola argued that Sandusky was targeted by investigators who coached accusers into making false claims about a generous man whose charity gave them much-needed love.

'So out of the blue [after] all these years, when Jerry Sandusky is in his mid-50s, he decides to become a paedophile? Does that make sense to anybody?' Amendola asked rhetorically.

The jury, which includes nine people with ties to Penn State, had already begun deliberating when Matt Sandusky's attorneys issued a statement alleging that his father abused him.

'During the trial, Matt Sandusky contacted us and requested our advice and assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time in this case that he is a victim of Jerry Sandusky's abuse,' Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici said in the statement. 'At Matt's request, we immediately arranged a meeting between him and the prosecutors and investigators.

'This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy. There will be no further comment.'

Matt's allegations have added to the already rampant media interest. Last year it was Matt's ex-wife who petitioned the court to keep Jerry away from her three children with Matt, Jerry's grandchildren

Matt Sandusky went to live with Sandusky and his wife as a foster child and was adopted by them as an adult. He is one of Jerry Sandusky's six adopted children.

Shortly after Jerry Sandusky's arrest, Matt Sandusky's ex-wife went to court to keep her former father-in-law away from their three young children. Jill Jones successfully obtained a restraining order forbidding the children from sleeping over at their grandparents' home.

Around the same time, details emerged that Matt Sandusky had attempted suicide just four months after first going to live with the couple in 1995. He had come into the home through The Second Mile.

Shortly after the suicide attempt, Sandusky's probation officer wrote, 'The probation department has some serious concerns about the juvenile's safety and his current progress in placement with the Sandusky family,' according to court records supplied to the Associated Press by his birth mother, Debra Long.

Despite those concerns, probation and child welfare officials recommended continued placement with the Sandusky family, and the judge overseeing his case agreed.

During testimony last week, an accuser known as Victim 4 said Matt Sandusky was living at the Sandusky home at the time he stayed there overnight and testified that Jerry Sandusky came into the shower with the two boys and 'started pumping his hand full of soap.' Matt Sandusky shut off the shower and left, appearing nervous, the witness said.

At work: Sandusky on the sidelines of a Penn State game; he was expected to become the team's head coach after Joe Paterno, who died in January

Laughter: Sandusky jokes with members of the Penn State team at an event in 1999

Scandal: Jerry Sandusky, arriving to court on December 13, has now been found guilty of child sexual abuse

From campus riots to life in prison: Story of a scandal

When news broke in November that Jerry Sandusky, the 68-year-old former Penn State defensive coordinator was accused of abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period, it rocked Penn State’s campus, causing riots where more than 240 NFL stars were trained and sparking national outrage over the guilty party’s spiral of silence on the abuse. 

Hired by Penn state in 1969 as an assistant football coach, Sandusky worked closely with legendary head coach Joe Paterno. Together, they turned out one of the most impressive collegiate football teams in U.S. history, with Paterno himself acclaimed as the winningest coach.

Prosecutors accused Sandusky of using the Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977 that was dedicated to helping troubled children, was in fact the net that he used to find and ensnare young children. Attorneys alleged he befriended them, lured them in, and molested them.

Testimony of abuse began in 1994, when a boy identified by the grand jury as Victim 7, who is now 26, said that he met Sandusky through The Second Mile.

He told the grand jury that he has a ‘blurry memory’ of having improper contact with Sandusky when they were showering together in the football locker room on the Penn State campus in State College, Pennsylvania, a couple of years later.

Between 1996 and 1998, Sandusky began showering with other young victims. Each victim’s testimony appeared more graphic than the next, with victims telling the jury how Sandusky lathered soap on them and rubbed them.

Legend: Joe Paterno, left, is awarded the Lambert Trophy for 'eastern gridiron supremacy' in 1968

Frail: Paterno pictured in January, just days before he died of cancer aged 85

On June 1, 1998, university police interviewed Sandusky, who admitted showering naked with one of the victims, and conceded it was wrong. A university police detective told Sandusky never to shower with children again, the jury report read.

He retired in 1999 from as defensive coordinator, but remained many privileges, including unbridled access to Penn State’s athletic facilities, including locker rooms.

In 2000, he published his autobiography, Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story. That was also the year that a Penn State janitor witnessed Sandusky showering with a young boy and performing oral sex on him. Though the janitor told his co-workers about what he saw, the incident was not immediately reported to authorities.

In February 2001, a graduate assistant, later identified as Mike McQueary, reported seeing Sandusky rape a boy who appeared to be about 10 years old in the shower of the campus football locker room in State College. 

The next morning, McQueary telephoned Paterno and then went to Paterno's home to explain what he had seen.

Paterno testified that he called Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and met with him the following day, explaining that McQueary had reported seeing Sandusky involved in sexual activity with a young boy in the showers.

Riots: Police flooded the streets of the Penn State campus after students protested against Paterno's firing

Confrontation: 14,000 students took to the streets to express their fury at events

The incident was not reported to any law enforcement or child protective agency. Curley told the grand jury he was informed of ‘inappropriate conduct’ and ‘horsing around,’ but not of sexual assault. 

However, Curley barred Sandusky from bringing minors onto campus. The jury heard more graphic testimony as Sandusky became bolder in his actions.

One boy said he was forced to perform oral sex on Sandusky; another testified that Sandusky pulled down his gym shorts and performed oral sex on him in Sandusky’s basement.

In 2010, Sandusky retired from the Second Mile, and on November 5, 2011, he was charged with 40 counts of molesting eight boys from 1994 to 2009. He was arrested and later released on $100,000 bail.

Sandusky admitted in a November interview with Bob Costas on Rock Center: ‘I could say I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids I have showered [with] after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact.’

He denied that ‘horsing around’ made him a paedophile.

In memoriam: Students gathered at the Joe Paterno statue at Beaver Stadium at Penn State in January to honour the winningest coach in major college football history

Crowds: Mourners lined the pavement as they watched Joe Paterno's hearse followed by the Penn State team buses

A day after Sandusky was charged, Paterno issued a statement in which he acknowledged being told by MecQueary in 2002 of the incident in the shower but that he ‘at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the grand jury report.’ Paterno later announced that he planned to retire at the end of the season, but was fired, along with university president Graham Spanier.

Paterno’s firing caused massive riots on the campus, with thousands of students and Penn State football fans showing their support for the coach. Several days later, one of Paterno’s sons announced that his father had been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer.

After the initial charges, several more victims came forward, most notably Sandusky’s step son, after the jury had been sequestered to deliberate. 

Sandusky was again arrested on December 7, when the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office claimed he abused two more boys. His wife defended Sandusky, saying the allegations were ‘absolutely untrue.’

On January 22, Paterno succumbed to lung cancer. His death caused an extreme upset at Penn State’s campus, and hundreds of supporters rallied around a statue of the winningest coach, laying candles and flowers at the base in his memory.

Sandusky tried three times to dismiss all charges against him; at the same time, Judge Cleland issued a gag order, which forbade either side from talking to the media while the case was on-going.