“Today a jury did what so many other people and institutions failed to do … they held Jerry Sandusky accountable for sexually abusing children. This jury broke years of silence about Sandusky’s systematic targeting, grooming and abuse of children and finally delivered justice.”- Justine Andronici and Andrew Shubin, lawyers for victim 3 and 7 and also of matt Sandusky, Jerry Sandusky’s son.
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2012 - Jerry Sandusky was convicted last Friday of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years.
After two weeks of often graphic and personal testimony from the eight victims, the jury found Sandusky guilty of 45 of the 48 counts against him.
Sandusky showed little emotion when Judge John Cleland handed down the verdict.
Sandusky defended himself with the feeble excuse that he while he “horsed around” with young boys, sometimes showered with them after workouts, and hugged them, but he said he never acted with sexual intent. He did acknowledge that in retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have showered with the young boys.
According to Sandusky’s lawyer Joseph Amendola, the accuser’s allegations were flimsy. He suggested that their reason for coming forth may have been financial.
At the end of the day, justice was rendered, but it was costly, mostly in the lives of the young victims, and their family’s. The Mother of victim six summed it up by saying, “Nobody wins, we’ve all lost.”
No amount of settlement can erase the hurt of being abused by the ruthless hands of Jerry Sandusky. These boys will have those memories for the remainder of their lives.
If anything good can come of this tragedy, it is from the courage of these young men to come forward and tell their stories, encouraging others to tell their own stories of abuse by sexual predators.
Jailing Sandusky is important both for punishment and for removing a predator from harming more boys. However, many of these men still roam our streets, searching every street corner or back ally for their next victim. Many times they find those helpless victims in their own homes, in schools, play centers, or — as we learned from the Sandusky case – charities such as “The Second Mile,” where Sandusky met his eighth victim.
Penn State will no doubt suffer also from the Sandusky case, perhaps for years to come. Sandusky has left a wound on this great university, and it may be a long time in healing. This story is far from over when it comes to Penn state, and no doubt there are others who will suffer, and will have to testify as to what they know or have seen.
Could it be that the eyes and ears of America have been opened to these horrible crimes, and that measure will be taken to try to stop them before they ever happen?
The only way to stop predators is to put them in prison and keep them there. Too many are released into the public to find another victim. This is our fault, for not pressing hard enough, for not speaking loud enough to our legal system, demanding tougher sentences for these sexual crimes.
These crimes are not new to the World, I suppose they have been around forever, but that is no reason not to fight…Is it?
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