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guilty of tormenting and sexually abusing young boys over a span of 14 years. The most recent charges against him were from 2008. After the counts were read, Judge John M. Cleland had only a few brief words for the defendant. "Mr. Sandusky," he said, "you have been found guilty by a jury of your peers." Quickly, bail was revoked and Sandusky was hauled off to the Centre County Correctional Facility. Cleland adjourned court, conclud- ing a two-week trial and a years-in- the-making judgment. The testimony of the prosecution's witnesses, who included eight vic- tims of Sandusky's abuse, along with former Penn State quarterback and wide receivers coach Mike McQueary, was damning. In fact, the commonwealth's first witness, referred to in the grand jury presentment as Victim No. 4, likely eliminated any supposition of Sandusky's innocence by the jury. Now 28 years old, the young man spoke definitively about his repeated assaults at the hands of Sandusky in Penn State's football facilities, nights before home football games at Toftrees Resort, and at both the Outback and Alamo bowls in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Growing up without a father, the victim testified to the perks of being entrenched in the Penn State foot- ball program, surrounded by stars like LaVar Arrington and Brandon Short, and often appearing on the Nittany Lions' sideline, all while concealing his suffering from the hundreds of instances of sexual abuse committed by Sandusky. The next witness, identified as Victim No. 1, spoke at length about his ordeal, graphically detailing the assaults and adolescent nature of their interactions. One after the other, the victims took the stand. Their testimony was corroborated by witnesses like McQueary, who once again described the sexual assault he stumbled upon in the support staff locker room of the Lasch Building on a February evening in 2001. Jurors found it compelling and believable. "It's hard to judge character on the stand because you don't know these kids," Harper said. "But most were very credible. ... I would say all. It was very convincing." Even McQueary, who had come under fire for his perceived lack of action following the 2001 incident, was found to be credible by the grand jury, and again by the prose- cution. Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan spoke in support of McQueary during his closing argu- ments, noting just how much the former Penn State assistant coach had lost through the course of the investigation. "Did Mike McQueary live up to the standard we'd all like?" McGettigan asked. "No. But he's accepted all of the criticism." Though Sandusky's attorney, Joe Amendola, vowed that the verdict would be appealed, he also said he had warned his client that the out- come was likely going to be unfa- vorable. "Because of where we started with all this, this is not a surprise," he said. "I think we did the best job we could given the circumstance." Amendola said the court needs to address a number of issues when sentencing is completed in September. Because many of the charges carry mandatory minimum sentences, Sandusky is likely to remain behind bars for the rest of his life. Said Amendola, "He's not scared. I think he said to himself during all of this that due to the circum- stances, this was the likely out- come." Outside the courthouse, there was no doubting which side hundreds of spectators were on. Media were not permitted to use any electronic communication to transmit the ver- dict while court was in session. So, upon adjournment, reporters exited the courtroom in a panic, leading to an eruption of cheers from the crowd that had gathered on the steps. After the courtroom cleared, a mother, two sisters and a young victim embraced. Amid the tears, there were a few smiles as they hugged members of the prosecu- tion's team. Justice had finally been done, but it didn't feel like a victory. "Nobody wins," said the boy's moth- er. "We've all lost." W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M NATE BAUER N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Guilt by association B ELLEFONTE, Pa. – Listening to eight days of testimony in a child sexual molestation trial is not typically the responsibility of a sports journalist. And yet, as 12 jurors heard victims recount at length their horrifying experiences at the hands of former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the line between news and sports virtually disap- peared. Though some supporters of the program would still like to believe Sandusky's unspeakable crimes have nothing to do with Penn State football, and that viewing the issue through the lens of sport is inappro- priate, the truth was shockingly clear. The Nittany Lions were used and manipulated to serve the purposes of a serial pedophile. The commonwealth's first witness, a confident 28-year-old referred to as Victim No. 4, testified in detail about his years-long relationship with Sandusky and, in turn, the Penn State football program. Lured by the prospect of attending home football games with the Sandusky family, the victim spoke of the thrill he got from being an unofficial team mascot. He played football in Holuba Hall before games, stood on the sideline at Beaver Stadium, stayed at Toftrees Resort with the team and traveled to bowl games. A photo was displayed in the courtroom of the victim smiling next to Brandon Short. Another photo showed him dressed up in the uni- form of LaVar Arrington in the locker room. He appeared in official Penn State gear for an instructional video Sandusky produced, and also in a screenshot from ESPN's broadcast of the 1999 Alamo Bowl, where he watched from the sideline, standing only a few feet behind his abuser. For any kid, the perks were a dream come true. But there was a dev- astating price to be paid. The victim testified to repeated sexual assaults that took place in the showers of the East Area Locker Building and the Lasch Building, just steps from where the same smiling photographs had been taken. Stalker-like letters from Sandusky were displayed, attempts at luring the victim back, adorned with Penn State's logo. Photos showed pieces of official Nittany Lion gear, given by Sandusky as gifts in an attempt to keep the victim coming back for more. To a 12-year-old without a father or home life, the benefits were too good to pass up, and too valuable to risk losing by telling anyone of Sandusky's abuse. None of this directly implicates Penn State's players, coaches or staff members as somehow enabling these heinous crimes. In fact, the vic- tims testified that they went to great lengths to make sure nobody knew, or was even suspicious, of what was regularly taking place. But many of their stories matched, offering accurate detail after detail of Penn State's football program and its facilities, including the Lasch Building hallways, offices, showers and saunas. While the public is still scrambling for answers, wondering how any of this could have happened or why no one stopped it, not only at Penn State but also at The Second Mile, Child and Youth Services and even the victims' schools, one sad reality is inescapable: Though the involvement of players, coaches and staffers was, so far as we know, unwitting and unwilling, Sandusky's horrifying crimes had everything to do with Penn State football. A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 5

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