Disgraced ex-Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was declared guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sex abuse late Friday, resulting in a likely de facto life sentence for the 68-year-old.
The guilty verdicts, including 25 felony counts, could add up to 442 years in prison.
Sandusky, dressed in a brown sports coat, was immediately taken into custody and led from the courthouse in handcuffs.
The jury—which included many people with close ties to Penn State University—deliberated for only 20 hours, making a guilty verdict seem like a foregone conclusion.
The two-week trial featured damning testimony against Sandusky, who was accused of performing anal and oral sex on boys as young as 8 years old. Even Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt, said his father abused him as well, though his accusations weren't part of the trial.
Despite the lack of physical evidence and the time that had elapsed since the commission of the crimes, Sandusky's attorneys were unable to discredit the eight accusers. They declined to put their client on the stand.
“I feel, like many others, that the rapidity which with this jury has reached [a verdict] makes it all but certain it should be a guilty verdict,” Michael Boni, attorney for “Victim No. 1” told CNN’s Piers Morgan minutes before the decision was announced.
Even Sandusky’s own legal team didn’t expect an acquittal. Earlier Friday, Sandusky’s attorney Joseph Amendola said he would “probably die of a heart attack” if the ex-coach was found not guilty.
