Outside the Beltway

On Eve Of Sentencing Hearing, Jerry Sandusky Claims Innocence, Alleges Conspiracy

Doug Mataconis · Monday, October 8, 2012 · 8 comments

Tomorrow morning, Jerry Sandusy will appear in the same court in which he was convicted on multiple accounts of child sexual abuse for his sentencing hearing. In all likelihood, he will receive a sentence that will guarantee that he dies behind bars for the crimes he has committed. Today, Penn State University’s radio station aired an audio recorded by Sandusky in prison in which he claims that he is the victim of a vast conspiracy:

 Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky insisted Monday that “I did not do these alleged disgusting acts” and blamed a systematic conspiracy among police, Penn State administrators and the media for his conviction on 45 counts of child sexual abuse.

“They can take away my life, they can make me out as a monster, they can treat me as a monster, but they can’t take away my heart,” Sandusky, 68, who is to be sentenced Tuesday, said in a three-minute statement recorded from his jail cell in Bellefonte, Pa., and aired on the Penn State student radio station.

Sandusky said his accusers were part of a “well-orchestrated effort of the media, investigators, the system, Penn State, psychologists (and) civil attorneys” to falsely put him in prison.

“My wife has been my only sex partner, and that was after marriage. Our love continues,” he said.

Full statement from Jerry Sandusky

Audio of Sandusky’s statement on Penn State student station ComRadio

“Over and over, I asked why? Why didn’t we have a fair opportunity to prepare for trial?” Sandusky said. “Why have so many people suffered as a result of false allegations?”

He said his accusers chose to join his Second Mile program for troubled boys “because of issues” and said that “some of those may remain.”

Sandusky said he hoped his experience would help others, saying: “Some vulnerable children who could be abused might not be because of all the publicity. That would be nice, but I’m not sure about it.”

Karl Rominger, an attorney for Sandusky, told NBC News that  he hadn’t known of Sandusky’s plans to issue the statement beforehand. After hearing it, he said it sounded like his client.

Earlier, Sandusky’s lead attorney, Joe Amendola, said his client was prepared for the worst when he is sentenced on 45 counts of child sexual abuse Tuesday.

“He’s going to say that he’s innocent,” Amendola told NBCPhiladelphia. com.

If nothing else, this pretty much would seem to guarantee that Sandusky will receive the maximum sentence for all 45 charges when he is sentenced tomorrow. And, if this is a preview of the statement he intends to make to the Judge tomorrow morning in advance of sentencing then he’s pretty much guaranteeing that he’s going to get the maximum sentence, which is what it would seem he deserves. Additionally, it seems to suggest that Sandusky’s pathology is so deep that he either doesn’t recognize that he did anything wrong, or he just simply doesn’t care. Psychologists call this sociopathy, and that seems to be an apt description for Sandusky at this point.

Here’s the audio, if you’re at all interested: