Convicted child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky maintains he is innocent of all charges and remains determined to clear his name, insisting he has always been faithful to his wife, Dottie, his defense lawyer said.
Sandusky, the 68-year-old former Penn State assistant coach, was convicted Friday on 45 counts of child sex abuse charges in a case that reverberated college football for the graphic nature of the victims’ testimony.
Sandusky has been confined to jail since then to await sentencing, while his attorneys vow to appeal the verdict.
Sandusky faces a maximum penalty of more than 400 years in prison when he is sentenced.
“He would like to be exonerated,” Sandusky attorney Karl Rominger said Monday after visiting his client in a Pennsylvania jail.
“The main reason is he wants the public to know he’s not guilty, but the most important reason is he wants to maintain his innocence for his family’s sake,” Rominger told Reuters. “He really feels that (the conviction) is an insult to his wife, who he has loved and been faithful to all these years.”
Dottie Sandusky posted bail for her husband when he was arrested last fall, accompanied him to court and testified on his behalf.
Victims testified that some of the sexual abuse took place in the Sandusky home, but Dottie Sandusky testified that she never saw or heard any inappropriate conduct between her husband and the young boys who came over to the house.
Sandusky’s attorneys have said they plan to appeal on a number of grounds, including their assertion that they lacked adequate time to prepare for the case, and because prosecutors were allowed to present as evidence an inaccurate version of a television interview Sandusky gave to NBC News before the trial.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said on Monday that contrary to issues raised by the defense, the former coach received a fair trial and prosecutors expect to prevail on any appeal.
“As far as the timing, the judge made it clear from the beginning to all the parties that he intended to move this case along quickly,” Kelly said on CNN.
“We were anxious to have this case brought to a conclusion so that the defendant who was not in custody during the process … so we could move to have his bond revoked.”
Rominger also said Sandusky was not suicidal and is anxious for a psychiatric evaluation to determine him mentally healthy enough to receive visits from family and friends.
