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Former Penn State coach Sandusky receives prison sentence of 30 to 60 years

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Former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Gerald A. Sandusky on Tuesday was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for sexually abusing boys, often on Penn State property.

Judge John Cleland of Centre County Court in Bellefonte, Pa., handed down the ruling, which dictates that Mr. Sandusky, 68, must serve a minimum of years 30 before he is eligible for parole, according to a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

Mr. Sandusky in June was found guilty of 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 victims over a period of 18 years.

On Monday night, Mr. Sandusky maintained his innocence on a Penn State radio station.

“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,” he said in a recorded statement aired on ComRadio. “In my heart, I know I did not do these alleged disgusting acts.”

Following Mr. Sandusky's convictions, the embattled university faces multiple and complex civil lawsuits compounded by an independent investigation that concluded that top Penn State officials did nothing to investigate child sexual abuse allegations, which is likely to make it more difficult to reach settlements of the cases, experts say.

“Our thoughts today, as they have been for the last year, go out to the victims of Jerry Sandusky's abuse,” Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a Tuesday statement. “While today's sentence cannot erase what has happened, hopefully it will provide comfort to those affected by these horrible events and help them continue down the road to recovery.”

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Penn State last week was sued by former assistant football coach Michael J. McQueary, who filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the university claiming unfair termination, defamation and misrepresentation because of his cooperation with state investigators.

As of February, the university had spent $7,577,643 in legal fees and to consulting and public relations firms as it addresses the fallout from the Sandusky scandal, according to Penn State's website.