‘REPEATED CONDUCT’

Judge Rejects Jerry Sandusky’s Latest Request for Shorter Sentence

Jerry Sandusky, convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys, asked the judge to reduce his 30- to 60-year sentence.

A judge rejected Jerry Sandusky’s latest request to have his 30- to 60-year child molestation sentence reduced during a brief hearing Tuesday, citing his “repeated conduct.” The 76-year-old former Penn State assistant football coach was convicted in 2012 of the sexual abuse of 10 boys, ranging from grooming to sexual attacks. Judge Maureen Skerda said she intended to make an impact on Sandusky with his sentence. “This is repeated conduct over a course of years, and the court considered that,” Skerda said during the hearing. Sandusky, who continues to maintain his innocence, participated by phone from the State Correctional Institution-Laurel Highlands. His defense attorney, Robert Buttner, presented Sandusky’s minor record of misconduct while in prison. During his November re-sentencing hearing, the attorney general’s office described problems in prison involving Sandusky such as disputes about returning a meal tray and complaints about phone calls. 

Skerda referenced Sandusky’s statements during the re-sentencing in November in which he said he spoke to his wife, Dottie Sandusky, while an acquaintance was visiting her with an infant. The judge upheld Sandusky’s sentence in the November hearing following his 2012 jury trial. “So he would still have access to children if he were in the public in the future,” Skerda said on Tuesday. Jennifer Buck, a prosecutor with the state attorney general’s office, told the judge, “There’s no more serious crime than a felony of the first degree.”