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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Sandusky, guilty on 45 sex abuse charges, immediately placed on suicide watch

Guilty: Jerry Sandusky leaves court in handcuffs after being convicted of sexual assault

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Jerry Sandusky has been placed on suicide watch as a precaution after a jury found the former Penn State assistant football coach guilty of 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse charges, according to one of his attorneys.

Co-counsel Karl Rominger told CNN Sandusky is being held in protective custody for his own safety.

"The judge in this case and the warden in this case decided to take a measure not meant to suggest in any way that he is suicidal, but simply to put the precautions in place first and then evaluate later," Rominger said.

The 68-year-old, who will be sentenced in about three months, faces a maximum sentence of 442 years and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Sandusky was convicted by the seven women and five men late Friday after a day and a half of deliberations. The charges included involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of minors.

A FOX News Channel producer who was inside the court when the verdict was announced said Sandusky kept his eyes on the jurors and showed no expression when the verdict was read.

Rominger said Sandusky will be evaluated at Pennsylvania's Camp Hill diagnostic facility and then likely sent to a sex offender unit in the state prison system.

The attorney told CNN his defense team has "No immediate concerns" about his safety.

Sandusky's lead defense attorney, Joe Amendola, said he plans to appeal the verdict.

Meanwhile, the credibility of the accusers who testified at Sandusky's trial solidified the case against him, a juror said Saturday.

"It's hard to judge character on the stand because you don't know these kids," Joshua Harper told NBC's "Today." ''But most were very credible — I would say all."

"It was very convincing," he added.

Sandusky's own impassivity as the verdict was read was also a confirmation that the jury's decision was the right one, Harper said.

"I looked at him during the reading of the verdict and just the look on his face. No real emotion," he said.

Sandusky appeared to be accepting his fate, Harper said, "because he knew it was true."

The verdict is not the end of the scandal that took down Paterno and deeply shook the state's most prominent university. It will play out for years in courtrooms and through a set of ongoing investigations.

But the trial did present one piece of finality: Sandusky was taken away in handcuffs to the county jail. Sentencing will be in about three months.

Sandusky is one 272 inmates at the Centre County Correctional Facility and was kept under watch overnight. The jail is just seven miles from the Penn State campus.

Like other inmates there, he was allowed to bring a small number of items in with him. The options include six pairs of white underwear, white socks and white undershirts, prescription glasses or contact lenses, a wedding band, religious prayer book, no more than 10 personal photographs and 10 letters and no more than 4 inches of legal documents or materials.

Sandusky will be allowed to shower daily, and can get visits from his family, friends and lawyers, too.

The jail did not say whether anyone had come to see him Saturday. At his home, his wife and three of their adopted children remained inside after returning there Friday night. The windows blinds and curtains were drawn.

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