Jerry Sandusky Convicted on 45 Counts

Jerry Sandusky is on suicide watch after being convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse. It only took the jury 20 hours to deliberate, less than 30 minutes per charge. They didn't seem to have any doubt that Sandusky was guilty.

And neither did any of us. From eye-witness testimony, to his adopted son accusing him of sexual abuse, to an endless stream of victims who came forward to tell the world what Sandusky did to them. The evidence was overwhelming.

Justice finally caught up with Jerry Sandusky, a monster who feasted on innocence. He preyed and fed on young boys for years, and at last the predator has been caged. It's a satisfying ending to an horrific story.

There is no way for those boys to recover what he stole from them. There can be no retribution or revenge. This ending is satisfactory, but a story such as this can never have a truly happy ending. The effects of Sandusky's crimes will go on for years after he dies in a prison cell, or perhaps more appropriately, a prison shower.

It could have ended sooner, though. Had Joe Paterno used his unparalleled clout to find out what his friend and assistant was truly doing, the story could have stopped there. JoePa didn't pursue the matter. It was presented to him and he dismissed it out of hand. It was potentially damaging to Penn State Football, and that was where Paterno's priorities laid.

Some might remember Paterno as a great coach. I'll remember him as the man who delayed Justice for the sake of a football team. He allowed boys to be raped because it wasn't in the best interest of the Nittany Lions.

There were many officials at Penn State who knew more than Paterno and did even less. They too delayed Justice, for the sake of their school's reputation.

Jerry Sandusky is a monster. But Joe Paterno and Penn State allowed the monster to hunt unimpeded. There's no defending that. There's no excusing that. And there's no forgetting that.

Jerry Sandusky feels no shame or guilt. But there are people involved in this story who should feel ashamed of themselves. There's the guidance counselor that dismissed one of the victim's allegations, citing Jerry Sandusky's "heart of gold." There's also Sandusky's ephebophile of an attorney: Joe Amendola, who once impregnated a 17 year old client. And there's attorney Karl Rominger, who was part of Amendola's team. Rominger proudly tweeted this after the verdict was announced:

Well I won the sodomy charge on McQueary.. so perhaps if the grand jury presentment had been accurate Paterno would not have been fired #psu
— Karl E. Rominger (@karl_rominger) June 23, 2012

After all that became public in this trial, some people still feel that Joe Paterno's legacy is more important than the safety and innocence of young boys. This media whore of an attorney also feels as though he won, even though his client will die in prison, and he was defending a serial rapist.

Thankfully, not all of us have our priorities so sadly out of order.

Thankfully Justice caught up with Jerry Sandusky, despite what Joe Paterno, Penn State officials, and his lawyers did to protect him.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Centre County Correctional Facility
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

Jerry Sandusky Hired the Worst Lawyer Ever

I think you can tell a lot about an accused criminal based on the attorney they choose to defend them. If it's Johnny Cochrane, they're probably guilty. If it's some no-name, hard-working lawyer, there's a good chance they're not guilty. If it's a sex crime case and they hire a pervert, it's a good chance they're guilty because they have no idea that some sexual acts are wrong and perverse.

Two typical traits of pedophiles are that they don't appreciate that what they're doing is harmful (they see it as playing), and they tend to gravitate toward people with similar sexual scruples (or lack of scruples).

That's a picture of Joe Amendola, Jerry Sandusky's defense attorney. The woman is Amendola's ex-wife. She was named Mary Iavisile. She worked in Amendola's law office when she was 16. Amendola represented her in an emancipation trial, which is the legal separation of a child from their parents. Amendola then got her pregnant, then married her, then divorced her.

This is the man representing Sandusky. He not only had sex with an employee, he had sex with a 16 year old girl. As I said, pedophiles tend to gravitate toward people with similar sexual scruples, or lack thereof.

Amendola is also a moron. He's the one who arranged Sandusky's interview with Bob Costas. That interview pretty much convicted Sandusky in the public's eye. Amendola had his creepy client face an expert interviewer. Because in Amendola's own immoral mind, Sandusky hasn't done anything wrong. But this is what the public saw:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jerry Sandusky Phone Interview
www.thedailyshow.com
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And as Sandusky's trial has started, Amendola's incompetency has continued. If I weren't so convinced Sandusky is guilty, I'd feel bad that he has such a moronic lawyer defending him. Amendola went after one of Sandusky's accusers, trying to throw some curveball questions to him, but all that did was give the accuser a chance to hit some homeruns off Amendola. Here's an example:

Amendola said that Sandusky treated a man known as Victim #4 "like a son."

Victim #4 responded "He treated me like a son in front of other people. Aside from that he treated me as his girlfriend."

Sandusky even wrote letters to Victim #4. And Amendola, fully displaying his obliviousness to the immorality of pedophilia, asked Victim #4 to read them out loud. To Amendola, these letters portray Sandusky as a mentor and a father figure. But they sound like the emotional ranting of a scorned lover.

"I know that I have made several mistakes. However, I hope that I will be able to say that I cared. There has been love in my heart. My wish is that you would call..."

"I write because of the churning of my own stomach when you don't care. I write because I still hope that there will be meaningful time when we know each other."

These are not the words of a concerned mentor. They're the words of a heartbroken old man in love with a 16 year old boy who was realizing that something was wrong with the way Sandusky had been touching him.

Sandusky doesn't seem innocent at all. Neither does Penn State University, who confirmed a story that high-ranking school officials decided not to alert authorities because they wanted to be "humane" to Sandusky. Apparently, the word "humane" has a different meaning in State College, PA because to me it doesn't seem humane to subject vulnerable young boys to the sexual advances of a dirty old man.

Anyway, good for Victim #4. Not many victims of this kind of abuse have the opportunity to face their attacker. Not many get a chance to help Justice be done.