Jerry Sandusky: Many jurors have ties to Penn State
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky enters the Centre County Courthouse as the second day of jury selection begins in his child sex abuse trial on June 6, 2012, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Sandusky is charged with 52 criminal counts of alleged sexual abuse of children.
A jury was selected on Wednesday to hear the case against Jerry Sandusky, which brought down Joe Paterno, the legendary coach of Penn State football, and many of the jurors who were selected had ties to the university, reported the Associated Press.
Several jurors among the seven women and five men who will hear opening statements on Monday have long and deep ties to the university. They include a professor who has been on the faculty for 24 years, a Penn State senior, a retired professor who was at the university for 37 years, and a man with two degrees from Penn State. Others include a dance teacher in the continuing education program and a woman who has held football season tickets since the 1970s.
Of the four alternate jurors also selected on Wednesday, one was a Penn State graduate, said the AP.
Judge John Cleland said emotional ties to the school might make it harder for some jurors, but added, "I hope it's hard for everyone. If it's easy, we have the wrong jury," according to ABC News.
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Sandusky, 68, has been under house arrest and faces 52 counts of child abuse involving 10 boys some of whom prosecutors say he met through his charity Second Mile, for underprivileged children, according to CNN.
Sandusky has pled not guilty to the charges.
With opening statements beginning on Monday, the trial is expected to last around three weeks, said CNN.
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Love letters that Sandusky wrote to one of his alleged victims will be read as testimony, and the jury will also be presented with gifts that one of the victims received as evidence.
The authorities allege that some of the abuse occurred on Penn State's campus, and University President Graham Spanier and head football coach Joe Paterno lost their jobs over their handling of the case.