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Jerry Sandusky sentencing could finally bring some closure



By Chris Dufresne
October 9, 2012, 10:28 a.m.
Today is a good day in the history of jurisprudence and Jerry-prudence because it may, after a long, disgusting, torturous year, be the day "The Jerry SanduskyStory" finally goes away.
I'm sure if we live long enough there will be obligatory parole-hearing interviews conducted by the offspring of Geraldo Rivera for some Friday night TV news magazine.

Anyone who has seen Charles Manson trotted out every five years knows what a ratings grabber that can be.

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But let's hope, for the sake of humanity and our sanity, this is the last we see of the pathetic Sandusky in that red jumpsuit.

There may never be closure for the victims he abused or the fine university he has tried to despoil but, for the rest of us, please let this be over.

Heading to the gym last summer, I randomly pulled a Penn State shirt out of my drawer. I stared at it for five seconds and put it back.

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I didn't attend Penn State, but neither did I want to explain that to some heckler at the squat rack.

I related this story to Penn State students I visited before the football team's opener against Ohio. They understood. The kids still proudly displayed "We Are Penn State" shirts. Of course, they were in their campus cocoon, in their comfort zone. But they too had grown weary of having to justify to strangers their association to the university of their choice.

"We're just as disgusted as everyone else," one student told me.  Another senior was ticked off that the four years of sweat he put into his education could be sullied by the actions of a few.

He did not want to say to me "I BELIEVE by coming here to Penn State I made the right decision."

Sandusky didn't take the stand in his trial but got his 15 minutes of fame Tuesday during a rambling monologue at sentencing. The judge handed him at least 30 years. That should take a 68-year-old man to well past his expiration date.

Sandusky said he was innocent of these despicable charges. OK, you had your say, even though you didn't say it to Bob Costas.

Now, guess what, Jerry. Your 15 minutes are up. Now please go away ... forever.

Let Penn State students be students again. Allow the football team that has overachieved in your behind-the-bars absence continue to distance itself from your unholy disgrace.

Next month marks the one-year anniversary of the Pennsylvania indictment against Sandusky that started this downward spiral.

I'd be perfectly happy not to even acknowledge it.

Jerry Sandusky case: Scathing report from Louis Freeh
( William Thomas Cain / Getty Images / July 12, 2012 )
Former FBI Director Louis B. Freeh on Thursday released his report on the investigation of the actions of Penn State in the case of child abuse committed by former football coach Jerry Sandusky.