Jerry Sandusky trial set for closing arguments

Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., June 20, 2012. / AP

(CBS/AP) BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Seven women and five men poised to hear closing arguments in Jerry Sandusky's child sexual abuse trial would begin jury deliberations without the benefit of having the former Penn State assistant football coach take the witness stand in his own defense.

More than a week of often-explicit testimony wrapped up Wednesday after Sandusky's defense team rested without calling their client. That set up closing arguments for Thursday morning, and jurors could start meeting behind closed doors in the afternoon to weigh Sandusky's fate.

Once famed for his coaching acumen, Sandusky is charged with 51 criminal counts for the alleged abuse of 10 boys over 15 years in hotels, at his home and in the football team's showers. Sandusky has maintained his innocence, and his attorneys have tried to weaken the prosecution's case by discrediting police investigators and suggesting that accusers are hoping to cash in on potential civil lawsuits.

"He's obviously concerned given the gravity of the charges, but he's weathering it well and he looks forward to a resolution," Sandusky's attorney Karl Rominger told CBS News after proceedings on Wednesday.

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Sandusky's arrest in November sparked an explosive scandal that led to the ousters of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno and the university president, and cast a critical eye on the role of college administrators in reporting abuse allegations. The sweeping case also led to renewed focus on child abuse issues.

The defense called just four new witnesses Wednesday, including a physician who they used to try to poke holes in the story of a Penn State assistant coach who testified that he saw Sandusky sexually assault a boy in the team showers more than a decade ago.

Defense attorneys finished in three days, resting around lunchtime Wednesday only after a longer-than-expected recess during which Sandusky and his lawyers huddled in private amid rampant speculation in the courtroom that he would take the witness stand.

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Now, closing statements await the 12 jurors in a trial moving at a quick pace, more briskly than even the three-week time frame that Judge John Cleland had once estimated.

Cleland said he will begin Thursday by issuing jury instructions. The defense would then present its closing remarks before the prosecution takes its turn.

Then it's the jury that will determine the schedule depending on how long they take in deliberations. If convicted, the 68-year-old former defensive coordinator could be sent to state prison for the rest of his life.

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Jurors will have to decide whether the defense was able to create sufficient doubt based on how the investigation was conducted, the reliability and motives of the accusers, and Sandusky's decades-long reputation as a man who worked tirelessly to help underprivileged children.

Prosecutors called 22 witnesses, including eight young men, ages 18 to 28, who alleged a range of abuse from grooming, kissing and massaging to fondling, oral sex and anal rape when they were boys.

Many of the 28 defense witnesses testified briefly to vouch for Sandusky's reputation. The defense's case has consisted of character witnesses who defended Sandusky's reputation, a psychologist who said Sandusky had a personality disorder and the ex-coach's wife, who said she did not see her husband do anything inappropriate with the accusers. His lawyers showed that an investigator had shared information with an accuser about other alleged victims' stories and repeatedly suggested that accusers have financial motivations for their claims.

Sandusky was only heard from via a November interview with NBC's Bob Costas, saying he probably shouldn't have showered with boys; and in letters he wrote to one of his accusers.

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[rhowell1965]

Noticably absent are his five adopted sons. Not in the courtroom to lend support. Not there to testify on his behalf. Pretty clear to me they doubt his innocence and more likely were molested as well.

[cbs11b]

IT IS TIME FOR MR. SANDUSKY TO BEAR THE STRIPES THAT HE HAS EARNED. HE HAS BEEN REVEALED FOR THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING THAT HE IS. OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES AS WHEN THE VICTIM DESCRIBED BEING RIDICULED AS HIS BUTT BUDDY BY OTHER KIDS WHO KNEW OR COULD SEE WITH THEIR OWN EYES MR.SANDUSKY FOR WHAT HE REALLY WAS, A MONSTEROUS PEDOPHILE PREYING ON YOUNG BOYS.
MOTHERS DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW OR EVEN FACE THE TERRIBLE TRUTH YET THE DAY OF EARTHLY RECKONING HAS COME. DID MR. SANDUSKY SHAT IN HIS OWN HOUSE AND USE HIS OWN BOYS FOR HIS PLEASURES? PERHAPS IT IS TELLING IN ITS OWN WAY THAT NOT ONE OF HIS FIVE SURVIVING SONS COULD TAKE THE WITNESS STAND AND DECLARE BEFORE GOD AND ALL THE WORLD THAT THEY BELIEVE IN MR. SANDUSKY'S INNOCENCE. FURTHERMORE, THAT HE HIMSELF WOULD NOT PUBLICLY DECLARE HIS OWN INNOCENCE TO THE CHARGES OR RAPE AND MOLESTATION OF BOYS IS HARDLY THE ACT OF AN INNOCENCE MAN. I HAVE LITTLE ELSE IN THIS WORLD BUT MY GOOD NAME AND I WILL DEFEND IT ALWAYS. THE WORLD MUST DEFEND ITS YOUNG AND PROTECT THEM FROM ANY MAN OR WOMAN WHO WOULD STEAL THEIR CHILDHOODS AND SOULS.
NO MAN OR WOMAN IS TO BIG OR POWERFUL TO ANSWER FOR THEIR CRIMES AGAINST INNOCENT CHILDREN AND THESE BOYS WERE INNOCENT UNTIL HE PUT HIS HANDS AND ***** IN AND ON THEM. FROM THERE ON THEY HAVE BEEN TORMENTED LOST SOULS SEARCHING FOR NORMALCY AND UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THEY BECAME CAUGHT UP IN MR. SANDUSKY WEB. THE COURAGE IT HAS TAKEN TO FACE MR. SANDUSKY AND THE WORLD TO PUBLICLY DECLARE THAT THEY FELL VICTIM TO THIS PEDOPHILE AND NOW MUST LAY BARE THEIR SOULS TO RECOUNT THE DETAILS OF THE CRIMES AGAINST THEM SHOULD BE COMMENDED. IT IS ESTIMATED 20 MILLION AMERICAN BOYS/MEN HAVE BEEN MOLESTED OR RAPED BUT ALL BUT A VERY FEW WILL TAKE THAT SECRET TO THEIR OWN GRAVES. SO THE TERRIBLE TOLL OF PAIN, SUFFERING, ANDND REPEATING OF LEARNED PREDATORY BEHAVIORS CONTINUES GENERATION AFTER GENERATION.
THOSE FUNNY UNCLES WEREN'T FUNNY OR QUEER WHEN THEY MOLESTED AND RAPED A CHILD THEY WERE AND ARE CRIMINALS. SAY IT WITH ME BY THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY THE COURT SYSTEM OF THE U.S. OF AMERICA MR. SANDUSKY IS A CRIMINAL. THE CATHOLIC PRIEST WHO ARE PEDOPHILES ARE CRIMINALS. THE CHILD PORNOGRAPHERS ARE CRIMINALS. IF YOU KNOW ONE CALL HIM OR HER OUT BY HIS NAM; PEDOPHILE, RAPIST, MOLESTER AND PERHAPS OUR WORLD WILL BE A BETTER PLACE FOR THE CHILDREN WE SAY WE LOVE WITH OUR WHOLE HEARTS. TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO KNOW AND RECOGNIZE
THE BEHAVIOR AND LURES THESE PEOPLE EMPLOY AND THEY MAY ESCAPE THEIR SNARES WITH THEIR BODIES, MINDS, HEARTS AND SOULS INTACT. WHAT KIND OF PARENT GIVES STRANGE ADULT MEN PERMSISION TO SHOWER NAKED WITH THEIR CHILD? ANYWHERE THIS IS PRACTICED OR CONDONED THIS MUST BE MADE AN ILLEGAL ACT OF SEXUAL PERVERSION AGAINST A CHIL. WE DON'T ALLOW ADULTS TO EXPOSE THEMSELVES IN THE STREET TO A CHILD OR ANYONE ELSE. THE WITNESS THAT TAKES HIS GRANDDAUGHTER INTO THE SHOWER???? WHAT??? WHEN DO YOU INTEND TO STOP AND DO YOU HAVE HER PARENTS PERMISSION TO BE EXPOSING? YOURSELF TO THE CHILD? COME ON PEOPLE WHERE IS OUR SENSE OF DECENCY? IT IS NO WONDER AMERICAN CHILDREN DON'T KNOW THERE PLACE BECAUSE ADULTS CAN'T AND WON'T STAY IN THERE'S. THERE IS A PLACE FOR MR. SANDUSKY AND OTHERS LIKE HIM AND OUR SOCIETIES MUST KEEP THEM THERE IF OUR YOUNG ARE TO SURVIVE AND LIVE OUT HEALTHY NORMAL LIVES. ONE MAN RUINING HUNDREDS OF LIVES LIKE THE PEDIATRICIAN OR JOHN GACY ETC. IS UNCALLED FOR. THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN HAS BECOME A WORLDWIDE CONTAGION. THE TOUCH THAT DESTROYS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH LOVE FOR A CHILD.
MS. S. BURRIS