BELLEFONTE, Pa. — On Tuesday, victims of Jerry Sandusky remembered and retold the sexual assaults they suffered as children during the convicted child molester’s sentencing hearing.
“The pain is real and it will be inside me forever,” said a man identified as Victim No. 5.
He added that he will never forget the image of Sandusky “forcing himself on me and forcing my hand on him.”
“He took away my childhood the day he assaulted me, and he should be sentenced accordingly.”
Another victim, No. 6, described the “deep wounds” that left him praying for help.
“As I put the 1998 incident in the shower into focus, I think about how you manipulated me,” he said, adding that Sandusky “called yourself the tickle monster so you could touch me.”
Victim No. 4 assailed Sandusky’s refusal to acknowledge what he had done. “Rather than take responsibility for your actions, you attacked us,” he said.
“My only regret is that I didn’t come forward earlier.”
In her written statement, the mother of Victim No. 9 said, “Words cannot describe the pain and impact on my son and family.”
“Because of you, we had to move four times,” she said.
“I had to endure two attempts from my son trying to take his life. … You caused him a lifetime of sorrow and suffering.”
“I question every decision I made as a parent,” she added.
“Shame on you, Mr. Sandusky, for your narcissistic and selfish acts.”
“Whatever comes to you I hope it is tenfold for what you did to my son and others.”
Victim No. 1, in his statement, said of Sandusky, “There is no remorse … just evil.”
Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan said Sandusky is among “the most insidious and depraved of criminals.”
Sandusky founded his charity for young people, Second Mile, to help children, but used it to identify victims, McGettigan said.
“He inserted himself into the lives of children, deceiving their mothers.”
A touch became a grope and “too often a penetration,” McGettigan said.
“No deceit was too shameful for him,” the prosecutor added.
“He relied on shame to silence his victims. … He treated his victims like sexual property which he used as he saw fit.”
McGettigan also slammed Sandusky for whining about “his own pain” in an audio statement Monday night.
Sandusky, speaking for about 13 minutes at the hearing, called his situation “the worst loss of my life.”
“I will cherish the opportunity to be a candle for others,” he said, adding that “somehow, some way, something good will come out of this.”
His wife, Dottie, had tears in her eyes.
Cleland addressed the victims: “The fact that you were assaulted is no cause for shame. … It is for your courage that you will be remembered.” And, he said, they will heal.
Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison and a maximum of 60 years. The 68-year-old had faced a maximum of 400 years in prison.
CNN’s Laura Dolan reported from Bellefonte; Josh Levs reported from Atlanta. CNN’s Susan Candiotti, Jason Carroll, Ross Levitt and Ed Payne contributed to this report