What’s next for Jerry Sandusky after the trial?

A jury took less than two days to find Jerry Sandusky
guilty of 45
of 48 counts
of child sexual abuse, but the judge will need
substantially more
time to decide
his punishment.

It’s likely that Judge John Cleland would order a pre-
sentencing
report, which
would take anywhere from one to two months to complete.

During that time, he would be examined by the state
Sexual
Offenders Assessment
Board to decide if he should be treated as a sexually
violent
predator, and
prosecutors could ask the judge for a hearing.

The judge determines whether someone is a sexually
violent
predator – it
carries stiffer reporting and treatment requirements once
someone
is out of
prison – and can use information from the board’s
investigation in
a sentencing
decision.

If he’s sentenced to state prison – which appears to be
certain in
this case –
then Sandusky will be transferred to Camp Hill, in central
Pennsylvania, which
has 3,000 to 4,000 inmates, about 1,000 of whom are held
temporarily for
classification.

New inmates are put through a battery of medical, dental,
psychiatric,
psychological, vocational and educational testing,
according to
Department of
Corrections spokeswoman Sue Bensinger, who spoke generally
about a
male inmate
convicted in Centre County and not of Sandusky’s case in
particular.

He would then be placed in a state prison based on his
treatment
plan and the
available beds. Sex offenders must undergo mandatory
treatment
programs, she
said. A judge can request placement near an inmate’s home,
but the
department
cannot necessarily honor those requests, she said.

Age is not a factor in the placement of Sandusky, 68, but
any
medical
conditions could be. Inmates from 18 to 79 are housed in
general
populations,
although older inmates may be put in lower bunks and have
other
handicap
accommodations, she said. The majority of state facilities
have
infirmaries.

Sandusky could still face a flurry of potential civil
lawsuits
from his
accusers.