By JESSA LEWIS
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A former Penn State football player from Knoxville said recent events have completely altered his view of his former coach.
Found guilty on 45 counts of child sex abuse, former Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky could spend a possible 442 years behind bars.
"I think he totally misled and enamored not just Penn State, but the parents who are the victims, the politicians, the whole state," said former Nittany Lions and Austin East football player LeRoy Thompson. Thompson said he's happy with Friday's verdict and that justice has been served.
"Hopefully this can start the healing process for the families and the children, and I have no empathy for Coach Sandusky. I'm a Christian and we're responsible to pray for his soul. But he is a bad, bad person," said Thompson. He said he used to trust Sandusky, not just as a coach.
"He's a monster now. Then, he was like a father figure to the players. He was a guy that would come into the locker room or he would come into the pure strangers and he would be the life of the party," he said. Thompson added that the scandal may have tarnished the reputation of the school and of the football program, but that only one man is to blame.
"This was Jerry Sandusky's fault. Not the State of Pennsylvania, not Joe Paterno's, not the players that are there now, not the players that came before, not the faculty. Jerry Sandusky committed this crime."
Penn State officials released a statement Saturday morning, saying they are continuing with their own investigation and that they are preparing to reach settlements with the victims who have come after the school for monetary damages.
The judge in the criminal case will sentence Sandusky in about ninety days.
"I think he totally misled and enamored not just Penn State, but the parents who are the victims, the politicians, the whole state," said former Nittany Lion LeRoy Thompson.
Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky could spend a possible 442 years behind bars.
