BELLEFONTE (KDKA) — Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was led away in handcuffs late Friday night after jurors convicted him on 45 of 48 child sex abuse counts.

It’s a verdict that will likely send Sandusky to prison for the rest of his life.

Sandusky is now one of 272 inmates at the Centre County Jail, where he was kept under watch overnight.

The jury deliberated for 21 hours over two days before reaching a verdict.

Sandusky’s defense attorney asked whether he could remain on house arrest pending sentencing, but the judge said no.

He was cuffed in the courtroom, and then he was led out of the back of the Centre County Courthouse in handcuffs on his way to the Centre County Jail.

“If you listen to the testimony during this case, you know that this case was about victims,” said Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly. “So, I hope that the message that goes out from this case to the victims of the world that is if they are the victims of sexual abuse – child sexual abuse – that they should know from the verdict in this case that justice has been served, and that they can understand that they no longer have to be silent and that they’ll be believed if they come forward and report these kind of crimes.”

Meanwhile, the defense said they knew they had an uphill climb.

“I used the analogy that we were attempting to climb Mt. Everest from the bottom of the mountain. Well, obviously, we didn’t make it,” said defense attorney Joe Amendola. “We always felt that Jerry’s fair shake would come from a Centre County jury and we still believe that. The jury obviously believed the Commonwealth’s evidence.”

Sandusky will now face formal sentencing in about 90 days.

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