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Surprise was not what most Yorkers felt when they heard the verdict Friday night declaring Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child abuse.
"It should have been 48 out of 48 instead of 45." Scott Sheaffer, 35, of Spring Garden township.
Many York residents said Sandusky got what he deserved.
"Personally I thought he was guilty, because you don't have that many people coming forward when you are not guilty. I wish he would have pled guilty a lot sooner instead of dragging all these people into it," said Ray Becker, 67, of Windsor township, who used to take classes at Penn State York.
The support for Sandusky shown by his wife, Dottie throughout the trial also disgusted many York residents.
"It's a shame that his wife had to help him hide it and the way they had to disgrace Joe Paterno, that's a shame too," said Robert Guiffrida, 50, of York township.
Guiffrida enjoys going to Penn State football games and said it was always like one big happy family, but the Sandusky scandal has changed all of that.
Jack Colahan, 61, of Red Lion, also said the verdict was justified.
"I don't think there is any question about the evidence, especially at the end when his adopted son came forward," said Colahan.
Penn State York student Tempest Kreft, 18, said she has been hearing about the case since the news broke out last fall. Students at all of the Penn State campuses would receive emails alerting them of any changes or progress.
"As soon as the verdict was filed I got an email describing what the verdict said and saying how they will keep trying to help the victims," said Kreft, adding that she was happy about the verdict.
Carroll Luckenbaugh, 76, had two sons who graduated from Penn State and said that he wishes the officials there would have followed the adage that says "where there is smoke, there is fire" and begun investigating Sandusky a long time ago.
"I think Penn State officials should have nipped it in the bud when they first heard rumors about it," Luckenbaugh said.
Instead they will now be investigating for years, which puts a damper on everything at Penn State, said Luckenbaugh.
"I am very concerned about the image of Penn State. They had a great record both academically and athletically, but now they have to start all over because of this," Luckenbaugh said.
"It seems whenever I read a quote from a board member they just put their feet in their mouth," said Luckenbaugh, who lives in Adams County and works in York at the Otterbein Early Education center. "It's not going to go away in my lifetime, but hopefully eventually it will."
John Dawson, of York township, taught mathematics at Penn State main campus from 1972 to 1975 and at Penn State York from 1975 until 2006, never met Sandusky but he is glad the trial is over and Sandusky was ruled guilty.
"I felt the evidence I heard was pretty overwhelming, and it will be interesting to see what kind of sentence he gets," Dawson said."
"I hope that it will bring some peace to the Penn State community," said Dawson. "There's some things I must admit I don't understand about the defense in particular. Why Sandusky himself didn't want a change of venue for instance."
"But I think the overwhelming feeling of most of the people I know at Penn State is that one man did an incredible amount of damage to a lot of people's reputation and it's going to take a lot of time to heal," Dawson said.
"And I think in particular with Paterno's passing - which I think was hastened by all of this - we've entered a new era and I don't think we're going to see a coach with the standards that Paterno had. He may have made a mistake and I think the greater fault lies in the secrecy within Penn State, not just within the sports department but in things like the fact that Penn State does not report salaries."
He believes time is what it will take to restore Penn State's reputation.
"I think its wrong to blame the whole institution for one person's actions, and I think its wrong to even blame the athletic department because I don't think they had much to do with it aside from the secrecy. I hope some legislation will take place to change the secrecy."
Mike Harvey, the talent coordinator and former chairman for Sports Night, which helped raise money for The Second Mile said the whole thing is "overwhelming."
"It's a tragedy for everyone involved, particularly the young people," said Harvey. "I was not surprised at the verdict, I don't think anyone was surprised."
Harvey said that Penn State is still a great university and the Second Mile charity still did a lot to help people, and Sports Night will continue to seek out representatives of Penn State sports programs.
However, Sports Night organizers have pulled everything relating to the Second Mile from their advertising and marketing.
"We're moving in another direction with our charitable organizations, and we're going to seek some other means of supporting the community," said Harvey.
He said that although Sandusky was a good friend to many people in York for many years, he can't help but question what his motivation was with the Second Mile.
"It certainly makes you think," said Harvey. "Do you really know the character of the individuals around you? Is what you're seeing on the outside matching their character on the inside?"
"It is tragic that one person can bring so many others down. It's over, but it's not over in my mind, and there is a lot more work to be done," Harvey said. "How do we warn our children about this? Obviously there are other people out there who are gaining the trust of young people. How do they separate the good from the evil? I don't know. To betray the trust of children is the ultimate sin."
- Reach Chelsea Shank at cshank@yorkdispatch.com.
