BELLEFONTE -- Jurors in the Jerry Sandusky trial deliberated for more than eight hours on Thursday without reaching a verdict in the trial of Jerry Sandusky.
The former Penn State assistant football coach faces 48 counts related to child sexual abuse.
It became quite a scene in front of the courthouse in Bellefonte as their deliberating stretched into the evening. Many people from all over the area came to see the spectacle of media spread out.
Everyone waiting and watching something this community has never seen.
Some were waiting for the verdict in a much different way, of course Jerry Sandusky and the eight alleged victims who took the stand and said Sandusky sexually assaulted and abused them as boys.
“I think they are all courageous that came forward, and I think they are all optimistic that the jury will come back with a guilty verdict on all counts,” said Joel Feller, a victim’s attorney.
Hazleton native Joel Feller and Scranton native Matt Casey are attorneys for two of the alleged victims.
Alleged victim number three is an Iraq war vet who lived in foster homes and told jurors he loved Sandusky despite abuse.
Alleged victim number seven talked about Sandusky bear hugging him naked in the shower and cuddling with him at night.
“No day has been easy for them and while it's unique because the jury is deliberating. It's not all that different for them. They've been living with this for a long time,” said Matt Casey, a victim’s attorney.
In closing arguments, the defense made the case that the alleged victims were prodded by police into making up their stories of abuse.
“The system decided jerry sandusky was guilty and the system set out to convict him,” said Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola.
Prosecutors said that's just a conspiracy theory. They claim Sandusky is a textbook example of a pedophile.
“This case is about him and what he did to them. It`s not about conspiracies. It`s not about seeking fame and fortune,” said prosecutor, Joe McGettigan.
The jurors did have one request for the judge. They want to review the testimony of Mike McQueary and McQueary family friend Dr. Jonathan Dranov. There was some discrepancies between the two regarding McQueary's report that he saw Sandusky assaulting a boy.
The jurors will get to review that testimony starting at 9 a.m. Friday. They are sequestered so that means they will spend nights at hotels with no phones and no contact with the outside world until they have a verdict.