Jury selection ended Wednesday in the child abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, and the judge said the trial would begin next week. “The trial in this case will start Monday morning. We anticipate that it will take at most three weeks and be done by the last day of June,” Judge John Cleland said. Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, faces 52 counts of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. He has pleaded not guilty and faces more than 500 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Prosecutors have accused Sandusky, 68, of meeting the boys through a charity he founded, the Second Mile, and have claimed that some of the assaults occurred at Penn State facilities. The abuse charges shook the school, prompted the firing of legendary football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier, and put an unprecedented focus on sexual predation. The seven women and five men on the jury were chosen Wednesday. Their ties to Penn State illustrate the university's central role in the community. One is a professor there, one works as an administrative assistant, another is a dance teacher in the continuing education program, and one is a 2007 graduate of the university. Along with the 12 regular jurors, four alternates were also selected. The white-haired Sandusky, who wore tan slacks and a sport coat, seemed increasingly upbeat and animated as jury selection progressed. During a lull in the proceedings, he joked with reporters, laughing: “What did you guys do to deserve me? How did you guys get stuck with this? Ay yi yi.”
