By Ian Simpson and Dave Warner
BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, hours after broadcasting a statement proclaiming his innocence of child sex abuse and denouncing his accusers, arrived in court on Tuesday to learn whether he will spend his life in prison.
Sandusky, 68, faces a sentence of hundreds of years in prison after being convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse for molesting 10 boys over 15 years, some in the football team's showers on campus.
Several dozen spectators waited outside the Centre County Courthouse on a crisp morning in hopes of getting a seat in the second-floor courtroom for the latest development in a case that put the national spotlight on the issue of child sex abuse.
Sandusky arrived around 8:40 a.m. (1240 GMT) in the backseat of a sheriff's car, handcuffed and dressed in a red prison uniform. Looking thin, Sandusky smiled at the crowd but did not say anything.
Among those at the courthouse was Corinne Dimmerman-Blood, 47, of nearby Milesburg, who had been in line since 5:50 a.m. She said she and her brothers grew up with Sandusky's children.
"I hope he gets what he deserves, a long time in jail," she said. "I hope he doesn't get to go to one of those cushy places."
On the eve of his sentencing, Sandusky released a taped statement on Penn State's student radio station in which he denied he committed the "alleged disgusting acts" and said his wife has been his only sex partner.
Sandusky's case jolted the world of college athletics, where Penn State football reigned for decades under legendary coach Joe Paterno. On grounds that they failed to act on what they knew about Sandusky's behaviour, Paterno was fired, as was university President Graham Spanier. Paterno died in January of lung cancer at age 85.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jackie Frank)