BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - The defense in Jerry Sandusky's child sexual abuse case has rested without the former Penn State assistant football coach taking the stand in his own defense.
The defense rested Wednesday after both sides presented seven days of testimony.
The jury heard from eight accusers who claim Sandusky abused them. The defense countered with character witnesses and sought to portray investigators as planting the seeds of those abuse reports during interviews with the alleged victims.
The 68-year-old former Penn State assistant football coach could spend the rest of his life in state prison if convicted. He is fighting 51 criminal counts for alleged abuse of 10 boys over 15 years.
The court also recessed for the day.
Earlier Wednesday, defense attorneys sought to undercut testimony by former assistant Mike McQueary.
A family friend of McQueary said the one-time graduate assistant spoke to him the night he claimed he saw Sandusky with a boy in a shower. Dr. Jonathan Dranov said McQueary gave him a different description.
Sandusky's wife, Dottie, took the witness stand Tuesday, defending him against charges he sexually abused boys in their home and on Penn State's campus, allegations he's denied.
Dottie Sandusky had not spoken publicly in more than six months until taking the witness stand Tuesday in her husband's child sexual abuse trial. She said he never had inappropriate contact with boys.
Critics said Sandusky's wife stood quietly by while the once-revered Penn State assistant football coach sexually abused boys in the basement of their home.
But experts in child sexual abuse said offenders are typically very good at concealing their proclivities, even from those closest to them.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, left, and his attorney Joe Amendola leave the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa. , Monday, June 18, 2012. (AP Photo)
Dorothy Sandusky, wife of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa. , Tuesday, June 19, 2012. (AP Photo)
