John Ziegler: Convicted sex abuser Jerry Sandusky is 'innocent, and it's not even close

Famed Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was fired in November 2011 after his longtime assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was indicted on numerous counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a period of 15 years. Paterno passed away from lung cancer in early 2012, months before Sandusky was found guilty of 45 of the 48 counts against him and sentenced to 30-60 years in federal prison.

Lawsuits related to the case revealed additional allegations that Paterno knew about Sandusky's criminal activities as early as 1976, but did nothing to raise the alarm to proper authorities. These allegations, while unproven, have further damaged the reputation of Paterno, the winningest coach in Division I college football history.

John Ziegler, columnist for Mediaite, joined "The Glenn Beck Radio Program" Thursday morning to detail his investigation into the case and his ultimate conclusion that Sandusky was wrongly convicted. As Ziegler previously explained on "Pat & Stu," he believes the media firestorm that surrounded the explosive accusations against Sandusky — and, by association, Paterno — led to a distortion of the facts and Sandusky's conviction in the court of public opinion before his first hearing ever took place.

"To understand this case fully, you have to understand that at the moment of Paterno's firing, all the incentives in this case get flipped upside down," Ziegler said. "Everybody's incentives are now perverse. All the white hats now turn into black hats and the black hats turn into white hats. And from that moment on, we have a domino effect of injustice."

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