BELLEFONTE — Jerry Sandusky was either a “predatory pedophile” who lured young boys to Penn State with gifts and access to big-time football, or a victim of now-grown men who lied to get a payout, attorneys argued Thursday as the former coach’s child sex-abuse case went to a jury.

As jurors deliberated into the evening, one of Sandusky’s adopted sons came forward for the first time to say that his father had abused him. Matt Sandusky, 33, was prepared to testify for prosecutors at the trial, his attorneys said in a statement. The statement didn’t specify what the alleged abuse was.

The elder Sandusky, who faces life in prison if convicted of 48 counts of abuse of 10 boys over 15 years, smiled and chuckled to himself as prosecutors finished closing arguments. His wife, Dottie, leaned forward in her seat with a concerned look.

The former assistant football coach was arrested in November in a scandal that led to the firing of beloved head coach Joe Paterno, who died of cancer in January, and the departure of the university’s president.

The jury deliberated for more than eight hours Thursday before stopping at about 9:30 p.m.

Earlier, the jurors asked the judge if they could rehear testimony from two witnesses: Mike McQueary, a onetime graduate assistant who reported seeing Sandusky assault a boy in a campus shower, and Dr. Jonathan Dranov, who testified that McQueary gave him a different account of what he saw.

They’ll have a chance to listen again to that testimony, and restart deliberations, today.

Prosecutors said Sandusky was “a serial, predatory pedophile” who used gifts and the pageantry of Penn State’s vaunted football program to attract and abuse vulnerable boys who came from troubled homes.

“What you should do is come out and say to the defendant that he molested and abused and give them back their souls,” Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan III told jurors. “I give them to you. Acknowledge and give them justice.”

During his closing argument, McGettigan put up smiling pictures of eight accusers when they were children; all testified that Sandusky molested them.

Standing behind Sandusky, McGettigan implored the jury to convict him

“He molested and abused and hurt these children horribly,” McGettigan said. “He knows he did it, and you know he did it. Find him guilty of everything.”

Defense attorney Joseph Amendola argued that Sandusky, 68, was targeted by investigators who coached accusers into making false claims about a generous man whose charity gave them much-needed love.

“They went after him, and I submit to you they were going to get him hell or high water, even if they had to coach witnesses,” Amendola said in a sometimes angry closing argument.

The closing arguments came after seven days of testimony, some of it graphically describing alleged abuse suffered at the hands of Sandusky, including touching in showers, fondling and in some cases forced oral or anal sex. One alleged victim – a foster child at the time – testified that Sandusky threatened him, telling him he would never see his family again if he disclosed the assaults.

Prosecutors said Sandusky met his victims through The Second Mile, a charity he founded for at-risk youth.

Eight young men testified that they were abused by Sandusky, and jurors also heard about two other alleged victims through other witnesses, including another former coach.

Sandusky has repeatedly denied the allegations, but he didn’t testify during the trial.

Amendola said the accusers’ stories didn’t make sense, since they also included visits to Sandusky’s home, trips to football games and other activities.

“Folks, you have to use your common sense,” Amendola said. “Jerry Sandusky took these kids everywhere. Is that what a pedophile does? ... Does he parade these kids around?”

McGettigan countered with Sandusky’s own words in a November interview with NBC’s Bob Costas, in which he struggled to give direct answers to questions.

Asked if he was sexually attracted to boys, Sandusky said: “Sexually attracted, you know, I, I enjoy young people. I, I love to be around them. ... No, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”

“I would think that the automatic response, if someone asks you if you’re a criminal, a pedophile, a child molester, or anything along those lines, would be: ‘You’re crazy. No. Are you nuts?’ ” McGettigan said.

The jury had begun deliberating when Matt Sandusky’s attorneys issued a statement alleging that Sandusky abused one of his five adopted sons.

“During the trial, Matt Sandusky contacted us and requested our advice and assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time in this case that he is a victim of Jerry Sandusky’s abuse,” Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici said in the statement. “At Matt’s request, we immediately arranged a meeting between him and the prosecutors and investigators.

“This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy. There will be no further comment.”

Matt Sandusky went to live with Sandusky and his wife as a foster child and was adopted by them as an adult.

Shortly after Jerry Sandusky’s arrest, Matt Sandusky’s ex-wife went to court to keep her former father-in-law away from their three young children.

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