Child sex convict Sandusky sent to Pennsylvania maximum security prison

Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse after his sentencing in his child sex abuse case in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania October 9, 2012.

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Former Penn State assistant football coach and convicted child sexual predator Jerry Sandusky will spend the rest of his days in a maximum security prison in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, the state corrections system decided on Wednesday.

Sandusky, 68, who was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison this month for sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period, was transferred to the State Correctional Institution at Greene County, near Pittsburgh, where he was put in protective custody.

Some of Sandusky's crimes happened on the Penn State University campus where the former defensive coordinator worked for 30 years under famed head coach Joe Paterno. The scandal led to the firings of Paterno and university President Graham Spanier nearly a year ago. Paterno died in January of lung cancer at age 85.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association slapped Penn State with unprecedented penalties in July. They included $60 million in fines and being stripped of all football victories for the past 14 seasons.

Before the transfer, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections had been evaluating Sandusky since his arrival October 23 at its processing center in Camp Hill, near Harrisburg.

In prison, Sandusky will be allowed one visit each week from his family. All visits to his restricted housing unit, including those by counselors, will be non-contact, meaning all communication will happen through his closed cell door.

Sandusky can have a television, radio or other personal property in his cell, as long as it is approved by the prison, located 185 miles away from his home in State College.

"He will eat all of his meals in his cell," Corrections spokeswoman Sue McNaughton said, adding that he will be allowed to exercise for an hour a day, five days a week.

SCI-Greene holds 1,800 inmates, including many convicted murderers.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)