CENTRE COUNTY, Penn. — The former Penn State assistant football coach currently awaiting trial on child sex assault charges can visit with some of his grandchildren, a judge ruled Monday.
The decision by Judge John Cleland eases some conditions of Jerry Sandusky’s house arrest, which had forbidden contact with his 11 grandchildren.
Sandusky will be allowed to visit with eight of his grandchildren under parental supervision, the judge ruled.
But another judge in a custody case involving three of the grandchildren should decide whether Sandusky can visit with them, Cleland ruled. The mother of those children has strongly objected to them having contact with Sandusky.
In his ruling Monday, Cleland denied the Pennsylvania attorney general’s request that Sandusky be required to stay indoors during his house arrest because of fears from neighbors and teachers at a nearby elementary school.
Prosecutors did not present any evidence showing that Sandusky had tried to contact children at the school, Cleland said.
The state “failed to present any evidence whatsoever that (Sandusky) presents a clearly defined threat to any student at the adjoining elementary school simply by being on his deck,” Monday’s the ruling says.
Cleland also ruled Monday that Sandusky would be allowed to have visits from adult friends and leave his home for meetings with attorneys and private investigators aiding in his defense, provided that a probation coordinator approves.
Sandusky has been under house arrest since December, when he was charged with sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period, allegations that led to the firing of the Nittany Lions’ heralded head football coach Joe Paterno only months before he died of complications from lung cancer.
Sandusky has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Cleland has said he is aiming for a May 14 trial for Sandusky.
On Monday, the judge denied a prosecution request that jurors be selected from outside the county where the former coach is being prosecuted.
Sandusky said last week that people were turning on him, and it was “difficult to understand.”
“I’m associated with thousands of young people over the years,” Sandusky said. “And now, all of a sudden, these people turn on me when they’ve been in my home with their kids.”
State Attorney General Linda Kelly blasted Sandusky’s request to see his grandchildren, saying in a motion this month that he was fortunate to be granted house arrest when “he is alleged to have committed 52 sexual offenses.”
“He has been granted the privilege of being confined in his home, which is spacious and private, and where he can eat food of his own preference and sleep in his bed at night,” the motion said.
