Pennsylvania attorney general calls Sandusky accuser’s supposed recantation ‘highly suspect’
Lawyers for Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach convicted of child sexual abuse, asked a court Thursday to postpone a Sept. 8 hearing on a claim that an accuser wants to recant allegations that Sandusky sexually abused him years ago.
The filing is the latest in a series of efforts by Sandusky’s defense team to obtain a new trial. The judge in the case scheduled a status conference Friday to discuss the defense request with the lawyers. In their filing, Sandusky’s lawyers indicated they want to first pursue an appeal of the judge’s refusal to consider other claims beyond the supposed recantation before the hearing goes forward.
Sandusky, 82, has been serving a decades-long prison sentence since his 2012 conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse. Eight young men testified at trial about what happened to them as boys. He has repeatedly lost attempts to get a new trial.
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General has characterized the supposed recantation as “highly suspect.”