Nittany Lyin’? Jerry Sandusky Denies Guilt In Hearing For Child Molestation Retrial

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has gone on record as saying he denies the charges of child molestation that have become synonymous with his name.

According to the Associated Press, the orange clad 72-year-old Sandusky showed up at a recent appeals hearing at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, telling the judge that he denies his 2012 conviction on the grounds that he never should have gone to jail.

Speaking graphically and hoping to sound earnest in his claims, Sandusky also spoke at length about the accusations levied against him at the time. He also told the judge that he has never had oral or anal sex with any of his partners, as he finds each of those acts personally “disgusting.”

Jerry Sandusky forcefully denies sexual abuse of boys https://t.co/kEH5arC8Tw pic.twitter.com/NBLlzjJASk

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 12, 2016

Now just four years into his 30- to 60-year sentence on 45 counts of child molestation, Sandusky hopes to finally take the witness stand for himself in the hopes of delivering a testimony moving enough to earn the former coordinator his freedom for the first time since 2012.

Unfortunately for Sandusky, legal precedent does not seem to be on his side.

Sandusky, who is believed to have permanently marred the Penn State football program as well as the reputation of the once beloved Nittany Lions head football coach Joe Paterno, now denies having ever sexually abused the 10 boys for which he was formerly convicted.

Sandusky’s football program colleagues, including Paterno, who died in 2012, are believed to have contributed to the alleged crimes as well by failing to notify authorities when they were believed to have witnessed them first hand.

Sandusky was accompanied by two lawyers on Friday, each of whom describing what the AP called “key decisions that were made before and during his 2012 trial.”

“This is a story of how the media, overzealous law enforcement, a biased grand jury judge, an abused grand jury process, prosecutorial malfeasance, a discredited and pseudoscientific type of therapy, greed and serial instances of ineffective assistance of counsel resulted in transforming an innocent man into one of this country’s most infamous ‘child predators,’” one member of Sandusky’s legal team, Al Lindsay, said in a court filing obtained by CNN.

And regardless of Sandusky’s actual level of guilt, the court of public opinion has certainly not been kind.

At issue for Sandusky was the defense team’s decision not to have him testify four years ago, as well as the lawyers’ unanticipated response to a surprise claim, the AP noted, of “[Sandusky’s] adopted son who says Sandusky molested him.”

“Sandusky [made] a forceful denial of the child molestation charges,” said the AP of the former coach’s hour-long testimony before a judge,“[saying] it wasn’t his idea to waive his right to testify.”

That decision, which Sandusky believes was not the right one for him, was made by a member of his legal staff at the time.

Sandusky’s plea trial is expected to continue through much, if not all, of August, with August 22 or 23 the projected end date. He hopes that his cries and denials are heard by the judge and that either his conviction is thrown out or he is given the opportunity to go back to trial.

[Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images]