With a preliminary hearing set for Tuesday, Jerry Sandusky‘s attorney tells the Associated Press that there have been no talks with the prosecution on a plea agreement.
The former Penn State defensive coordinator is facing a total of 52 charges involving the sexual molestation of 10 underaged male victims, and could face at least some of those victims for the first time during the hearing Tuesday. The attorney, Joe Amendola, told the AP Sandusky is eager to face his accusers.
“We will, for the very first time, have the opportunity to face Jerry’s accusers and question them under oath about their allegations,” Amendola said last week of the preliminary hearing. “We look forward to this opportunity.”
Shortly after Sandusky was arrested last month, Amendola raised the possibility of reaching a plea deal in the case. That talk is apparently off the table, at least for now.
Even if Sandusky were open to a deal, an attorney involved in another sex abuse case told the AP over the weekend that the prosecution would likely go forward with taking the case to trial regardless.
“I would assume there is no point in negotiating anything. The commonwealth (of Pennsylvania) is going to go full bore,” Jeffrey Lindy, a defense attorney in the sex abuse case involving the Catholic Church hierarchy in Philadelphia, told the AP.
Sandusky will be facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison if convicted. He was originally charged with 40 counts early last month, then was arrested on additional charges earlier this month.