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Skerda traveling to Centre Cty. for Sandusky case

AP Photo In this Oct. 29, 2015, file photo, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., for a hearing about his appeal. After Judge John Foradora recused himself for unrelated reasons, PA Supreme Court appointed Warren’s own President Judge Maureen Skerda to handle resentencing.

Just because Warren County’s president judge will be presiding over the highest-profile case in the state doesn’t mean the circus will be coming to town.

President Judge Maureen Skerda was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court earlier this month to handle the child sexual abuse resentencing hearing for former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

When that proceeding will take place is not yet clear. Online court records show no filings since Skerda was appointed to the case.

However, the media throng that covered Sandusky’s trial won’t be coming to Warren County.

“The resentencing will be in Centre County,” Warren County Court Administrator Linda Critzer said on Tuesday.

Skerda takes the case in the wake of Jefferson County Judge John Foradora’s recusal for reasons deemed unrelated to the Sandusky case.

She was elected the first female judge in the 37th Judicial District — Warren and Forest counties — and took the bench in 2006. She became president judge in 2010.

Prior to her election as judge, Skerda practiced law in Warren and Forest counties starting in 1988, serving as the court hearing officer from 1992 through 2005.

According to the Associated Press, Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of the sexual abuse of 10 boys, including attacks on campus. Victims testified he subjected them to abuse that ranged from grooming to violent sexual attacks. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years, but that term was overturned by Superior Court in February.

The court ruled that mandatory minimum sentences had been improperly applied by long-time McKean County President Judge John Cleland.

Sandusky is currently being held at SCI Laurel Highlands in Somerset County which, among other groups, specifically holds geriatric prisoners.

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