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HARRISBURG -- Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that convicted serial child abuser Jerry Sandusky's latest attempt to have his conviction overturned failed Tuesday, when a judge dismissed a Post Conviction Relief Act filing.
Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of sexual abuse of numerous children -- who he accessed through the former coach's Second Mile charity -- and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.
Since the conviction, he has filed numerous appeals. The state courts have rejected each challenge to his conviction.
Though the PCRA Court provided Sandusky with the opportunity to present evidence to support his allegations, Sandusky declined to move forward and withdrew his claim that one of his victims had recanted. On Tuesday, the Court questioned Sandusky to confirm that he intended to withdraw his claim, and the PCRA was formally dismissed.
"This was yet another attempt by a convicted child predator to avoid accountability and escape punishment for years of abuse he perpetrated under the veil of a child-empowerment program," Attorney General Sunday said. "I commend our litigation team for challenging this alleged recantation by one victim, and putting on record the voluminous evidence that debunks this highly-suspect claim by defense counsel."
To summarize Tuesday's events:
— The PCRA was formally dismissed by the Court.
— The defendant was colloquied extensively about his intent to withdraw the recantation claim that would have been the subject of the hearing.
— The Commonwealth presented an offer of proof of the rebuttal evidence consisting of testimony from six witnesses and other evidence.
The Commonwealth presented its concerns about the defense’s lack of compliance with a court order directing the defense to provide all documents or materials relevant to the evidentiary testimony of proposed defense witnesses pertaining to the recantation claim before the Court. The Court’s order directed that the defense provide any and all post-trial interviews, statements or accounts provided by proposed defense witnesses in written, video, recorded or audio format that pertain to or address the victim’s allegations of sexual abuse by the defendant, the victim’s trial testimony, or the current recantation claim before the Court.
Senior Deputy Attorneys General Cari Mahler and Jaime Keating are representing the Commonwealth in the PCRA proceedings.
Judge Maureen Skerda, retired Court of Common Pleas judge in Warren County, is hearing the arguments.