Sandusky trial lawyers gagged

Former Penn State University assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky speaks to NBC’s Bob Costas in a Rock Center exclusive interview.  Sandusky was charged earlier this month with 40 criminal counts accusing him of sexual abuse of minors.

Lawyers involved in the child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky have been ordered to stop talking to the media.

Pennsylvania Judge John Cleland filed a so-called “gag order” on Monday to keep lawyers or their representatives from making statements about evidence, witnesses or Sandusky’s guilt or innocence.


Cleland wrote that the order “is narrowly tailored to achieve its purposes in light of the unprecedented publicity generated by the case” and should help ensure “a fair, impartial and orderly trial.”

Sandusky, 68, is accused of 52 counts of sexual abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year period. The former coach, an assistant to legendary head coach Joe Paterno, has maintained his innocence and has sought to have the charges dismissed. Sandusky has been under house arrest since December.

Attorneys from both sides have oftern talked to reporters after pretrial hearings. After a hearing last week, prosecutor Joe McGettigan criticized the defense claim that the charges lacked specific information by saying Sandusky received “voluminous documentation of perversions against young children,” The Associated Press reported.

And Jerry Sandusky famously gave a prime-time interview to NBC’s Bob Costas less than two weeks after he was charged. In the interview Sandusky admitted to showering with boys. Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola, has spent hours talking with reporters outside court proceedings.

Sandusky’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 5.

Sandusky was charged in November after a three-year grand jury probe. The indictment led to the firing of Penn State’s legendary head football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier.

NBC’s Michelle Franzen reports live at the pre-trial hearing for Jerry Sandusky, who is accused of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15 year period.

Two administrators at Penn State, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, await trial on accusations that they lied to the grand jury and failed to properly report the suspected abuse.

Paterno died in January after a battle with lung cancer.

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