The lawyer for Jerry Sandusky on Wednesday asked for a delay in the former Penn State assistant football coach's June 5 trial on 52 counts of child sex-abuse trial.

Defense attorney Joe Amendola argued in a 13-page motion that he needed more time to prepare or he would be "unable to effectively and adequately" represent Sandusky.

Amendola said he was still waiting for material from prosecutors.

---

Judge John Cleland did not immediately rule on the delay request or other motions Amendola filed seeking access to records from schools, child services agencies and others, but he said he wanted to swiftly resolve disagreements and push the case toward trial.

Cleland opened the hearing in Bellefonte, Penn., by noting the "trial is approaching."

Amendola said in his motion the defense team needs more time to find and interview witnesses.

Pending criminal charges against two potential witnesses, Penn State administrators Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, have made them unavailable as witnesses in June, Amendola’s motion also said.

Lawyers for Curley, the school's athletic director now on leave, and Schultz, the retired vice president who supervised campus police, have indicated their clients will invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to testify if called.

A spokesman for the state attorney general's office declined to comment. Cleland has imposed a partial gag order on lawyers in the case.

Sandusky, 68, is confined to his State College home to await the start of his trial involving 10 boys over age 15. Sandusky has denied the allegations.

In a separate motion, Amendola asked Cleland to direct prosecutors to provide paper copies of computer records he has been given, including phone records taken from the office of former Penn State coach Joe Paterno.

Amendola told the judge the defense is looking for "any evidence" that "students suffered from behavioral issues, mental health issues, prior to their contact with The Second Mile or the defendant." Sandusky founded The Second Mile as a charity for at-risk youth and met many of his alleged victims there between 1994 and 2008.

Cleland said he may throw out parts of some defense subpoenas rather than quash entire demands. He also suggested he would review some of the documentation in private

School districts and government agencies have asked Cleland to throw out subpoenas. Keystone Central School District, for example, home of a Sandusky accuser known as “Victim One,” argued in an April 30 motion that defense has not set out legitimate arguments for release of their student's counseling and academic records, the Patriot-News reported.

At least some of the alleged abuse happened in the Penn State football team's facilities, prosecutors said. One of the alleged attacks was witnessed by former receivers coach Mike McQueary, then a graduate assistant. The ensuing scandal led to the firing of Paterno and the ouster of university President Graham Spanier.

On Monday, prosecutors said an alleged locker-room shower assault by Sandusky on a boy known in court documents as “Victim Two” took place around Feb. 9, 2001, about a year earlier than they first claimed. The date change may not affect the Sandusky prosecution, legal experts said, but it could mean the statute of limitations expired for related charges against Tim Curley, the athletic director who is on leave, and Gary Schultz, a university vice president who has retired. The two are fighting allegations that they lied to a grand jury and failed to properly report suspected child abuse. The date change affects the failure to report charges, their lawyer said.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Piglets twirled, pigs kicked by farm workers, activist video shows
• Conservative author drops claim of two Pulitzer nominations
• Viewing child porn 'legal' in New York, court finds
• Principal: Errors get Nevada high schol ranked 13th in US
• Video: More girls suffering sports-related concussions
• Half of Americans support gay marriage in new poll

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

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.

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.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Prosecutor: No grand jury for Trayvon Martin case
• US shatters record for warmest March
• Two held on $9 million bail in Tulsa rampage
• Teens ignore risks to tan for prom
• Missing mom 'would never leave those kids'

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

More than a decade before former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with more than 50 counts of child sex abuse, a psychologist warned university police that his actions fit that of a “likely pedophile’s pattern,” NBC News reports.

The finding by State College, Pa., psychologist Dr. Alycia A. Chambers, the therapist for one of Sandusky’s alleged victims, was contained in the internal Penn State files of a 1998 police investigation of the former coach for showering and bear hugging her client and another young boy in the school’s athletic locker room.

---

NBC News has obtained the complete file on the investigation – the police report and assessments by two psychologists who interviewed the boys -- which provides new details about Sandusky’s behavior. It also could raise fresh questions about how school and local authorities handled his case.

You can read the full story here.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Geraldo Rivera blames hoodie for Trayvon's death
• For alleged Afghan shooter, death penalty unlikely
• Civil War relic thief engaged in 'heartbreaking' destruction
• Students walk out in Trayvon Martin protest

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

A lawyer for former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky vowed to seek a dismissal of child sex abuse charges against his client after a judge on Tuesday refused to force prosecutors to provide more details on the allegations.

Judge John Cleland rejected attorney Joe Amendola's request for more information such as exact dates of the purported molestations, details that Amendola said were crucial to building a defense against 52 counts of sexual abuse.

---

Instead the judge in Pennsylvania's Centre County Court sided with prosecutors, who said they had already extracted as much information as possible from the accusers, described by prosecutor Joe McGettigan as "very troubled children" who were now adults.

"If the victims were capable of providing detail ... we would have done so," McGettigan said.

Several of the accusers allege in court documents the abuse occurred over several years, including one who said it began when he was 8 and lasted six years.

"Any order directing the Commonwealth to supply details would be a futile act since the Commonwealth has explained it cannot supply the details requested," the judge wrote, using Commonwealth to refer to the state.

In response, Amendola said he will seek a dismissal of the charges.

Amendola told reporters on Monday he believed Sandusky's right to due process was being violated.

Sandusky, who has maintained his innocence, is under house arrest. Jury selection in his trial is set to begin in mid-May.

The sex abuse scandal rocked the world of college football and led to the dismissal of Penn State's legendary coach Joe Paterno and University President Graham Spanier.

The university's Board of Trustees said both men showed a "failure of leadership" in not doing more when alerted to suspicions of child sexual abuse by Sandusky.

In a statement on Monday, Paterno’s family blamed the Board of Trustees for not conducting a thorough investigation of the sex-abuse scandal and said they had changed their story about the reason's for Paterno’s firing.

"The tough questions that have yet to be addressed relate not to Joe Paterno, but to the board. Two months ago, as Joe Paterno was dying, the board conducted a series of media interviews condemning him for 'moral' failures. Now they are trying a different tack and accusing him of 'leadership' failures,” the statement, quoted in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, said.

Paterno, who was head coach at the football powerhouse for 46 years, died of lung cancer on Jan. 22.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

• Study: Thousands face drinking water pollution risk
• 15 inches of rain floods Louisiana homes, roads
• Strip club donation saves Little League season
• Warm weather records falling across Northeast, Midwest
• Afghan massacre: Chain-of-command failure

US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Jerry Sandusky can see most of his grandchildren while he awaits trial, the judge overseeing the child sex abuse against the former coach said Monday.

The judge ruled that Sandusky can also use a jury chosen from the State College, Penn., area to hear his case.

Judge John Cleland ordered the state attorney general's office to disclose the ages of purported victims at the time the crimes are said to have occurred, as well as the times, dates and locations of when prosecutors said they happened.

---

"If, after a reasonable attempt it is apparent that a jury cannot be selected within a reasonable time, then I will reconsider this ruling," Cleland wrote.

The former Penn State assistant football coach appeared in court Friday morning for a hearing that covered conditions of his bail. Sandusky had sought eased bail restrictions that would allow him access to his grandchildren.

Related: Sandusky hearing covers bail conditions

In his ruling, Cleland said Sandusky can see the children under their parents' supervision, except for three grandchildren who are the subject of custody litigation.  

Prosecutors had sought to have Sandusky confined to his home after hearing complaints from neighbors about the safety of children, particularly at an elementary school behind Sandusky's house, but the judge denied that request.

The attorney general's office also wanted an out-of-county jury for trial, but the judge decided on a local jury.

According to the ruling, a coordinator may limit the number of people who are allowed to visit Sandusky at any one time. Visits will be limited to two hours, three times a week. Requests to leave the residence in the company of his counsel must be submitted 36 hours in advance.

Sandusky, 68, faces 52 criminal counts for what prosecutors say was sexual abuse of 10 boys over a 15-year period. He has denied the allegations.

Sandusky was released on Dec. 8, 2011 after posting a $250,000 bail. He was placed under electronic monitoring and house arrest. According to court documents, Sandusky has 11 grandchildren, whose ages range from 2 to 14 years old.

Cleland has set a tentative trial date for mid-May.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported Monday that former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, 57, asked a judge to dismiss the perjury charge he’s facing as part of the Sandusky scandal, saying through his attorney that the late Joe Paterno's testimony would have provided the evidence that prosecutors needed.

Pittsburgh attorney Caroline Roberto said in a motion filed in Dauphin County court Monday that Paterno’s statements can’t be used at trial, since she had no chance to cross-examine him when he testified before the secret grand jury, the paper reported. Pennsylvania law requires corroboration in a perjury charge.

Prosecutors accused Curley and former Penn State vice president Gary Schultz of failing to take appropriate action after former assistant coach Mike McQueary told them he had seen Sandusky assault a young boy in the locker room shower and then lying to the investigating grand jury about what they were told. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

• 911 operator in Powell case: 'It was horrible'
• Smuggled bush meat brings viraProsecutors aim new weapon at Occupy protesters: lynching charges
  Trial opens 2 years after feds break up militia

Jerry Sandusky walked out of a courthouse Friday where a judge was considering whether to let him see his relatives and friends while he awaits trial on child sex-abuse charges and told reporters Friday he felt people have turned on him.

The judge could rule early next week on Sandusky's request for greater freedom, including supervised visits with his grandchildren, but Sandusky said he felt people who had been welcomed in his home were now trying to keep him confined indoors. He denies the criminal allegations.

"I've associated with thousands of young people over the years," said Sandusky, 68, the former Penn State defensive coordinator charged with 52 criminal counts involving 10 victims over 15 years. "And now, all of a sudden, because of allegations and perceptions that have been tried to be created of me, now I can't take our dog on my deck and throw out biscuits to him."

---

Sandusky's home borders an elementary school and its playground. After he sought permission to see relatives and friends and leave his home to help lawyers prepare his case, the attorney general's office countered with a court filing that said neighbors expressed concern for the safety of children. A teacher and intern also reported that he had been watching children from his back deck.

Prosecutors want an order that restricts Sandusky to the inside of his home, which a county probation officer said would be unusual for people under in-home detention.

His lawyer, Joe Amendola, told Judge John Cleland that Sandusky had not sought probation officers' approval for adult visitors, but he was seeking the judge's permission because he sensed the officers were reluctant to do anything out of the ordinary. An investigator said none of the complaints involved Sandusky approaching children.

State prosecutor Jonelle Eshbach told the judge that a clearly defined trip to help his legal team would be one thing, but she was against letting him have visitors. The allegations include charges he sexually attacked a boy in the basement of his home, while his wife was upstairs.

"This home was not safe for children for 15 years, and it's not safe for children now," Eshbach said. "We think that the actual contact, visitation with his grandchildren is not a good idea. And we also feel that way with regard to visitors."

Prosecutors noted that one daughter-in-law strongly objects to increased contact between her children and Sandusky, while Amendola presented the court with letters from Sandusky's children, and notes and drawings from his grandchildren, expressing their desire for increased contact.

He also noted a court-appointed guardian for grandchildren who are part of a custody dispute found no reason Sandusky couldn't see them.

"Comparing with a jail situation, were he in jail, he would have certain rights to have visitors," Amendola told Cleland.

State investigator Anthony Sassano testified that children had noticed Sandusky from their classroom, and that his presence was disrupting school activities.

One neighbor had used a video camera to document Sandusky's time on his deck, Sassano said. He said Sandusky was seen on the video brushing his dog or letting the dog go outside to play. Sandusky cannot walk the dog because of his bail restrictions, Amendola said.

Sandusky said after the hearing that his neighbors have changed toward him.

"Now all of a sudden, these people turn on me when they've been in my home with their kids," he said. "They've attended birthday parties when they've been on that deck. When their kids have been playing in my yard. When their kids have been sled riding when they've asked to sled ride. It's difficult for me to understand."

His home at the end of a dead-end street has a black and orange "No Trespassing" sign at the driveway, while earlier this week the two properties directly adjacent to his home sported white signs supporting the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

Widener University law professor Wes Oliver, who observed the proceeding, predicted Cleland was unlikely to order Sandusky to remain indoors.

"Clearly what the prosecution was doing was trying to appease the community," said Oliver, who teaches criminal procedure.

The hearing concerned various issues that have arisen since Sandusky was first arrested in early November. Cleland indicated he hoped to start trial May 14.

In an unusual move, prosecutors are seeking a jury from outside Centre County, home of Penn State and a charity for children that Sandusky founded in 1977, The Second Mile.

Sandusky wants a jury made up of people who live in State College and the surrounding area, and Cleland had him testify to ensure that he was fully aware of the ramifications.

Sandusky said he was aware that he would not be able to launch an appeal, if he is convicted, on grounds the local jury was biased. Sandusky said there was not a viable alternative in Pennsylvania, where his case has been heavily reported.

"I don't believe that would matter, relative to any place (else) in this state," he testified.

Cleland could try to pick a local jury and see whether prosecution concerns are valid about the pervasive publicity and local ties to Penn State and The Second Mile, a charity for at-risk children that Sandusky founded, based in nearby State College.

Sandusky smiled as he answered the judge's questions, and after the session Amendola told reporters that his client's body language reflected his personality. Amendola said the charges have devastated Sandusky, however.

"This whole situation, being cast as a pedophile, has crippled him emotionally," he said.

Another issue, the defense's request for early disclosure of grand jury transcripts, received little attention in the courtroom, and afterward Sandusky defense lawyer Karl Rominger said it may end up being resolved by the judge who supervised the jury.

Both defense and prosecution said the mid-May trial date may not be realistic, given that the need for other pretrial issues to be ironed out. Amendola said he believes the case can be heard in two weeks, while prosecutors said a month is more likely.

The scandal led the Penn State trustees to push out university president Graham Spanier and football coach Joe Paterno, who died last month.

Two Penn State administrators are awaiting trial on charges they lied to a grand jury investigating Sandusky and failed to properly report suspected child abuse. Gary Schultz, a former vice president, and Tim Curley, the athletic director, have both denied the allegations.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

• Obama revamps contraceptive policy
• District paid teacher in LA abuse scandal to settle
• Super PAC supporting Ron Paul is run by a 9/11 truther
• Gulf of Mexico? Try 'Gulf of America'

Lawyers representing Jerry Sandusky on Tuesday called for a ream of additional information from the prosecution in the sexual abuse case against the former Pennsylvania State football coach — including phone numbers of the 10 alleged victims — as it attempts to show that the accusers conspired to bring charges, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

"In many cases, the defendant believes the accusers may have collaborated with each other in making these false accusations," according to the 37-page motion filed by defense attorney Joseph Amendola.

Sandusky, 68, is facing 52 counts of child sex abuse involving 10 boys between 1994 and 2008. Sandusky waived a preliminary hearing, and is slated to proceed to trial.

---

The filing asked the judge overseeing the case, John Cleland, to order the prosecution to turn over or disclose redacted details on dozens of police reports, as well as psychiatric evaluations of the alleged victims and interview notes from the three-year long investigation, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

The report said that Cleland is expected to address this issue, as well Sandusky’s effort to modify his bail conditions at the same proceeding on Friday.

The coach has been under house arrest since he was released on $250,000 bail in December.

As NBC News’ Michael Isikoff reported Tuesday, the prosecutors are seeking to tighten bail conditions after receiving reports from anxious neighbors that Sandusky has been spotted sitting on the deck of his house watching schoolchildren in a nearby playground.

Sandusky had been seeking permission to have supervised visits with his grandchildren, but the prosecutors noted in a filing that the ex-wife of one of Sandusky's sons "strenuously objects to her three minor children having any contact whatsoever with the defendant."

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

• Pilots worry about safety of domestic drones in US skies
• Iowa Test on way out of classrooms?
• Cops: Powell meticulously planned murder-suicide
• Court: California ban on gay marriage unconstitutional

Follow Kari Huus on Facebook