Jerry Sandusky granted new evidentiary hearing after accuser recants testimony
Disgraced Penn State defensive coordinator and convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky is scheduled to return to court next month, more than a year after one of his accusers recanted his allegations, according to court documents.
Sandusky, 82, was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison after his conviction in June 2012 on 45 counts of child sex abuse. Several prior petitions for post-conviction relief had been denied over the years.
He filed a new one in September 2025, which a Pennsylvania judge initially dismissed.
That decision was vacated over a procedural misstep, and Sandusky was later granted an evidentiary hearing after one witness, identified as R.R. in court documents, recanted his testimony.
"Affidavits from R.R. (alleged Victim 10) and the mother of alleged Victim 9 also establish that the Commonwealth engaged in questionable tactics to influence testimony of its witnesses," Sandusky's attorneys wrote in their amended petition.
Read Sandusky's amended petition for post-conviction relief:
They placed R.R.'s recantation within their broader allegation that authorities influenced Sandusky's accusers with therapy and suggestive interviewing, as well as undisclosed changes in witness accounts, according to court filings.
"[T]hroughout the pretrial process, I was told — both directly and indirectly — that trauma may have fragmented my memory, and that I could safely affirm details I did not fully recall," R.R. is quoted as saying in an exhibit attached to Sandusky's petition. "I was assured this was common and even expected."
Sandusky's lawyers allege that R.R. "was coached extensively and asked to revisit and reframe his allegations."
R.R.'s estranged wife, identified in the filings as Jasmine Rittmeyer, provided an affidavit and could testify, according to Sandusky's amended petition.
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Lawyers for the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office have described her as R.R.'s "soon-to-be" ex-wife.
Read the prosecution's motion:
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"The opinion of R.R.'s estranged spouse thirteen years after defendant's trial, pondering what she thinks may or may not have really happened to R.R. when he was 10 years old, or any other Sandusky child victim for that matter, is irrelevant and inadmissible," Deputy AGs Cari Mahler and Jaime Keating wrote.
The Commonwealth wrote in court filings that Rittmeyer’s affidavit alleges Sandusky investigator Frank Parlato contacted R.R. and "suggested that it would be beneficial for [him] to recant his testimony" before the recantation.
It is asking the judge not to allow Rittmeyer to testify about her opinion regarding Sandusky's guilt or innocence or whether she believes R.R. told the truth at trial.
Prosecutors also want the focus of the hearing to be on R.R.'s recantation and not the entire case against Sandusky.
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Sandusky's lawyers had raised several other claims in the original petition, including that he was denied due process and is entitled to a new trial over allegations that prosecutors influenced the testimony of a different witness and later profited from his allegations.
Sandusky has maintained his innocence after more than a decade behind bars.
He's due in the Bellefonte courthouse Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 9:30 a.m. for the evidentiary hearing.