Sandusky to appear at hearing

BELLEFONTE, Pa., Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A judge has ruled former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky may leave his state prison cell to attend a court hearing next week.

McKean County Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge John Cleland signed an order Thursday permitting Sandusky, convicted in June on 45 counts of child sexual abuse, to travel next Thursday from State Correctional Institution Greene in Waynesburg, Pa., to the hearing at Centre County, Pa., courthouse in Bellefonte, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Friday.

Sandusky is to be escorted by sheriff's deputies,

Sandusky has maintained his innocence and is pursuing appeals. The hearing will address his post-sentencing motions, the newspaper said.