By Michael Isikoff, NBC News
Pennsylvania state prosecutors are asking that Jerry Sandusky's bail conditions to be tightened after receiving reports from local neighbors that the accused child molester has been spotted? sitting on the deck of his house watching school children in a nearby playground.?
In court papers filed Tuesday, prosecutors say there are "grave concerns" among Sandusky's neighbors about the safety of their children.?They urge a judge to further restrict? conditions for the former Penn State University defensive coach, barring him from "leaving the walls of his house for any reason" unless accompanied by a court officer.
The prosecutors acted after local school officials and neighbors?complained that Sandusky was recently seen on the deck -- which overlooks an elementary school less than 50 yards away -- watching children play during recess.
"To think that he's up there, watching our kids and that's his new outlet, that's just creepy," Amy?Hasan, a neighbor of Sandusky's, told NBC News in an interview.?
Sandusky's lawyer, Joe Amendola, texted a reporter that the claim he's been watching school children from his deck "is a totally false statement" made by individuals who "will not be happy unless Jerry is incarcerated."?
He added that "the law presumes Jerry innocent and Jerrry has always maintained his innocence."
Sandusky -- facing 52 counts of child sex abuse involving?10 children over a 15 year period -- has been under house arrest since his re-arrest last December, confined to his home with an electronic monitor around his ankle.
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Amendola recently asked the judge overseeing?the case, John Cleland, to ease his bail conditions? to allow him to meet, e-mail and text with his grandchildren. Sandusky also wants the freedom to leave his house to accompany a private investigator to identify the homes of potential witnesses in the case. Amendola wrote that the grandchildren have expressed "sadness" about their inability to communicate with their grandfather.
But prosecutors strongly urged the judge to deny the request.?
"House arrest is not meant to be a house party," they write in their?court filing. They also noted that the ex-wife of one of Sandusky's sons "strenously objects to?her three minor children having any contact whatsoever with the defendant."
A hearing on the bail issue is slated for Friday.
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