HARRISBURG -- Former Penn State assistant gridiron coach Jerry Sandusky, facing 52 charges of child sex abuse involving 10 boys, was permitted to see his grandchildren in a judge's ruling on Monday.

Sandusky, who faces a tentative trial date of May 14, said he was relieved and pleased by judge John Cleland's decision to allow him contact with most of his grandchildren under parental supervision.

Contact with three children who are the subject of custody litigation was left to the judge handling that case.

Cleland also denied a motion to have Sandusky ordered to remain indoors while confined at home awaiting trial, a move prosecutors made after complaints by neighbors and a school behind Sandusky's home.

"No evidence was presented that at any time the defendant made any effort to contact any of the children by signaling or calling to them, or that he made any gestures directed toward them, or that he acted in any inappropriate way whatsoever," Cleland said.

Cleland also denied a request by prosecutors that jurors be selected from outside the State College area, where Sandusky was a long-time aide to the late Joe Paterno, the coach who notched up the most wins in US collegiate American football history.

That means the trial almost certainly will be staged in Centre County, the heart of what Penn State University supporters dubbed "Happy Valley" until child sex allegations in November rocked the small mountain town.

"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 said.

Sandusky was allowed to submit a list of up to 12 adults he would like to be able to see subject to approval by county officials, with Sandusky limited to a total of two hours of visitation for three times a week.

But Sandusky lost his bid to force prosecutors to reveal the names, birth dates and addresses of witnesses against him.

Sandusky, 68, has denied the charges, which are spread over a 15-year span during which he was part of the Nittany Lions gridiron program that won Penn State national attention and million of dollars in television rights fees.

Paterno was fired in November for not doing more than notifying school authorities when told about Sandusky abusing a boy in the locker room shower.

Paterno, who died of lung cancer last month, was replaced as coach of the Nittany Lions by Bill O'Brien, offensive coordinator for the NFL's New England Patriots, who lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl earlier this month.

Tim Curley, on leave as Penn State athletic director while awaiting trial on charges he failed to properly report suspected child abuse and lied to a grand jury investigating Sandusky, asked a judge to toss out the charges against him.

Curley contended in Dauphin County Court that Paterno's death leaves prosecutors without the second witnesses needed to support a perjury charge.

He also says the charge that he did not report a suspected 2002 abuse was filed under a revised law that did not exist at the time and so the statute of limitations has expired in his case.

Former Penn State vice president Gary Schultz faces the same charges as Curley. Both have denied the charges, but Schultz has not filed similar motions.

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