Jerry Sandusky has officially withdrawn his post-conviction claim focused on an accuser’s recantation during a hearing on Tuesday.

Sandusky appeared remotely before Special-Presiding Judge Maureen Skerda to confirm he was withdrawing the claim on the advice of counsel and understood the consequences. He said he had spoken with his attorney, Jerry Russo, about the decision.

Skerda placed Sandusky’s withdrawal on the record for the appeal, and Russo objected. This effectively prevents Sandusky from using the claim again if federal relief fails.

Sandusky’s Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) was also dismissed as part of the hearing.

The former Penn State football assistant coach’s legal team previously filed the motion to withdraw the recantation claim and waive the hearing as he seeks relief in federal court.

Sandusky was scheduled for an evidentiary hearing on September 8, with testimony expected from former accuser Ryan Rittmeyer, Jasmine Rittmeyer, Ryan Rittmeyer’s estranged wife, investigative journalist Frank Parlato, and former Pennsylvania deputy attorney general Frank Fina.

It would have been Sandusky’s first appearance in court in seven years. However, the hearing became a step toward potential federal relief.

Federal relief allows state prisoners to challenge their confinement on federal constitutional grounds. Prisoners generally must exhaust available state court remedies before a federal court can grant relief.

Sandusky said in an audio clip posted on X by John Zeigler that he has lost hope in the state and county courts since his 2012 conviction.

“Over the years, I have brought 15 serious issues before Pennsylvania’s courts, each one showing I deserve a new trial,” Sandusky said.

“Every one was swatted down. I have no faith this one would be treated differently, no matter how compelling the evidence. In federal court, every one of those issues can be heard together by judges who have not already made up their minds about me… I need to get there as fast as possible.

Sandusky, now 82, was convicted in June 2012 on 45 counts related to the sexual abuse of 10 boys. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison and has repeatedly failed in efforts to overturn his convictions.

“I am 82 years old. I am innocent. I intend to be alive when the truth is heard,” he said.

Ryan Rittmeyer — known as Victim 10 during Sandusky’s 2012 trial — testified during Sandusky’s 2012 trial that he had multiple nonconsensual sexual encounters with Sandusky starting before a football game in the fall of 1997.

Ryan Rittmeyer said in a signed affidavit, however, that he had no “clear or certain” memory of Sandusky sexually abusing him when he was first interviewed by the Pennsylvania State Police.

He said prosecutors questioned him multiple times about his experience with Sandusky and encouraged him to reconsider his recollection of interactions.

He also claimed the investigation process affected what he believed had happened and that his false testimony wasn’t “willfully false, but induced.”

Ryan Rittmeyer has not withdrawn his affidavit or reversed his recantation, according to the Post Journal.