Court rejects Sandusky bid for sex abuse trial delay

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky (L) gets out of a car with his wife Dottie (2nd R) as he arrives for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to hold him for trial on charges of sexually abusing boys, at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, December 13, 2011.

(Reuters) - A Pennsylvania appeals court rejected former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's bid for a delay in his high-profile child sex abuse trial on Friday.

The ruling by the Superior Court in Harrisburg means Sandusky's case will go ahead starting with jury selection on Tuesday. The trial is scheduled to start on July 11.

The court turned down without comment a request for a delay filed late on Thursday by Sandusky's lawyers Joe Amendola and Karl Rominger, according to a filing on the court's website.

Sandusky faces 52 counts of child sex abuse charges for allegedly abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. The 68-year-old retired assistant football coach pleaded not guilty and has been under house arrest since December.

Sandusy's attorneys did not give a reason for seeking the delay in a docket sheet posted online. They previously have argued they need more time to prepare for the trial.

Amendola won a three-week delay in March. He has been unsuccessful since then in getting more time to review the evidence.

His most recent appeal was denied on Wednesday by Centre County Court Judge John Cleland. The judge has been adamant about the need to start jury selection on Tuesday.

(Reporting By Ian Simpson; Editing by Vicki Allen)