Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

The alleged sexual abuse victims of Jerry Sandusky will testify against the former Penn State assistant football in a preliminary hearing next week, ABC News is reporting, citing people close to the case.

At least one of Sandusky’s eight alleged victims was known to have plans to testify at the Dec. 13 hearing, according to the man’s attorneys. But ABC News is reporting the other seven alleged victims also will testify.

Sandusky has been charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse stemming from the grand jury report released in November that alleged he had illicit contact with eight young boys over a 15-year period.

Prosecutors allege Sandusky met the victims through The Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk children.

Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, said he’s looking forward to questioning the witnesses against his client — including any alleged victims who testify at the preliminary hearing.

“Although the preliminary hearing is not a trial, but simply a probable cause proceeding … we will, for the very first time, have the opportunity to face Jerry’s accusers and question them under oath about their allegations,” Amendola said in a statement released Monday.

“We look forward to this opportunity.”

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Sandusky said he never sexually abused any child and that prosecutors have misunderstood his work with kids. He described a family and work life that “could often be chaotic, even odd, one that lacked some classic boundaries between adults and children.”

He described scenes in which his State College, Pa., home turned into a makeshift recreation center with wrestling matches and sleepovers.

“It was, you know, almost an extended family,” Sandusky said of his household’s relationship with children from The Second Mile. He characterized his experiences with children he was close with as “precious times,” and said the physical aspect of the relationships “just happened that way.”

Michael Boni, the attorney who represents Victim Number 1 in the grand jury report, took offense to Sandusky’s characterization of the events.

“These were, quote, ‘precious’ moments for him,” Boni told ABC News. “In fact, they were the most vile, horrendous, unspeakable moments for his victims.”

Some of the alleged abuse happened on Penn State’s campus, including one incident the grand jury said was witnessed by then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, now an assistant coach who last month was put on administrative leave by the university. That incident wasn’t immediately brought to the attention of authorities even though high-level people at Penn State apparently knew about it.

The scandal has resulted in the ousting of school president Graham Spanier and longtime football coach Joe Paterno, and has brought shame to one of college football’s legendary programs. Athletic director Tim Curley has been placed on administrative leave, and vice president Gary Schultz, who was in charge of the university’s police department, has stepped down.

Schultz and Curley are charged with lying to the grand jury and failure to report to police. They maintain their innocence.

ESPN