BELLEFONTE — The child molestation trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky could be in jurors’ hands before the end of the week, with witness testimony on his behalf expected to wrap up in less than three days.

Judge John Cleland announced the schedule on Monday after the first six defense witnesses testified about Sandusky’s reputation in the community and the demanding hours and travel required of Penn State coaches.

There was no indication as to whether Sandusky might testify, and Sandusky looked an Associated Press reporter in the eye and said nothing when asked if he planned to testify. Cleland said defense witnesses should be finished by mid-day Wednesday, and closing statements are now expected Thursday morning.

The defense portion of the case — which followed 21 prosecution witnesses, including eight young men who claimed Sandusky sexually abused them as children — included a former Penn State coach who said he knew Sandusky brought boys into showers but never saw him do anything wrong.

The six witnesses, one who called Sandusky a “local hero,” did little to directly counter the accusers’ testimony.

Possible defense witnesses to come include Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, and an expert who could discuss whether Sandusky has “histrionic personality disorder,” which experts have called a personality disorder characterized by inappropriate sexual behavior and erratic emotions.

The list of potential witnesses also includes a physician who spoke with key prosecution witness Mike McQueary the night he said he saw Sandusky attack a child in a football team shower in 2001, and members of former football coach Joe Paterno’s family.

Sandusky’s arrest led the university trustees to fire Paterno as coach in November, saying his response to the 2001 report from McQueary showed a lack of leadership. Paterno died of cancer in January.

Dick Anderson, a longtime Penn State assistant and Sandusky friend who retired in January, testified that he and other members of the football staff were present when Sandusky brought young boys into the team’s showers.

He said he never witnessed anything inappropriate.

“If Jerry would bring someone in with The Second Mile, they had been working out, for whatever reason they came in, it was not uncommon ... with the other coaches in the shower as well,” Anderson said, referring to the charity for at-risk children Sandusky founded in 1977.

Anderson, who coached at Penn State from 1970 to 1983 and again from 1990 through the 2011 season, said adults and children often shower together at gyms.

He noted, for example, that it’s not unusual for him to be in the showers with boys at the YMCA.