Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky enters the Centre County Courthouse on Friday for an appeals hearing.

BELLEFONTE — Jerry Sandusky forcefully asserted his innocence and described his own sexual history Friday during an hour of testimony as he seeks to have his child sexual abuse conviction overturned or be granted a new trial.

The former Penn State assistant coach was the first witness called in what is scheduled to be a three-day proceeding that focuses largely on whether he received adequate legal representation during his 2012 trial.

He emphatically denied being guilty of sexual abuse and claimed to have never had oral or anal sex with anyone, contradicting victims’ trial testimony.

“Absolutely not, that idea is absolutely foreign to me” and “disgusting,” said Sandusky, 72, currently serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence for a 45-count conviction.

Sandusky said he was unfamiliar with criminal court proceedings and relied on his lawyers’ advice in waiving a preliminary hearing, not testifying on his own behalf and other decisions.

He said his lead lawyer at the time, Joe Amendola, told him a preliminary hearing, with testimony from his victims, would add to the public’s negative perception of him. But he lost a chance to get more information about the prosecution’s case and force witnesses to make on-the-record statements they might contradict at trial.

Asked Friday if he understood what was occurring, he responded: “not totally.”

Eight young men testified at trial that they were abused as children by Sandusky, who spent decades at Penn State under head coach Joe Paterno before his retirement in 1999.

The hearing is scheduled for two more days, Aug. 22-23.