HARRISBURG — Jerry Sandusky lost a bid Wednesday for a new trial and a second chance to convince a jury he is innocent of the child sexual abuse charges that landed him in state prison to serve a lengthy sentence.

Judge John Foradora denied Sandusky’s requests for a new trial or for dismissal of charges.

The former Penn State assistant football coach’s lawyers have 30 days to start an appeal of the judge’s decision to the Superior Court. They did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

Sandusky, 73, has consistently maintained he was wrongly convicted. He said he did not receive adequate representation at his 2012 trial and that prosecutors should have disclosed more details about changes to victims’ stories.

“Although he was denied access to the victims’ psychological records, Sandusky was permitted to call witnesses to explore whether the victims had undergone repressed memory therapy prior to trial, and he did explore that subject” with victims and other witnesses, Foradora wrote.

Foradora also rejected arguments that Sandusky’s lawyers should not have let him waive a preliminary hearing, should not have allowed him to give a television interview after his arrest, and should have done more to challenge the identity of a young man described as Victim 2 in court records.

The judge said the bulk of Sandusky’s claims lacked merit.

“Those that remain, whether they fail for want of prejudice or because (trial defense attorney Joe) Amendola’s actions or failure to act were informed by a reasonable strategy, do not combine to call into question the overall effectiveness of the defense counsel provided or the legitimacy of the verdict,” Foradora concluded.