Pennsylvania state prosecutors are asking that Jerry Sandusky's bail conditions to be tightened after receiving reports from local neighbors that the accused child molester has been spotted  sitting on the deck of his house watching school children in a nearby playground. 

In court papers filed Tuesday, prosecutors say there are "grave concerns" among Sandusky's neighbors about the safety of their children. They urge a judge to further restrict  conditions for the former Penn State University defensive coach, barring him from "leaving the walls of his house for any reason" unless accompanied by a court officer.

The prosecutors acted after local school officials and neighbors complained that Sandusky was recently seen on the deck -- which overlooks an elementary school less than 50 yards away -- watching children play during recess.

"To think that he's up there, watching our kids and that's his new outlet, that's just creepy," Amy Hasan, a neighbor of Sandusky's, told NBC News in an interview. 

Sandusky's lawyer, Joe Amendola, texted a reporter that the claim he's been watching school children from his deck "is a totally false statement" made by individuals who "will not be happy unless Jerry is incarcerated." 

He added that "the law presumes Jerry innocent and Jerrry has always maintained his innocence."

Sandusky -- facing 52 counts of child sex abuse involving 10 children over a 15 year period -- has been under house arrest since his re-arrest last December, confined to his home with an electronic monitor around his ankle.

Sandusky attorney: Accusers may have 'collaborated' in sex abuse case

Amendola recently asked the judge overseeing the case, John Cleland, to ease his bail conditions  to allow him to meet, e-mail and text with his grandchildren. Sandusky also wants the freedom to leave his house to accompany a private investigator to identify the homes of potential witnesses in the case. Amendola wrote that the grandchildren have expressed "sadness" about their inability to communicate with their grandfather.

But prosecutors strongly urged the judge to deny the request. 

"House arrest is not meant to be a house party," they write in their court filing. They also noted that the ex-wife of one of Sandusky's sons "strenously objects to her three minor children having any contact whatsoever with the defendant."

A hearing on the bail issue is slated for Friday.

The Penn State sex abuse scandal may soon become a federal case.

A senior law enforcement source tells NBC News that federal prosecutors and FBI agents in Pennsylvania are now “looking hard” at whether to open up their own investigation because of allegations that former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky crossed state lines to commit child abuse. 

One of the Pennsylvania state charges against Sandusky alleges that he flew one boy – identified as Victim Number Four – to the Outback Bowl in Tampa in 1998 and then again to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio in 1999. Starting when the boy was about 13 years old, Sandusky “repeatedly” abused him, including at the bowl games, a grand jury report charges. When the boy resisted Sandusky’s advances, the grand jury indictment charges, the football coach threatened “to send him home from the Alamo Bowl.”

The feds are also trying to determine whether Sandusky used the Internet to communicate or even recruit his victims—also grounds for the FBI to become involved. And a New York-based charity, the Fresh Air Fund, confirmed this week that it sent five children to live with Sandusky in the 1970s and one in the mid-1990s. 

“It would be inconceivable that we couldn’t find grounds” to make this a federal case, the official said.

The review of the Sandusky matter is being conducted by Peter J. Smith, the U.S. attorney in Harrisburg, Pa. In a public statement this week, he called the Sandusky allegations "extremely disturbing" because they involve the safety of children, and "therefore mandate a thorough review of all the facts and appropriate action by law enforcement at all levels, including federal agencies." Beyond supporting an ongoing inquiry by the Department of Education into the actions of Penn State officials, Smith added: "I can't comment about other specific areas of federal inquiry." 

Smith also offered federal assistance to Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly, who is overseeing the state case. Her spokeswoman told NBC News that there are now regular “communications” between the two offices.

The FBI is also making its resources – including its crime lab and behavior analysis unit – available to investigators, a state police spokesman said.

Read the grand jury indictment of Jerry Sandusky

Joe Paterno has reached out to a prominent Washington criminal defense lawyer to represent him in the Penn State sex abuse case, a source close to the case told NBC News.

J. Sedgwick Sollers, who once represented President George H.W. Bush in the Iran-Contra affair, was contacted by Paterno's advisers on Thursday. But Sollers has not yet met with Paterno, and a formal retainer agreement has not been signed.

The longtime Penn State football coach was fired Wednesday night after disclosures in a grand jury report that one of his assistants informed him in 2002 about an alleged incident of sexual abuse by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

Paterno has not been charged with any crimes in the case. He has been described as a cooperating witness in the case. Two other university officials told by Paterno about the alleged incident were charged this week with failing to report Sandusky's conduct to legal authorities and perjury.

Sollers declined to comment Thursday night. He is the managing partner in the Washington office of King & Spalding, a major Atlanta-based law firm. A spokesman for Paterno said in an email that "no lawyer has been retained."

A source close to Paterno said that in addition to the investigations by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, the former coach is concerned about the likelihood of civil lawsuits by Sandusky's alleged victims and their families.