STATE COLLEGE, Pa (Reuters) - Two cases of alleged child abuse against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky have been opened by the state children's services office, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported on Tuesday.

The cases launched by the Office of Children, Youth and Families were reported less than 60 days ago, and they are still in the initial stages of investigation, the newspaper said without citing sources.

Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coordinator, faces 40 counts of molesting eight young boys from 1994 to 2009. He was charged by a grand jury on November 5 and is free on $100,000 bail. Sandusky has said he is innocent.

If the cases are found to be credible, they would be the first known cases to be reported since Sandusky's arrest that involve current children, the Patriot-News said.

All of the other publicly known cases of alleged child victims coming forward are now adults.

In Pennsylvania, when an adult comes forward and alleges abuse -- even if it happened when that person was a child -- it is solely a police matter.

The Office of Children, Youth and Families only participates in the investigation if the alleged victim is still under 18, the newspaper said.

Spokesmen for the Department of Public Welfare and for the Pennsylvania attorney general's office declined to comment on the story.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Greg McCune)