When former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 criminal counts of child sexual-abuse charges in June 2012, school officials said they were determined to compensate his victims. Monday, the school announced it is paying $59.7 million to 26 young men who were abused by Sandusky.
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Penn State also has spent more than $50 million on other costs related to the Sandusky case, including lawyers' fees.
The university said negotiations had lasted about a year and that 23 deals are fully signed; the other three are agreements in principle. The school faces six other claims, but university officials have said they believe some do not have merit and others may produce settlements.
Sandusky, 69, is serving a prison sentence of 30 to 60 years but has plans to appeal.
Former school president Graham Spanier, retired vice president Gary Schultz and retired athletic director Tim Curley await trial on charges they engaged in a criminal cover-up of Sandusky's actions. Each has denied the allegations, and a trial date has not been scheduled.
The scandal and its aftermath cost coach Joe Paterno his job and led to the NCAA handing down unprecedented sanctions against the football program. In September, the NCAA relaxed some of the scholarship sanctions and said it may do so again next year as long as the school continues to follow procedures put into place after the scandal.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
