Penn State and Jerry Sandusky Victims Reportedly Agree on Settlement

Penn State has reportedly reached a financial settlement with the victims of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky’s crimes, according to the staff of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The reported $60 million will go toward personal injury claims filed by 32 victims alleging that the former Nittany Lions assistant football coach abused them sexually as children.

The board of trustees agreed upon these payments unanimously last Friday.

According to The Inquirer, settlements have been negotiated with most parties, but the school still has to reach an agreement with all involved before an official statement will be given:

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Penn State confirmed last week that its board approved tentative settlements reached with some of the claimants at a board meeting last Friday, voting unanimously to greenlight the accords. However, the university is not expected to announce an overall dollar amount until it has settled with everyone.

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Sandusky was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison last October, after being found guilty on "45 counts of child sexual abuse [and] convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period," as reported by ESPN.com.

He is currently serving out that sentence in protective custody at SCI Greene in Pennsylvania, a “supermax” security prison, per Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports.  

Late Penn State football head coach Joe Paterno and former president Graham Spanier were fired for the manner in which they handled the Sandusky allegations. 

The awful scandal rocked the university to its core, and it will take much more than a conviction and financial settlements to make up for the damage that Sandusky did to the program and—more importantly—the victims.

Nothing will ever truly erase Sandusky’s horrific actions, but the settlements should help bring some closure to what has been a tragic saga for a number of people involved.