Penn State payouts on Sandusky abuse claims now top $100M

HARRISBURG, PA. » Penn State disclosed Friday it recently paid out an additional $16 million to people with claims they were sexually abused by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, raising the total over several years to more than $100 million.

It’s not clear how many people shared in the latest settlements, which were made during the fiscal year that ended in June.

The school previously said it settled with 33 people for $93 million, so the additional payments bring the running total to $109 million.

Last year’s payments mean Penn State’s overall Sandusky-related costs now exceed a quarter-billion dollars.

The university also disclosed in its annual financial statement released Friday that it spent at least $4.9 million last year on Sandusky scandal-related internal investigations and costs.

The annual financial report said the school settled last month with Mike McQueary, a former assistant coach who alerted then-head coach Joe Paterno in 2001 about seeing Sandusky abusing a boy in a team shower.

McQueary has previously won a $12.3 million verdict from a whistleblower and defamation lawsuit last year, along with $1.7 million in legal fees.

The report said the settlement was “for a lesser amount” than the jury awarded, but the agreement was confidential.

Sandusky, 73, is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence for sexual abuse of boys, including attacks that occurred in campus facilities.

He lost a ruling last month that denied him a new trial and also rejected his request to have charges dismissed. His lawyers are expected to appeal.