Penn State Added $2.9 Million to Sandusky Scandal Costs in 2018-19 Fiscal Year

Penn State paid an additional $100,000 in fiscal year 2018-19 to one or more individuals who were say they were sexually assaulted by former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, according to the university’s annual audit report. The school also spent $2.8 million on “internal investigation, legal, communications and other related costs.”

Penn State has now paid a total of $113.1 million in settlement costs to individuals who have alleged abuse by Sandusky. The total number of individuals who have received settlements has not been publicly disclosed but is estimated to be around 40.

Last year’s report indicated that the university had spent $7.5 million in costs related to the scandal in the 2017-18 fiscal year, including $4 million in settlement costs and $3.5 million in other costs related to the Sandusky scandal.

Seven years and counting since Sandusky was convicted, the costs could continue to rise, too.

“Additional claims could be paid in the future but without having knowledge of the number and nature of such claims the University is unable to predict the outcome of these matters or the ultimate legal and financial liability,” the audit report says.

Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse in 2012, and is currently serving 30-60 years in state prison at the the State Correctional Institute at Laurel Highlands.

He is scheduled to be resentenced at the Centre County Courthouse Nov. 22 after the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled earlier this year that mandatory minimum penalty guidelines had been improperly applied by the trial court. Sandusky also has asked a federal court to grant him a new trial or release him from prison, claiming his constitutional rights were violated before, during and after his trial. 

Penn State police are currently investigating a recently reported sexual assault at the Lasch Bulding that occurred sometime between 2000-2010 and that university officials said was the result of a new allegation of abuse against Sandusky.