COLLEGE PARK, Pa., July 13 (UPI) -- Penn State University trustees have approved monetary compensation for most of the 30 men who alleged former football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused them.
The board of trustees voted unanimously Friday to offer monetary settlements to "a majority" of Sandusky's victims who have come forward, The (Harrisburg, Pa.) Patriot-News reported.
"We're just chipping away at getting these issues behind us, and every one we get behind us allows us to keep looking forward," said board Chairman Keith Masser.
Passing the resolution did not finalize any settlements, the newspaper said.
After months of negotiations with mediation experts Kenneth Feinberg and Michael Rozen, board members said settlement agreements are in place with a number of existing claimants.
"It's going to cost what it's going to cost, but I think we've got the best people working for us and ... we're trying to negotiate the fairest and best arrangement possible," said trustee Joel Myers.
"Hopefully... this will bring closure to the vast majority" of Sandusky's victims, Trustee Keith Eckel said.
"Penn State's action today is one more positive step ... toward settlement of the civil claims," said Thomas R. Kline, a lawyer who represents Sandusky's so-called Victim 5. "I expect further progress in the weeks ahead."
Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 on 45 counts, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and was sentenced in October to 60 years in prison.
