Penn State’s Sex-Scandal Bill Crosses $50 Million Mark

Penn State has spent more than $50 million on fines, legal bills and other costs linked to a sex abuse scandal that has roiled the university for nearly two years, according to the school’s website.

That figure does not include up to $60 million the university has set aside to settle civil claims from some 32 now-grown men who said they were sexually abused by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a university spokesman said on Monday.

Sandusky is now serving 30 years to 60 years in prison after being convicted in June 2012 of molesting 10 boys over 15 yeas.

The biggest single expense listed in the university’s records is a $12 million fine paid to the NCAA, the first of five installments toward an overall $60 million fine the organization imposed on Penn State. The NCAA said at the time that the money was equivalent to the annual gross revenue of the football program.

Running a close second to the NCAA annual payment were the university’s legal fees which totaled $11.4 million.

After that came $8.1 million paid to the law firm of former FBI director Louis Freeh, who the university commissioned to write a report that laid out a narrative of the scandal, which many in the state rejected.

Total spending so far comes to $50.4 million, the university report says.

Dave La Torre, the university spokesman, said Penn State will not comment further on the spending, which includes funds used through the end of July.

The money to pay for the Sandusky expenses will not come from tuition, taxpayer funds or gifts, according to the website. Rather, said the university, it will come from insurance, and from interest income.

(Editing by Scott Malone and Leslie Gevirtz)