A lawyer for one of former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky's accusers said that his client has reached a settlement with the university worth several million dollars.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the deal is the first of 26 settlements to be reached -- there are 31 claims in all -- with many expected to be concluded by early next week. Penn State has approved payouts totalling $60 million.
An agreement with the 25-year-old man, known as Victim 5 in court documents, was of great importance to the university, since it occurred after the school was notified by then-assistant coach Mike McQueary of Sandusky engaging in inappropriate relations with a boy in a Penn State shower.
"The pivotal issue from the university's perspective in dealing with the victims is where the incident occurred and when it occurred proximate to the 2001 shower incident," an attorney for the school, Michael Rozen, told the paper. "'Number 5' is probably the singular one of the claims that has come to the university's attention where it absolutely, positively could have been stopped."
According to the paper, the terms of each settlement prevent the accusers from suing either Penn State or the Second Mile, a charity founded by Sandusky.
Lawyers for the school say that other accusers have received written settlements, and that agreements are expected to be reached imminently.
