By Ben Present
Of the Legal Staff
The NCAA has agreed to not dole out any of the $12 million Penn State has paid to it as part of the unprecedented sanctions the organization levied against the school for its handling of sex-abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky, the school’s former assistant football coach and a convicted serial child molester.
State Senator Jake Corman, R-Centre, announced the agreement following a lawsuit he filed against the NCAA earlier this month in which he asked the Commonwealth Court to block the NCAA from releasing any of Penn State’s fine money to organizations outside of Pennsylvania.
In July, the NCAA hit Penn State with a $60 million fine, a four-year ban on postseason play, a drop-off in scholarships, and the vacating of seasons worth of victories for the university's storied football program.
The NCAA has vowed to use the $60 million to help fund organizations that benefit victims of child sex-abuse. While negotiations continue, Corman announced Thursday that the NCAA agreed to not "disperse or otherwise dissipate" any of the $12 million Penn State has already paid.
"I believe the fine money, which is coming from Pennsylvania residents, should stay in Pennsylvania and benefit our organizations and children,” Corman said in a press release. “Every dollar will continue to go to worthy and valuable child-abuse prevention and educational organizations, except this way, the connection between Pennsylvania resident funds and Pennsylvania benefits will be clear."
Corman’s lawsuit is not to be confused with the federal antitrust action filed by Governor Tom Corbett on behalf of the state of Pennsylvania. Corbett alleges the NCAA violated its own bylaws in issuing what the governor called “unlawful and overreaching” sanctions against the school, which receives hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers each year.
Corbett is seeking the entirety of the sanctions to be dropped, though he has said the $60 million would go to organizations that help victims of abuse either way.
Ben Present can be contacted at 215-557-2315 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@BPresentTLI.
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