First settlement reached in Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky scandal

An 25-year-old man, known as "Victim 5," will reportedly receive a multimillion dollar settlement deal after Penn State's former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused him 12 years ago in a campus shower.

It's the first of 26 claims to be settled in the scandal that rocked the college, drew sustained international attention, and eventually forced its revered head football coach, Joe Paterno, to retire amid claims that he had failed to stop the abuse.

The victim's attorney Tom Kline told the Associated Press that his client had, as part of the deal, assigned his claim to the university, which may allow the school to recover the money it pays out from The Second Mile, a charity that Sandusky started.

Penn State "left themselves a wide open road to recover a significant amount of this money back from their insurers and Second Mile. And we support that," Kline said, adding that his client was "relieved" the whole ordeal was over.

Michael K. Rozen, a lawyer hired by the university, admitted that "Victim 5's" testimony had been one of most important claims against the school during the trial.

"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," Rozen said. "'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."

last year Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of abuse against 10 young boys over 15 years. He was then sentenced from 30 to 60 years in prison. Other settlements are expected to be reached next week.