Penn State trustee Albert L. Lord had harsh words for the sexual abuse victims of former Nittany Lions assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, according to an email to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

In the email, Lord said he is "running out of sympathy" for the "so-called" abuse victims. The statement comes days after former Penn State president Graham Spanier was convicted of child endangerment related to the Sandusky abuse scandal.

Albert Lord

Lord, a former chief executive of Sallie Mae, was elected by alumni to serve on the Penn State Board of Trustees. He has been a vocal supporter of Spanier.

"Running out of sympathy for 35 yr old, so-called victims with 7 digit net worth," Lord said in an email on Saturday. "Do not understand why they were so prominent in trial. As you learned, Graham Spanier never knew Sandusky abused anyone."

Juror Victoria Navazio said Monday that an email from Spanier to former co-defendants Gary Schultz and Tim Curley showed that he knew children were at risk.

In an interview, Lord said the horrors of Sandusky's crimes have made it impossible for a fair-minded assessment of whether Spanier and others acted inappropriately based on the facts.

"I am tired of victims' getting in the way of clearer thinking and a reasoned approach to who knew what and who did what," Lord said in the interview.

Prosecutors had argued that Spanier broke the law when, after receiving a 2001 report that graduate assistant Mike McQueary had seen Sandusky naked with a young boy in the showers at Penn State's Lasch Building, he did not demand that it be reported immediately to child protection authorities.

Spanier faces a minimum sentence later this spring that, for most first-time offenders, falls between probation and 9 months in prison, but could range higher.