PHILADELPHIA — Negotiators for Penn State say they have reached out to begin settlement talks with at least 20 men who accuse former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse, but they describe their discussions as preliminary.

Attorney Michael Rozen, who was hired along with his partner to handle settlement talks, said mediators have not started evaluating any of the 20 cases. He said officials are talking about how to transparently “put the claims into some sort of hierarchy.”

“Because there’s so much attention being paid to this, we don’t think we can have 20 separate negotiations and 20 separate resolutions,” he said.

The cases include eight people named in the prosecution of Sandusky, four others who have filed lawsuits or told reporters they were molested, and at least eight others who have not publicly aired allegations of abuse.

Sandusky was sentenced last week to 30 to 60 years in prison on convictions in the sexual abuse of 10 boys, a scandal that brought disgrace to Penn State and triggered the downfall of his former boss, Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno, who died this year.