HARRISBURG — A federal judge on Tuesday declined to throw out a state law that requires the $60 million fine Penn State has been paying over the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal be spent to address child abuse within the state.

U.S. Middle District Judge Yvette Kane ruled against the NCAA’s effort to have the 2013 Endowment Act declared in violation of the federal constitution, deferring to a parallel case in state court that is scheduled for trial next month.

Her decision was based largely on the fact the constitutionality of the law had already been upheld in the Commonwealth Court case, which pits state Treasurer Rob McCord and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman against the NCAA and Penn State.

“A judgment on the constitutional claims from this court, at this juncture, would unnecessarily interfere with state court proceedings and result in needless duplication,” the judge wrote.

The pending state court case began as an attempt to enforce the Endowment Act but has morphed into a wider challenge to the legality of a 2012 consent decree between Penn State and the NCAA, an agreement that includes the fine.

The judge, ruling in favor of McCord and Corman on Tuesday, wrote that “judicial economy would not be served were this court to undertake an independent review of the constitutional claims at issue here,” and she noted trial in the other case is imminent.

She said the NCAA had sufficient opportunity to air the constitutional claims in Commonwealth Court, enough to keep her from stepping in.