Former GOP Speaker Of The House Dennis Hastert Admits To Sex Abuse, Sentenced to 15 Months In Prison

Former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in jail for bank fraud charges after admitting in court that he had sexually abused students during his tenure as a high school wrestling coach years ago.

From Huffington Post:

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin sentenced Hastert to the jail time, followed by two years of supervised release, and issued him a $250,000 fine. The former speaker must also attend sex offender treatment and will not be allowed to contact his alleged victims, Durkin added.

The statute of limitations for the abuse allegations has lapsed, and the banking charges carry a maximum sentence of five years. The recommended sentence was zero to five months, and Hastert’s defense argued that the 74-year-old should be given probation due in part to his age and his failing health.

While looking into some large, unreported cash withdrawals Hastert had made, federal investigators learned the former speaker had been accused of abusing or having inappropriate sexual contact with at least five students while working as a high school teacher and wrestling coach some 40 years ago.

They determined that Hastert began structuring cash withdrawals to avoid bank reporting rules in 2010, and that he used the money to pay off an alleged victim known in court filings as “Individual A.”

Hastert said in court that he had “mistreated” his students and athletes.

“I’m deeply ashamed to be standing here today,” Hastert told the judge, adding that he is getting professional help.

An alleged victim previously known only as Individual D testified in court on Wednesday, and identified himself as 53-year-old Scott Cross.

“I respected and trusted Coach Hastert,” Cross said. “Coach Hastert sexually abused me in 1979, my senior year in high school.”

Cross described how Hastert offered to massage him after wrestling practice one day under the guise of helping him make weight. He said Hastert asked him to lie down, then removed his shorts and fondled his genitals.

“I always felt what Coach Hastert had done to me was my darkest secret,” said Cross, who was 17 when the alleged abuse took place.

Cross’ brother, Tom Cross, is one of Hastert’s longtime political allies.

As Speaker of the House, Hastert was second in line for the presidency.
Sadly ironic, before Hastert retired from politics, he 'championed' tough consequences for child molesters.

Former Speaker Of The House Dennis Hastert Indicted Over Payments To Conceal Past "Misconduct" With Another Man

Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert was indicted yesterday on federal criminal charges for allegedly paying a male from his past to try to conceal prior "sexual misconduct," the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday, citing two unnamed federal law enforcement officials.

More from Reuters:

One of the officials cited by the newspaper said the alleged misconduct involved a male and occurred during Hastert's time as a high school wrestling coach and teacher in Yorkville, Illinois, before becoming a lawmaker.

Prosecutors said the charges related to Hastert's alleged effort to hide $3.5 million in payments he was making to a person to conceal past misconduct, but did not detail the nature of the misconduct.

Asked why Hastert, an Illinois Republican who become his party's longest-serving House speaker before leaving Congress in 2007, was making the payments, the official told the Times that it was intended to conceal Hastert's past relationship with the male.

"It was sex," said the official, whom spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hastert, 73, was charged on Thursday with structuring the withdrawal of $952,000 in cash to evade the requirement that banks report cash transactions over $10,000, and lying to the FBI about his withdrawals.

Each count of the two-count indictment carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The unnamed sources underscored that the "misconduct" had nothing to do with his time in office and reached back to his days as a teacher and coach before his political career.

The Republican from a small suburb of Chicago was his party's longest serving Speaker of the House at 8 years.

The issue of hypocrisy comes up should the allegations be true. Hastert had an abysmal voting record against LGBT issues. From Raw Story:

As a federal legislator, Hastert voted regularly against bills to empower gay people. In Congress from 1997 to 2007, Hastert voted for the so-called “Marriage Protection Act,” and in favor of a constitutional amendment to “establish that marriage shall consist of one man and one woman.” The year he stepped down, Hastert voted no on the “Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” a bill to prohibit companies from discriminating against employees “on the basis of sexual orientation.”

Hastert resigned as speaker of the House following allegations that he failed to report former Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) for inappropriate relationships with boys employed as pages at the U.S. Capitol.