Scott Cross told the court he was sexually abused by Hastert, his wrestling coach, when he was a senior at Yorkville High School.
Advertisement
The sentencing hearing in former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s hush-money case centered on sex-abuse allegations for has begun in a federal court in Chicago.
Hastert, the judge said, thought he could use his elevated status to make federal investigators believe his lie.
Hastert was not charged with sex abuse because the statute of limitations had run out.
“Some conduct is unforgivable no matter how old it is”.
Hastert’s plea deal sets out a sentencing guideline ranging from probation to six months behind bars.
“We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few”, Delay wrote in a letter to Durkin. Yes, he undoubtedly molested boys four decades ago when he was a high school wrestling coach. “This is imperfect, but it’s what we got”.
Just before the sentence was handed down, Hastert admitted for the first time that he sexually abused boys when he taught and coached at Yorkville High School in IL from the 1960s to the early 1980s. USA Today reported that, “Under current IL law, Hastert would have faced between three and seven years in state prison if convicted of a single count of sexual misconduct with a minor”.
“I am sorry to those I hurt”. “I don’t remember doing that”, he said of Cross’s story, “but I accept his statement”.
His lawyers may have risked raising the judge’s ire when they questioned whether what Hastert did to Individual A – including touching his genitals during a massage – legally constituted sexual abuse.
Hastert, for his part, apologized for having “mistreated” his former students.
All victims were males and only one-Stephen Reinboldt-was named before the trial. He told the court that he continues to suffer, has sleepless nights and has sought professional help.
Hastert served as House speaker from 1999 to 2007, and was a high school teacher and wresting coach in Yorkville, Ill., in the 1960s and ’70s. “You sexually abused minors”. Cross said the memory still causes him pain, according to the AP. “Today I understand I did nothing to bring this on, but at age 17, I could not understand what happened or why”.
Prosecutors say at least five boys as young as 14 were abused by the Republican politician. His sister, Jolene Burdge, said her brother felt “betrayed, ashamed and embarrassed”.
Hastert served as an IL congressman from 1987 to 2007.
Burdge said she asked her brother why he never told anyone. Scott Cross testified at Wednesday’s sentencing, saying he chose to do so after Hastert went to his brother asking for a letter of support.
Thomas Green, an attorney representing Hastert said the defense was not attempting to minimize his actions, acknowledging the abuse occurred decades ago. He added that the family hopes the testimony will encourage other victims of abuse to speak out.
One of Hastert’s alleged victims is Scott Cross, 53, a former Yorkville High School student athlete who testified at today’s hearing.
Reinboldt died of AIDS in 1995.
Advertisement
Our sense of this case is that Hastert probably would have avoided jail time on the bank law felony alone. “Mr. Hastert’s fall from grace has been swift and devastating”. Allegations of Hastert’s sexual misconduct were recently made public after his conviction for circumventing financial laws.
