Hastert, 74 years old and confined to a wheelchair due to declining health (he suffered a stroke in 2015), pleaded guilty last year to illegally structuring financial withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements. Hastert was sentenced to more than a year in prison in the hush-money case that included accusations he sexually abused teenagers while coaching high school wrestling.
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Federal Judge Thomas Durkin called Hastert – who finally admitted, just before the sentence was handed down, that he sexually abused students while he was wrestling coach at Yorkville High School – a “serial child molester”.
Former House speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Wednesday for a bank fraud case linked to allegations of sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison and 2 years of supervised release on April 27.
Judge Durkin called Hastert a “serial child molester” in court Wednesday after Hastert admitted to four instances of sexual abuse alleged by prosecutors, according to the Sun-Times.
He was the longest serving Republican House Speaker in USA history.
Individual A contacted Hastert back in 2010 after Hastert had left Congress and begun his lucrative career as a lobbyist.
His protection attorneys had looked to stay away from a jail sentence, saying Hastert is in weakness and had officially paid a high cost in disrespect. Individual A has said other boys on the trip were older and teased A because he would have to sleep alone in Hastert’s motel room while the others slept in another room. Judges rarely go outside the guidelines and usually do so only when the behavior underlying the crime – in this case sex abuse – is especially egregious. “I wanted you to know the pain and suffering he caused me then, and still causes me today”.
Block said the sentence should take into account that Hastert “continues to deny what should now be obvious to everyone”, that the payments were to hide sexual abuse.
Ex House speaker Dennis Hastert accused over “misconduct” payouts ” I’m sorry to those I hurt and misled. Now, the man is suing Hastert for $1.8 million, citing a breach of contract.
Scott Eisen/AP Tom Cross, Scott’s older brother, is a political protégé of Dennis Hastert. According to the Tribune, Hastert suggested a massage could “take some pounds off”, but instead he removed Cross’s trousers and performed “a sexual act” on him, according to the court filing.
“We are very proud of Scott for having the courage to relive this very painful part of his life in order to ensure that justice is done today”, Tom Cross said in a statement on behalf of his family. After Hastert abused him in the locker room, he said: “I was devastated”. “He stood up and spoke the truth of what Mr. Hastert did to him as a boy”.
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She also told Hastert, “I hope I have been your worst nightmare”.
