Dennis Hastert, former House Speaker was convicted for bank fraud charges and was sentenced with 15 months imprisonment. Individual A didn’t testify, although this week he filed a lawsuit demanding that Hastert pay the balance of the money still owed him in the settlement – $1.8 million.
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At the same time, the effort to keep the man’s name from being made public did, in a much quieter way, underscore a point that Cross made when he spoke about how he continues to suffer sleepless nights and has sought professional help: The decades-old abuse continues to haunt the victims.
“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.
“(Hastert) rejected these suggestions and said he did not want to involve others or to write anything down.
In a raspy voice, Hastert said “I wanted to apologize for the boys I mistreated when I was their coach”.
Durkin said a prison would have to have the medical facilities to treat Hastert. “They looked up to me and what I did was wrong”.
We’re pleased Durkin refused to accept Hastert’s initial apology and instead pressed him to admit publicly to sexually abusing multiple victims.
When Hastert attended Reinboldt’s wake in 1995, his sister confronted him, telling the then-congressman she knew what he’d done. She also told Hastert, “I hope I have been your worst nightmare”.Hastert, a conservative who trumpeted his honesty and small-town values when he was in Washington, D.C., said he did not contest Cross’s statement.
At Wednesday’s hearing in Chicago, federal prosecutors intend to focus on accusations that Hastert molested at least four students when he coached wrestling at an IL high school. He will report to prison at a later date.
Defense attorneys were seeking probation on the grounds that Hastert has already paid a high price in disgrace.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Block called Hastert’s conduct “horrendous”. The statute of limitations on his admitted sexual abuse of his students at Yorkville High School has long since expired. Hastert stopped making the payments after the Federal Bureau of Investigation questioned him in 2014.
“That’s a big problem for you”, Durkin said. Prosecutors said Hastert violated currency law by deliberately structuring his withdrawals to avoid disclosure.
The judge pressed him further, asking about the statement of a victim who had spoken at the sentencing hearing.
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In an emotional interview, Jolene Burdge said she first learned of her late brother Steve Reinboldt’s purported years-long sexual abuse at the hands of the future Speaker of the House in the late 1960s and early 1970s when her brother revealed to her that he was gay.
