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Judge sentences 'serial child molester' Hastert to 15 months
USA TODAY
CHICAGO — Former House speaker Dennis Hastert, who less than a decade ago stood second in line to the presidency, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Wednesday for a bank fraud case linked to allegations he sexually abused teen boys more than 30 years ago.
Federal Judge Thomas Durkin called Hastert a "serial child molester" and rejected a prosecutor's recommendation of six months in prison. Durkin also rejected claims by Haster's lawyers that Hastert didn't understand the banking law he violated when making payments to one of his teen accusers.
Hastert, 74, was fined $250,000, must spend two years on supervised release after leaving prison and must register as a sex offender.
"Nothing is more disturbing than having 'serial child molester' and 'speaker of the House' in the same sentence," Durkin said.
Hastert, who entered court in a wheelchair and needed help standing to address the judge, admitted mistreating some athletes when he was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois before he began his political career.
“I want to apologize to the boys I mistreated,” Hastert said. “They looked (up) at me and I took advantage of them.”
One former athlete, now 53, testified that he was abused by Hastert, describing a locker room molestation when he was 17 years old.
"Judge, I wanted you to know the pain and suffering he caused me then, and the pain and suffering he causes me today," said Scott Cross, the brother of prominent Illinois politician Tom Cross. USA TODAY normally does not name victims of abuse, but Cross revealed his name in open court.
Defense attorney Thomas Green confirmed that Hastert asked his legal team to reach out to Tom Cross to write a letter on Hastert's behalf. Lawyers for Hastert have said in court papers that Hastert did not recall the incident with Scott Cross.
Jolene Burdge, sister of former wrestling manager Steve Reinboldt, told the judge that Hastert abused her now-deceased brother throughout his years at Yorkville High School.
"Don’t be a coward, Mr. Hastert. Tell the truth," she said. "What you did was not misconduct, it was sexual abuse of a minor."
The sentencing completes the spectacular fall of a former small-town high school coach who rose to lead Congress. Hastert was a legendary wrestling coach and social studies teacher at Yorkville for 16 years before launching a political career in the early 1980s that culminated with him being elected as U.S. House speaker.
Three other men have come forward and told prosecutors they were also victims of sexual misconduct by Hastert during their time the team. The statutes of limitation expired on all the sex abuse allegations long ago.
Hastert , 74, served 20 years in the U.S. House, eight of them as its highest ranking member, before retiring in 2007. He was the longest serving Republican speaker in history.
Hastert, who pleaded guilty in October to a single count of making illegally structured bank withdrawals, acknowledged that the transactions were made as part an effort to pay off a man, known in court documents as "Individual A," for past transgressions.
Individual A, who did not testify Wednesday, told prosecutors that Hastert molested him at a motel as Hastert and a group of boys made their home from an out-of-town wrestling camp. The man told prosecutors he was 14 at the time of the incident.
Authorities began investigating Hastert for unusual bank withdrawals after the IRS and FBI became suspicious of some large financial transactions Hastert had been making.
From 2010 to 2014, Hastert withdrew a total of approximately $1.7 million in cash from multiple bank accounts and gave it to Individual A. The payments were part of what authorities later learned was an off-the-books agreement Hastert made with the man to make amends for the decades-old sexual misconduct.
Officials at Hastert’s bank in Yorkville initially became suspicious of Hastert after conducting a routine audit in April 2012 in which they found he had made seven withdrawals of $50,000. Bank officials said they asked Hastert why he was making such large withdrawals; banks are required to file currency transaction reports for any withdrawal above $10,000.
Hastert told the bank officials that he was withdrawing the cash for investments and to buy stocks. He also told bank officials he wanted to keep his cash deposits under Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limits.
Around July 2012, Hastert started structuring his cash withdrawals in increments of less than $10,000 to try to avoid triggering the bank filing requirement. He made $952,000 in withdrawals in mostly $9,000 increments withdrawn on 106 separate occasions, according to prosecutors.
Bank officials’ suspicions were again raised and they informed Hastert in February 2013 that they intended to close his account because of the suspicious activity. Hastert, however, closed his account before the bank acted.
Meanwhile, the FBI and IRS began looking at suspicious activity by Hastert at a Yorkville bank as well as two other banks where he made large withdrawals.
The former speaker was working at the time as a high-profile lobbyist for the Washington firm dikkstein Shapiro. The amount of cash and Hastert’s background led the federal authorities to further probe whether Hastert was either a perpetrator or victim of some sort of criminal activity, prosecutors said.
When agents initially interviewed Hastert in December 2014, he told them that he was keeping the cash he had been withdrawing in a safe place.
An attorney representing Hastert later told authorities that the former speaker was the victim of an extortion plot by Individual A.
Hastert agreed to allow federal authorities to record conversations he was having with Individual A, so they could try to prove the extortion charge. But it quickly became clear that Hastert had willingly entered an agreement with the former student to pay for his silence.
In their recordings, Individual A even reminded Hastert that he wanted to get lawyers or confidantes of Hastert involved, so they could ensure their agreement was legal, according to court filings.
Individual A received just less than half of the $3.5 million agreement, according to prosecutors. Last week, he filed a $1.8 million suit against Hastert in Kendall County, Ill., charging that Hastert was in breach of contract for failing to fulfill their oral agreement.
Individual A says the abuse occurred in a motel room on the way home from a trip to wrestling camp, according to prosecutors. Between 10 and 14 boys were on the trip. Hastert, the only adult on trip, shared a room with the 14-year-old while the other boys stayed in a different room.
Individual A said Hastert touched him inappropriately after suggesting he would massage a groin injury the boy complained about earlier.
Before Wednesday’s sentencing, Hastert’s legal team said that the ex-lawmaker was sorry for his transgressions, but did not delve into addressing the allegations against him. In fact, his attorneys raised questions in court filings about whether the incident with Individual A amounted to sexual abuse.
While in Congress, Hastert championed strengthening laws to enforce stricter punishment for repeat child predators. Later during his time in Congress, he also faced criticism for failing to aggressively investigate allegations that Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., had written sexually explicit messages to a teenager who was a House page.
Hastert's lawyer have said that he suffered a small stroke shortly after he pleaded guilty to the bank fraud count in October, and that he was also hospitalized for a blood infection.
Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad
Contributing: John Bacon
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Judge sentences 'serial child molester' Hastert to 15 months
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