CHICAGO — Dennis Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to a person the former House speaker sexually abused when the victim was 14 years old and Hastert was working as a high-school teacher and wrestling coach outside Chicago, prosecutors said
CHICAGO — Dennis Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to a person the former House speaker sexually abused when the victim was 14 years old and Hastert was working as a high-school teacher and wrestling coach outside Chicago, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday that gave accounts of four alleged sex-abuse victims.
The filing is the first time prosecutors have confirmed Hastert paid hush-money to conceal sex abuse of a 14-year-old, identified in court documents as “Individual A.” The filing recommends that a federal judge sentence Hastert to up to six months in prison. The sex abuse allegations outlined in the filing occurred when Hastert was working at Yorkville High School in the small-town suburb of Yorkville from 1965 to 1981, before he went into politics.
“While defendant achieved great success, reaping all the benefits that went with it, these boys struggled, and all are still struggling now with what defendant did to them. Some have managed better than others, but all of them carry the scars defendant inflicted upon them,” the filing says.
The 74-year-old Republican managed to keep any hint of sexual misconduct quiet throughout his political career. Hastert pleaded guilty in October to breaking banking laws as he sought to pay Individual A to ensure the person kept quiet about Hastert’s past misconduct. Hastert is scheduled to be sentenced April 27. Individual A is one of at least four saying that Hastert sexually abused them.
Three were wrestlers on a team Hastert coached and the fourth was a manager. Another wrestler said Hastert touched his genitals while he was on a locker room massage table, but he wasn’t sure if it was intentional.
According to the document, Individual A told prosecutors the abuse occurred in a motel room on the way home from a trip to wrestling camp. Between 10 and 14 boys were on the trip. Hastert, the only adult on the trip, told the 14-year-old that he would stay in his room 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 had complained about earlier.
