It was a long time ago that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (shown) sexually abused teenage boys. So long, in fact, that the crimes’ statute of limitations has expired.
But a very small measure of justice was done Wednesday when the ex-Illinois congressman was sentenced to 15 months in prison, a $250,000 fine, and two years’ supervised release under the condition he submit to sex-offender treatment. The Republican had pled guilty to charges relating to his efforts to cover up his crimes, as CBS News reported:
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Wednesday admitted to sexually abusing teenage boys during his time as a high school wrestling coach in a Chicago suburb before his career as an elected official.
Struggling to stand in federal court Wednesday, 74-year-old Hastert gripped his walker, approached the microphone and said that he “mistreated” some of his wrestlers and apologized.
“They looked to me, and I took advantage of them,” Hastert said as he awaited his sentencing after pleading guilty last fall to breaking federal banking laws in a hush-money case.
Hastert had paid a victim, identified only as “Individual A,” who threatened to expose him $1.7 million of a promised $3.5 million between 2010 and 2014. Hastert’s withdrawals of the hush money are what led to the federal investigation. And with his conviction, he joins a long line of Illinois politicians who have wound up in prison (the Prairie State has a saying, “Illinois: where our governors make our license plates”).
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