Dennis Hastert Sued For Unpaid Hush Money Amid Sexual Abuse Allegations
By Rachel Cromidas in News on Apr 25, 2016 9:09PM
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who recently pled guilty to federal bank fraud charges, is now being sued by a man to whom he paid over a million dollars in hush money, allegedly in an attempt to cover up sexual abuse committed decades ago.
Individual A, as the man is known in court filings, is expected to testify at Hastert's sentencing hearing later this spring alongside another man who has accused Hastert of sexual misconduct. The sister of another male accuser will also testify. Authorities have said that there are at least five people who have made "credible" sex abuse accusations against Hastert.
Hastert caught the attention of federal investigators in 2013 after he reportedly offered to pay Individual A millions of dollars in exchange for his silence—and then falsely claimed to authorities that Individual A was extorting him for money. Hastert is not facing criminal charges relating to the sexual abuse allegations, but he did face charges of bank fraud, to which he pled guilty last year. He is facing a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, but prosecutors are asking for six months of prison time for the Republican and Illinois native.
According to prosecutors, Individual A says Hastert, his former high school wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois, massaged his groin inappropriately when he shared a motel room with Hastert as a teenager after traveling with him to a wrestling camp.
Now, in a new court filing, Individual A says he was 14 years old when Hastert "sexually molested" him in a motel room. The lawsuit describes Hastert as a "trusted" family friend who violated the "special trust" the family put in him when he offered to take the teenager away to wrestling camp before he was set to begin high school.
The suit also says that, following the night in the motel room, Individual A "suffered severe panic attacks which lead to periods of unemployment, career changes, bouts of depression, hospitalization, and long-term psychiatric treatment," the Tribune reports.
According to the suit, Individual A learned that other teenage boys had had similar experiences with Hastert, and he confronted Hastert in 2008. Hastert then reportedly offered Individual A $3.5 million to keep quiet about the sexual misconduct allegations, an agreement that soon led to Hastert commit bank fraud and lie to the FBI. According to Individual A's suit, the payment was meant to acknowledge "the life-long pain and suffering" Hastert caused and "compensate [Individual A] for the trauma he suffered as a result of the admitted sexual molestation and abuse," ABC7 reports.
Hastert reportedly paid Individual A $1.7 million between 2010 and 2014; now, the man is suing Hastert for $1.8 million, citing a breach of contract.
Besides Individual A, court records show there are three other men, identified as Individuals B, C and D, who have accused Hastert of sexually abusing them while they were high school students. Hastert "performed a sexual act" on Individuals B and D, according to prosecutors, and brushed his hand against the genitals of Individual C after the teenager had showered in the high school locker room.
A fifth man, identified as Stephen Reinboldt, has also said he was sexually abused by Hastert. Reinboldt died in 1995, but his sister, Jolene Burdge, has been an outspoken critic of Hastert for years and is likely to testify at Hastert's sentencing hearing.
Hastert "took [Reinboldt's] belief in himself and his kind of right to be a normal person,” Burdge, of Billings, Montana, said in an interview with ABC News. “Here was the mentor, the man who was, you know, basically his friend and stepped into that parental role, who was the one who was abusing him… He damaged Steve I think more than any of us will ever know.”