Dennis Hastert sentenced to 15 months in prison

A Chicago judge today sentenced former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert to 15 months in prison after describing him as a “serial child molester.” Hastert pleaded guilty in October to trying to hide hush-money payments to a man he abused decades ago.

During today’s hearing, Hastert told the judge he was “deeply ashamed to be standing before you” and admitted that he “mistreated” some of the athletes he coached.

“I am sorry to those I hurt and misled,” he said. “What I did was wrong and I regret it.”

But the man who was once second in the line of succession to the presidency and the nation’s longest-serving Republican speaker stopped short in his statement of admitting to molesting the teen boys he coached during his career as a high school teacher in the 1960s and ’70s in Yorkville, Ill.

As part of his sentence, Hastert must undergo sex-offender treatment, serve two years of supervised release after his time behind bars, and pay a $250,000 fine that will go to a crime victims fund.

One of Hastert’s alleged victims, who has not been named, testified in court this morning, recounting in excruciating detail an encounter with his former coach in a locker room.

The man, now in his 50s, choked back tears as he recalled the incident, saying the memory still caused him suffering. He said he had sought professional help but still had trouble sleeping. He said he trusted and admired Hastert at the time.

When Judge Thomas M. Durkin asked Hastert whether he had molested one of the students under his care, Hastert said, “Yes.”

Prosecutors claim they have credible evidence of at least four Hastert victims, although not all have been willing to speak publicly about their ordeal. One of the men, Stephen Reinboldt, died of AIDS in 1995. His sister, Jolene Burdge, has long accused Hastert of abusing her brother throughout his high school years, claiming he felt “betrayed, ashamed, and embarrassed” by his interactions with Hastert. Until federal investigators discovered the hush-money payments, few took Burdge’s claims seriously.

During today’s hearing, she addressed Hastert directly: “Don’t be a coward … tell the truth,” adding, “I hope I have been your worst nightmare.”

Because of the statute of limitations, Hastert could not be charged with sexual abuse. But his lawyers argued his public fall from grace, and recent health problems, are punishment enough. Hastert, 74, was pushed into court in a wheelchair. His attorneys claim he has suffered a stroke that limits his mobility and notes he barely recovered from a blood infection in November that nearly killed him.

Durkin had indicated his sentence would be informed by the abuse allegations against Hastert, not just the financial crime he admitted to. In handing down his verdict, Durkin said there was “nothing ambiguous” about what Hastert did.

“This is sexual abuse,” he said after reading from an account of one victim who did not appear in court.

Hastert had agreed to pay that man, identified in court papers as Individual A, $3.5 million to compensate for his suffering. He handed over about $1.7 million of that before banking officials became suspicious.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.