Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives sentenced to 15 months in prison.

A U.S. federal judge sentenced Dennis Haster, the former Speaker of the House, to 15 months in prison for sexually assaulting at least four male students while he was teaching high school wrestling.

Dennis Haster arrives at the court hearing on April 27. Photo: AP.

According to Fox News, on April 27, Judge Thomas M. Durkin delivered his verdict on Dennis Hastert's conviction. In addition to the prison sentence, the former Speaker of the House must also pay a $250,000 fine, participate in a sex offender rehabilitation program, and serve two years of probation after serving his sentence.

Last fall, Mr. Hastert pleaded guilty to violating banking laws by secretly sending $3.5 million to an individual identified only as "Individual A" to silence him about his alleged sexual abuse of male students.

Before sentencing Mr. Hastert, Judge Durkin stated that the 74-year-old former Speaker of the House, a Republican congressman from Illinois, was "a serial child sexual abuser." Judge Durkin also said that Mr. Hastert's accusation that Individual A blackmailed him was untrue.

Mr. Hastert was the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in American history.

Appearing in court on April 27, a former high school athlete testified that he had been sexually abused by Mr. Hastert when Mr. Hastert was his wrestling coach. He said that after the incident, he was completely "destroyed."

The man, now in his 50s, stated that Mr. Hastert sexually assaulted him when they were alone in a private room.

He struggled to hold back tears as he recounted the details of the incident. He said that for many years afterward, he had sought help from health professionals and suffered from insomnia. The memory still causes him pain. He said he had once trusted and respected Mr. Hastert greatly.

Another woman, Jolene Burdge, whose late brother Stephen Reinboldt was sexually assaulted by Hastert, was present in court and stated that her brother had said he felt "betrayed, ashamed, and humiliated."

Jolene Burdge said Hastert sexually abused her brother throughout his years at Yorkville High School. From 1965 to 1981, Hastert was a history teacher and coach there. Reinboldt died of AIDS in 1995.

The allegations made in court by the victims and their relatives put pressure on Judge Thomas M. Durkin, forcing him to reject the lawyers' request for a suspended sentence for Mr. Hastert and instead sentence him to 15 months in prison.

If the prison sentence is served, Mr. Hastert will become one of the highest-ranking politicians in American history to serve a sentence behind bars.

According to Tuoi Tre newspaper