Former US House Speaker sentenced to 15 months in prison

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

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

According to Foxnews, on April 27, Judge Thomas M. Durkin issued a verdict on Mr. Dennis Hastert's crimes. Accordingly, in addition to the prison sentence, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives must also pay a fine of 250,000 USD, participate in a treatment program for sex offenders and an additional two years of probation after his sentence expires.

Last fall, Mr. Hastert pleaded guilty to violating banking laws by secretly sending $3.5 million to a person identified only as Individual A to silence his allegations of sexually abusing male students.

Before sentencing Hastert, Judge Durkin said the 74-year-old former House Speaker and Illinois Republican was “a serial child molester.” Durkin also said Hastert’s accusation that Person A blackmailed him was false.

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

In court on April 27, a former high school athlete who said he was sexually abused by Hastert when he was his wrestling coach said he was “devastated” by the incident.

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

He fought back tears as he recounted the details. He said he had sought medical help for years and suffered from insomnia. The memory still pains him. He said he had trusted and respected Hastert.

Another woman, Jolene Burdge, whose late brother Stephen Reinboldt was abused by Mr Hastert, was present in court and said her brother had said he felt “betrayed, ashamed and humiliated”.

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

Accusations in court from the victims and their relatives pressured Judge Thomas M. Durkin to reject Hastert's attorney's request for probation and sentence him to 15 months in prison.

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

According to Tuoi Tre