A new court filing revealed late tonight new, disturbing details about alleged decades-old sexual abuse by former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and his purported efforts to lie about it when confronted by the FBI.
The 26-page filing accuses the man who was once second in line for the Presidency of a series of sexual encounters with four minors when Hastert was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois in the late 1960s and 1970s.
In one such incident, prosecutors say Hastert molested one of his wrestlers, identified as Individual A, in a motel room during a wrestling camp trip, using the guise of a massage to inappropriately touch the boy.
Another wrestler allegedly told investigators that Hastert molested him too, when he was 14 years old. Identified as Individual B, the witness said when he and Hastert were alone in a locker room, Hastert told him to get on a table for a massage to "loosen him up," but instead Hastert "performed a sexual act on Individual B," the filing says.
Hastert allegedly used the same trick on another former wrestler, then 17 years old, identified as Individual D, who was also the object of sexual acts by Hastert.
Individual D also stated that Hastert at one point put a "'Lazy-boy'-type chair in direct view of the shower stalls in the locker room where [Hastert] sat while the boys showered," the filing says.
A fourth purported victim, Steve Reinboldt, was previously identified to ABC News by his younger sister Jolene Burdge. In today's filing, prosecutors say that Burdge said Reinboldt, who died in the mid-1990s, told her that Hastert "had abused him all through high school."
Burdge told ABC News that when she learned of her brother's alleged abuse, years after the fact, she asked him why he had never come forward.
“And he just turned around and kind of looked at me and said, ‘Who is ever going to believe me?’” she said. In the filing, it says Hastert denied the allegations involving Reinboldt.
Hastert's alleged decades-old crimes stayed secret for years, until 2010 when prosecutors say Individual A confronted Hastert and asked him why he had done it.
"After a long pause, defendant [Hastert] said that it was a confusing and difficult time in his life," the filing alleges.
The two eventually came to an agreement in which Hastert would pay Individual A $3.5 million, but everything unraveled after federal authorities started asking questions about Hastert's bank withdrawals. After that, Hastert's attorneys told the FBI he was being extorted over a false allegation.
When the FBI opened an investigation, however, agents soon determined that it was Hastert who was lying, not his former student.
Hastert pleaded guilty in December to a financial crime involving the purported hush money payments. Earlier this week, his attorneys made a court filing in which they said, "Mr. Hastert is deeply sorry and apologizes for his misconduct that occurred decades ago and the resulting harm he caused to others."
“Mr. Hastert’s fall from grace has been swift and devastating. Neither we as his lawyers, nor Mr. Hastert, have the present insight to understand and reconcile the unfortunate and harmful incidents he caused decades ago with the enduring achievements, leadership, and generosity that earned him extraordinary affection and respect throughout this country during his many years of public service.”
Hastert technically faces a maximum penalty of five years, but according to the terms of his plea deal, prosecutors previously indicated they will recommended he serve no more than six months. His defense team wants probation.
"The federal and state statutes of limitations have long expired on potential charges relating to defendant’s known sexual acts against Individual A and other minors," the prosecution said in today's filing. "These known acts consist of the defendant’s intentional touching of minors’ groin area and genitals or oral sex with a minor. With this case, the government seeks to hold defendant accountable for the crimes he committed that can still be prosecuted: defendant’s structuring of cash withdrawals and his lies to the government about that activity. But those crimes, while recent, have their origin in the defendant’s past."
from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/1SFGOzR
via IFTTT
0 Response to "Disturbing Details of Dennis Hastert's Alleged Sex Abuse Revealed"
Posting Komentar