A second individual has raised sexual abuse allegations against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Federal law enforcement officials said on Friday that Hastert paid a former Yorkville, Ill. high school student - named "Individual A" in a federal indictment filed on Thursday - for his silence regarding alleged sexual abuse when Hastert was a teacher there. The second individual, whose accusations corroborate those made in the indictment, was not being paid by Hastert.
Individual A was a male that Hastert knew as a minor, before his time in Congress, a "top official" told the Tribune - Washington Bureau on the condition that he would not be identified. "It goes back a long way, back to then," the official said. "It has nothing to do with public corruption or a corruption scandal. Or to his time in office."
The indictment on Thursday described the misconduct "against Individual A" as having "occurred years earlier," and noted that Hastert knew the person "most of Individual A's life." The nature of the alleged misconduct was identified as sex by the unnamed official.
According to the seven-page indictment, Hastert had an agreement with Individual A to buy his silence for $3.5 million. From June 2010 to April 2012, Hastert made payments of $50,000 to Individual A about every six weeks. When questioned by bank officials about the large, frequent withdrawals, Hastert began illegally structuring the withdrawals in increments less than $10,000. Amounts less than $10,000 are not subject to bank reporting requirements.
The FBI began investigating the withdrawals in 2013 to determine if the money was being used "for a criminal purpose" or if Hastert "was the victim of a criminal extortion related to, among other matters, his prior positions in government," according to the indictment. Agents questioned Hastert in December 2014. "Specifically, in response to the agents' question confirming whether the purpose of the withdrawals was to store cash because he did not feel safe with the banking system, as he previously indicated, [Hastert] stated: 'Yeah ... I kept the cash. That's what I'm doing,'" the indictment alleged.
The 73-year-old Hastert was charged with one count of structuring currency transactions to evade currency transaction reports and one count of making a false statement to the FBI, according to the Tribune. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. If a defendant has no prior record, he would typically get a lesser sentence, according to Politico. Hastert will be arraigned in federal court in Chicago.
"Anyone who knows Denny is shocked and confused by the recent news," Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said Friday, according to the Tribune. "The former speaker should be afforded, like any other American, his day in court to address these very serious accusations."
The school where Hastert worked issued a statement on Friday. "Yorkville Community Unit School District #115 has no knowledge of Mr. Hastert's alleged misconduct, nor has any individual contacted the District to report any such misconduct," according to CNN.
Hastert was House speaker for eight years. After stepping down in 2007, he began working as a consultant and D.C. lobbyist. Prior to his political career, Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Illinois.
