EvilCat Breath
Diamond Member
- Sep 23, 2016
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Who was the blackmailer?Hastert wasn't charged with molestation. He certainly wasn't convicted. Far from committing suicide the man lived to blackmail Hastert until the blackmail was discovered when Hastert was charged with structuring..- Who are you to tell me what threads I HAVE to start or did or did not start? F* You, you Lib-Troll!
No need to pay attention to you the rest of the day since the TRUTH is now going to trigger you into an emotionally unstable partisan rant rage (more than usual).
So you can show us the thread you started about the outrage over what Denny Hastert did, where the young man in question eventually committed suicide, right?
Hastert wasn't charged with molestation- because the statute of limitations on child rape had run out.
He wasn't convicted of child rape because the statute of limitations ran out.
But Hastert did confess to sexually molesting children- just as Polansky did- luckily Hastert was nailed on a related charge- and served some time- and Polansky deserves behind bars too.
Dennis Hastert admits sexually abusing teenage boys
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Wednesday admitted to sexually abusing teenage boys during his time as a high school wrestling coach in a Chicago suburb before his career as an elected official.
Struggling to stand in federal court Wednesday, 74-year-old Hastert gripped his walker, approached the microphone and said that he "mistreated" some of his wrestlers and apologized.
"They looked to me, and I took advantage of them," Hastert said as he awaited his sentencing after pleading guilty last fall to breaking federal banking laws in a hush-money case. "I apologize to the court and to the people of the United States."
Judge Thomas Durkin sentenced Hastert to 15 months in prison, a $250,000 fine, along with two years of supervised release on the condition that he get sex offender treatment. Prosecutors had recommended a six-month sentence. Durkin called Hastert a "serial child molester" and said he must not contact any of his victims.
"That's necessary to protect the victims," the judge said.
One of the men who has accused Hastert of sexual abuse years ago identified himself in the courtroom Wednesday before Hastert spoke.
The man, previously known only as "Individual D," identified himself as Scott Cross, 53, who lives in Chicago and works in finance. He has a wife and two children.
"Coach Hastert sexually abused me," said Cross, who teared up at times as he identified himself publicly for the first time.
The allegations stem from the time Hastert worked as a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in a Chicago suburb between 1965 and 1981.
Scott Cross, dressed in a business suit, recounted that he was alone in the locker room with Hastert, who told Cross he could help him lose weight by giving him a massage. Cross said that after a few minutes of a massage, Hastert tried to perform a sex act on him and Cross said he then jumped up and ran out of the room.
Cross said he felt alone and embarrassed and never told anyone about the incident and never discussed it with Hastert.
"I've had trouble sleeping and working," he said, and called the decision to come forward a "huge personal struggle."
He is the younger brother of longtime Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, who served in that leadership role from 2002 to 2013 and retired from the legislature last year. The Chicago Tribune notes that Cross has credited Hastert with introducing him to politics and helping him move up the ladder.
In court, Hastert's lawyer said the former speaker had suggested that the elder Cross could write a support letter on his behalf. But the Tribune reported that by the time the request was made, Cross was aware that his younger brother was "Individual D" and he "did not respond." Hastert's lawyer mentioned the request in order to suggest that Hastert's mental health is severely diminished and could explain why he has lied throughout the investigation.
Prosecutors also called Jolene Burdge, the sister of an alleged Hastert victim who died in 1995. Burdge testified first and read aloud a letter her late brother wrote to their mother five months before he died of AIDS, and she accused Hastert of "sexually molesting" her brother.
"You took Steve's right to develop his sexual identity in a normal, healthy way," Burdge said directly to Hastert, who arrived to court Wednesday in a wheelchair. "Don't be a coward, Mr. Hastert. Tell the truth. What you did wasn't misconduct; it was sexual abuse of a minor."
Admonishing Hastert from the stand, she said, "You were supposed to keep him safe, not violate him," and she continued, "You took his innocence and turned it against him," turning him toward a life of high-risk behavior that eventually killed him.
"I will make you accountable for molesting my brother. I knew your secret and you couldn't bribe your way out," she added.
Hastert, an Illinois Republican, served in Congress from 1987 to 2007, and is the longest-serving House speaker, holding that post from 1999 to 2007.
Cross and Burdge's brother are among at least four victims who have made "credible allegations of sexual abuse," according to a report earlier this month in The Chicago Tribune.