Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jolene Burdge said Dennis Hastert caused her brother "irreparable harm"

A woman says former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert sexually abused her brother while Mr Hastert worked as a high school teacher in the 1970s.

Jolene Burdge told ABC News on Friday her brother Steve Reinboldt never came forward because he feared "no one would believe him".

She says she believes Reinboldt, who died in 1995, was not the only victim.

Mr Hastert was charged last month over illegal cash withdrawals to pay hush money to an unnamed individual.

A federal indictment alleges that Mr Hastert paid $3.5 million (£2.3 million) to keep a victim in Yorkville, Illinois, where Reinboldt went to high school, quiet about "prior misconduct".

The FBI interviewed Ms Burdge, who has considered coming forward with her brother's story in the past, last month.

Reinboldt told Ms Burdge about the abuse in 1979, when he told her he was gay.

Image copyright AP Image caption Hastert (left) was a teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois in the 1970s

Ms Burdge never asked Mr Hastert for money, but she thinks the person cited in the indictment who was paid off knows what happened to her brother.

She said Reinboldt was abused by Mr Hastert throughout high school in Yorkville and though Mr Hastert was a "father figure" to him, though he caused him "irreparable harm."

The former congressman even showed up at Reinboldt's funeral, where Ms Burdge confronted him and told him she knew what he had done to her brother. Mr Hastert simply did not respond and got in his car and drove away, she said.

During Mr Hastert's role of Speaker of the House, Ms Burdge struggled to watch Mr Hastert bask in his power in government, she said.

When the news of Mr Hastert's indictment broke, Ms Burdge thought, "it's happened, we got him".

Mr Hastert has not been charged with sexual abuse and is scheduled to make his first court appearance next week.