Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) arrives at the Dirksen Federal Court House for his hush-money case sentencing on April 27 in Chicago, Illinois. | Getty Hastert sentenced to 15 months in prison The judge calls the former House speaker a "serial child molester" as Hastert apologizes for "mistreating" boys he supervised as a wrestling coach.

CHICAGO — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Wednesday after a dramatic hearing in which a judge deemed him a “serial child molester” and victims tearfully testified that he forever altered their lives.

“Some conduct is unforgivable no matter how old it is,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin told Hastert in a lengthy statement at the hearing.


Durkin called it “deplorable” that Hastert lied to the FBI during an initial investigation that ultimately led to a felony charge that Hastert broke federal law on reporting cash transactions while paying hush money to a former student at a school where he was a coach. Durkin also said it was “unconscionable” that Hastert initially accused the former student — known in the case as Individual A — of extortion, leading the FBI to begin investigating the victim.

“You set him up,” Durkin told Hastert, who has admitted to sexually abusing teenage boys when he was a high school teacher and wrestling coach more than three decades ago.

Durkin upbraided Hastert for trying to say the conduct against Individual A was “ambiguous.”

“There is nothing ambiguous about this,” he said. “This is sexual abuse.”

The sentencing followed a further twist in the case when a victim known only as Individual D in court filings identified himself in court as Scott Cross, brother of former Illinois GOP House Minority Leader Tom Cross.

“I looked up to Coach Hastert. Coach Hastert sexually abused me,” Scott Cross said. The former high school wrestler described an incident in which Hastert told him he would give him a massage, then touched his genitals. “I was stunned by what he was doing. … I stood up and ran out of the locker room.”

As Cross watched Hastert gain in political stature, befriending his brother Tom, among others, Cross said he became more fearful of disclosing the event, which he called his “darkest secret.”

He said he wanted his children and others to know that there is an alternative to staying silent.

After the testimony, he and his brother left the courtroom together.

Hastert was not charged with molestation because the statute of limitations had run out on those crimes, but Durkin repeatedly called Hastert a “serial child molester,” saying he couldn’t believe he was using the words “House speaker” and “child molester” in the same sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Block said the office would have charged Hastert with sex crimes or referred the crimes to state court if the statute hadn’t run out.

During his own testimony, Hastert spoke quickly.

“I’m deeply ashamed to be standing before you today,” he said. “I’m the one solely responsible for being here. I know I’m here because I’ve mistreated some of the athletes that I coached.”

Hastert said that for the past 11 months, he was “trying to come to terms” with his past conduct and that he was committed to getting treatment.

“I would like to say I’m sorry,” he said. “What I did was wrong and I regret it.”

Durkin continued to press Hastert, specifically asking him before a packed courtroom whether he had indeed sexually abused specific victims, such as Individual D, who had testified.

“I don’t remember doing that,” Hastert said.

Victim B?

“Yes.”

Asked about Stephen Reinboldt, Hastert initially hedged, saying it was a “different situation.”

When the judge pressed Hastert on whether he had abused Reinboldt, an extended silent pause fell over the courtroom.

“Yes,” Hastert finally said.

At that, Reinboldt’s sister, Jolene Burdge, and a family member with her, clasped each others’ hands and sobbed. Burdge had been Hastert’s most vocal adversary, confronting him years ago over his abuse of her brother, only to be rebuffed by the politician and, at the time, some in the media.

“I hope I have been your worst nightmare,” Burdge told Hastert in her court statement. “Don’t be a coward, Mr. Hastert. What you did wasn’t misconduct. It was sexual abuse of a minor.”

The admission capped a dramatic chapter in the former speaker’s fall. The former Illinois lawmaker, 74, was the longest-serving Republican speaker and took a strong public stand against molestation in the scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley, who had been accused of sending sexually explicit messages to teenage pages.

Recent letters in support of Hastert have painted him as a man of faith and a dedicated public servant. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay called him a man of “great integrity.”

But Hastert kept a dark secret for decades. Prosecutors say he so badly wanted to hide his past sexual misconduct, he agreed to pay a former student $3.5 million in hush money. Hastert pleaded guilty last fall to withdrawing $952,000 from the bank in increments crafted to avoid notice, in violation of banking laws. Prosecutors say when FBI investigators approached Hastert, he said he was being falsely extorted and even agreed to record a phone conversation with the individual.

Earlier this month, prosecutors said Hastert abused at least five students when he served as wrestling coach at Yorkville High School.

In a recent phone interview, Scott Cross told Politico he personally knew there were more accusers.

“I can tell you, there are nine victims, not five,” he said. “I know, I’ve confirmed there are nine.”

When asked his thoughts on Hastert, Cross said, “He has his bed to lie in. His time will come; the maker’s got his number.”

Tom Cross has long considered Hastert a political mentor. He served as the GOP leader in the Illinois House from 2003-13. In 2014, he lost his statewide bid in the Illinois treasurer race.

Scott Cross said he did not tell his family about the abuse until after the charges were leveled against Hastert.

On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon thanked the victims for their courage in speaking out after harboring a dreadful secret for decades. He then applauded federal investigators for lifting the veil on Hastert.

“But for the tenacity of our federal law enforcement team here in Chicago … this day of reckoning would not have come. This curtain would not have been pulled back on these dark secrets. Mr. Hastert’s legend and legacy as a public servant would have gone untarnished. History would have told a lie,” Fardon said. “We followed the case where it led, we brought the charges we could bring and through that, Mr. Hastert’s legend and legacy are gone. And in its place are a broken, humiliated man. That is as it should be.”

Hastert had sought probation, with his attorneys arguing that he is frail, was near death late last year, needs constant assistance and now uses a wheelchair.

Prosecutors had asked Durkin to sentence Hastert on the so-called structuring charge in accordance with guidelines calling for confinement of between zero and six months, but they did not explicitly urge that Hastert be put behind bars.

On Tuesday, new letters were posted into the court record that asked Durkin to factor in past abuse and give Hastert a lengthy sentence to deter other leaders who deal with youths, and recognizing that the statute of limitations on sex crimes was “arbitrary” and has since been changed.

Hastert’s apology Wednesday came after previous expressions of regret that came through his attorneys.

After court, Hastert’s attorney Thomas Green released another statement: “Mr. Hastert accepts the sentence imposed by the court today. As he made clear in his own words in addressing the court, he takes sole responsibility for this tragic situation and deeply apologizes to all those affected by his actions. He hopes that he now can focus on addressing his health issues and on healing the emotional damage that has been inflicted on his family and friends who have shown unwavering support throughout this trying time.”

Nick Gass and Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.