Hastert released from prison to sex offender treatment
By Christy Gutowski . . . Dennis Hastert‘s federal prison sentence officially ended Wednesday, but the former U.S. House speaker’s legal troubles are far from over.
Hastert still faces two Kendall County lawsuits related to allegations of child sexual abuse decades ago when he worked as a high school teacher and coach.
In the first lawsuit, due back in court this month, attorneys for the former high school standout wrestler at the center of a 2015 federal indictment that led to the ex-politician’s downfall want Hastert to turn over all documents regarding his misconduct and other correspondence.
The documents being sought may include text messages, emails, letters and even a personal diary if Hastert has kept one, dating back more than 50 years.
In response, Hastert attorney John Ellis asked Kendall County Judge Robert Pilmer for a protective order barring the request and other “overbroad” discovery demands. The opposing counsel also seek to depose Hastert.
His attorneys declined to comment Wednesday.
Hastert served 85 percent of his 15-month federal prison in Minnesota for violating banking regulations to cover up child sexual abuse. He was never charged with a sex crime due to the long-expired statute of limitations, federal prosecutors said.
He returned to Chicago July 17 and was processed through a federal residential re-entry management field office on the West Side. Authorities, though, have declined to say whether Hastert has been living in a halfway house or on home confinement this past month.
According to U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin’s sentencing order, Hastert must now serve two years of supervised release that will include restricted travel, random drug screenings and regular checkups from an officer.
And because Hastert admitted he sexually abused boys when he was a wrestling coach decades ago, the onetime Republican powerhouse has been ordered by a judge to take part in a sex-offender treatment program, including any “psychological and physiological testing” recommended by his probation officer.
Read full article in the Chicago Tribune.
