Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Ex-US House Speaker, evangelical Dennis Hastert, settles abuse claim

Ex-US House Speaker, evangelical Dennis Hastert, settles abuse claim

Last updated on: September 18, 2021 at 4:20 pm by Barry Duke

Ex-US House Speaker, evangelical Dennis Hastert, settles abuse claim 2021-09-18T16:20:30+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image via Lake County Sheriff’s Department

HASTERT, above, once the highest-ranking evangelicals in the Republican Party, has settled a lawsuit involving unpaid hush money to a man he once sexually abused.

The settlement came ahead of a lawsuit filed by “James Doe”, who claims that he was promised $3.5 million in 2010 in exchange for his silence over the abuse, but only received part payment. He then sued for the balance owed: $1.8-million.

Christianity Today reports that Hastert, 79, rose to Republican leadership in the US House in the 1990s, with a perfect rating from the Christian Coalition, National Right to Life Committee, and the National Rifle Association. He also earned a place on the Moral Majority’s “Honour Roll.”

The Moral Majority was a leading US political organisation associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s. It played a key role in the mobilisation of conservative Christians as a political force and particularly in Republican presidential victories throughout the 1980s.

He was elevated to House Speaker in 1998, when the GOP was looking for someone with “solid morals” to lead the party in opposition to President Bill Clinton.

Hastert was a hypocrite of the first order. In the late 1990s, railing against Internet child porn, he said:

We must continue to be proactive warding off pedophiles and other creeps who want to take advantage of our children.

Records show that Hastert’s office kept a legislative file titled “Homosexuals,” filled with policy statements from social conservative groups like the Traditional Values Coalition and the Family Research Council that criticised same-sex marriage and Clinton administration’s efforts to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians.

The file also included a 1996 Weekly Standard article, “Pedophilia Chic” that warned that “revisionist suggestions about pedophilia” were being embraced by the left.

According to federal prosecutors, Hastert sexually abused at least four boys while teaching for his 16 years at Yorkville High School in Illinois. All of his victims were aged between the ages of 14 and 17. “James Doe” was a 14-year-old student athlete at the time he claims Hastert touched him inappropriately in a hotel room.

The abuse allegations surfaced when, in 2016 Hastert pleaded guilty to a banking charge and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. During the criminal case, former student athletes recalled how he would pull up a recliner to watch them while they showered, and Hastert admitted to some allegations of sexual abuse.

He could not be prosecuted, however, because of the statute of limitations.

Hastert was seen as someone with “the moral authority and personal integrity” to lead. He kept the position of House Speaker – second in line from the President – until 2007, making him the longest-serving Republican speaker in US history.

Hastert was lauded as Wheaton Colleges’s most influential alumnus, and the school named a center for economics, government, and public policy after him. The Hastert Center sought to promote:

The redeeming effects of the Christian worldview on the practice of business, government and politics.

In 2014 Hastert lied to the FBI when they questioned him about suspicious bank withdrawals. Hastert had taken $50,000 out of his accounts in increments of $10,000 but then learned that the bank was required to report withdraws of $10,000 or more. He then started withdrawing cash in increments of less than $10,000 every six weeks for more than two years.

AP adds that lawyers would not release details of the settlement, arrived at just days before a civil trial was set to start. It would have focused on a novel legal issue about whether Hastert’s verbal agreement to pay $3.5 million to buy the silence of “James Doe” amounted to a legally binding contract.

Hastert paid $1.7 million over four years but stopped the payments after the FBI questioned him in 2014 about illegally concealing huge cash withdraws from his bank.

At his 2016 sentencing, US District Judge Thomas M Durkin repeatedly rebuked Hastert before issuing a 15-month sentence, telling him that his abuse devastated the lives of victims. He said:

Nothing is more stunning than to have the words ‘serial child molester’ and ‘Speaker of the House’ in the same sentence

Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

Previous Post

September 17, 2021

Priest accused of buying drugs & funding sex parties with church funds

Next Post

September 19, 2021 Bible verse cock-up on a billboard comparing Trump to Jesus

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I mocked a prophet for his baldness and was mauled by bears for my disrespect. Who are we?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Philistines Children of Israel Youths Boys from Bethel

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »