Sexual Misconduct and Statute of limitations keeps Hastert out of prison
Former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert may or may not end up doing a short prison stint for being convicted of evading bank laws, he won’t, however, do any time for his sexual misconduct. If his attorneys have it their way, he will get nothing more than probation, ” he is 74 yrs. old, in failing health and he deeply regrets what he’s done” they say.
The fact that while Mr. Hastert was a teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois from 1965-1981 and is now being accused of sexual misconduct with 5 boys, will be swept under the rug as far as the government is concerned. The statute of limitations on any sex offenses from that time period has long run out.
One of Mr. Hasert’s accusers is suing him for 1.8 million dollars, the unpaid portion of a 3.5 million dollar verbal deal he allegedly made with Mr. Hastert back in 2008, a deal to “keep things quiet.” According to the FBI Mr. Hasert initially tried to make it look as though he was being extorted for money, after investigation, that was found to be untrue.
When I read the news articles surrounding the former US House Speaker and the allegations of contact sexual abuse, it seems that since a certain period of time has gone by and the statue of limitations has run out, then the offense no longer matters, at least in the eyes of the government.
While Mr. Hastert’s lawyers state that he “deeply regrets” what he’s done, I’m not certain if that pertains to his evading bank laws or getting caught with this alleged sexual abuse scandal. Without going to trial we’ll never know.
If the allegations are true then a government paid sex offender has gotten away with a sex offense for which he will not stand trial, he will not go to prison and he will not have to register as a sex offender.
Forgive my sarcasm, but I guess government jobs do offer “great benefits”!
Full story at http://www.washingtonpost.com
Update: April 27, 2016 Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison with 2 yrs. supervision. He was also ordered to attend sex offender treatment and pay $250,000 to a crime victims fund. He was defined by the judge as a “serial child molestor”.
Update: April 28, 2016 According to a USA Today article, Hastert is required to register as a sex offender, although this is the only newspaper article where I have seen any mention of this.
