J. Dennis Hastert is currently facing a lawsuit imposing a $1.8 million payment to a man accusing him of sexual molestation. The suit is for breach of contract that stated Hastert's failure to comply with the full $3.5 million payment for compensation and damages incurred.
According to the New York Times, a lawsuit against Hastert was filed on April 25 in Kendall County, Illinois accusing him of sexual molestation and payment of $1.8 million for compensation. The man, only known as James Doe or Individual A, claimed that the former Republican Speaker of the House abused him when he was only 14 years old.
The lawsuit was for breach of contract that stated Hastert's failure to follow through with the full payment of $3.5 million in damages after being charged with federal crimes last year, according to Reuters. Individual A alleged that Hastert molested him in a motel room during a wrestling camp trip decades ago. Hastert was a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in the 1970s and was a trusted friend to Individual A and his family.
The suit said, "For many years to follow, Plaintiff suffered severe panic attacks which led to periods of unemployment, career changes, bouts of depression, hospitalization and long-term psychiatric treatment."
Hastert is expected for sentencing on April 27 in the federal court after pleading guilty to a separate banking violation case, which is also connected to the abuse. The large sums of money transferred from Hastert's accounts to Individual A's in 2010 led authorities investigate for banking fraud. Claims of the sexual abuses emerged afterwards.
According to NBC News, authorities began suspecting illegal activity when they found that Hastert evaded bank reporting rules by illegally structuring bank withdrawals by taking out large amounts of money in small increments. Individual A only managed to receive $1.7 million from the $3.5 million verbal agreement.
Hastert's attorneys issued a statement earlier in April saying that their client "acknowledges that as a young man he committed transgressions for which he is profoundly sorry." No comment on the current lawsuit has been issued as of the present.
