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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Did former House Speaker Dennis Hastert serve time for charges related to past sexual abuse of a minor?

Sunday, June 6, 2021

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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YES

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced in 2016 to 15 months in prison, two years of supervised release and other penalties for paying hush money to cover up sexual abuse of a minor. Hastert, who served as speaker from 1999 to 2007, had abused an unnamed “Individual A" when he was his wrestling coach several decades ago.

While statutes of limitations had expired on any potential charges related to the abuse of Individual A or other minors, investigators discovered that Hastert agreed to pay Individual A $3.5 million in compensation. Hastert was charged for the illegal structuring of cash withdrawals and for lying to the government about those activities in order to hold him “accountable for the crimes he committed that can still be prosecuted.”

Hastert admitted to sexually abusing multiple minors; the sentencing judge called him a “serial child molester."

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US District Court, Northern Division of Illinois, Eastern Division : Government’s sentencing argument for Hastert (April 8, 2016)

NPR Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert admits to sexual abuse

AP News Sex-offender treatments now awaits Hastert

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.