Dennis Hastert Case: Alleged Case of Sexual Misconduct Involving 2nd Ex-Student, Source Says

Source familiar with case says Individual A in indictment was ex-student.

ByABC News
May 30, 2015, 3:47 PM

— -- A man identified as Individual A in an indictment of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was a student at the school where Hastert worked at the time the alleged "misconduct" against the individual took place, according to a source familiar with the case.

In addition, sources say, there is a second individual who was allegedly victimized in a similar way by Hastert when he was a student. According to sources familiar with the investigation, this person neither asked for nor received any money from Hastert, as Individual A is alleged to have done.

The alleged "misconduct" referenced in the indictment was of a sexual nature involving a male, and dated back to Hastert's time as a high school wrestling coach and history teacher in Yorkville, Illinois, sources with knowledge of the case told ABC News.

The indictment, revealed Thursday, alleges that Hastert disbursed $1.7 million in hush money payments to conceal alleged misconduct from a period before he entered politics.

Individual A is not likely to face extortion charges, according to sources familiar with the case. One reason, sources said, is that it may not be entirely clear Individual A committed any criminal act. And even if that legal hurdle was resolved, sources added, in order to make an extortion case, prosecutors would need a victim willing to cooperate.

That victim, in theory, would be Hastert. But for Hastert to make the extortion claim, he would have to take the misconduct claim head-on.

The school district that employed Hastert from 1965 to 1981 as a high school history teacher and wrestling coach noted it "was first made aware of any concerns regarding Mr. Hastert when the federal indictment was released" Thursday.

The indictment revealed that Hastert's time at Yorkville, in Illinois, is "material" to the allegations against him and the U.S. Attorney's investigation. The indictment itself does not mention what the alleged misconduct is.

A statement released by Yorkville Community Unit School District #115 added it "has no knowledge of Mr. Hastert's alleged misconduct, nor has any individual contacted the District to report any such misconduct. If requested to do so, the District plans to cooperate fully with the U.S. Attorney's investigation into this matter."

A spokesman for Dickstein Shapiro LLC, the lobbying firm that Hastert joined in 2008 after leaving Congress, confirmed in a brief statement that "Dennis Hastert has resigned from the firm."

Hastert is likely to be arraigned next week, but a date has not yet been set and is entirely up to the judge. The U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago confirmed that no bond has been set. Customarily, the arraignment happens within five days to a week of an indictment, and bond will be set when Hastert is arraigned, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney.

Margaret Matlock said she taught physical education at the high school during Hastert's time there and recalled he had a highly regarded reputation.

"Everybody adored him because he was the wrestling coach and they were always winning state champions," Matlock said.

David Corwin, whose son Scott Corwin was on one of the wrestling teams coached by Hastert, said the former speaker was a devoted coach and teacher.

"He was a good coach. He took them to wrestling camps in the off season and he did whatever he could for them. He was a good teacher. Couldn't have asked for a nicer guy," David Corwin said.

Hastert has not responded to multiple requests for comment by ABC News.

ABC News' John Parkinson, Arlette Saenz, Josh Margolin, Mike Levine, Jordyn Phelps and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

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