Dennis Hastert is barred from being alone with minors

Dennis Hastert was ordered never to be alone with minors on Tuesday in Chicago

A judge has barred disgraced former House Speaker Dennis Hastert from being alone with minors or watching porn.

Tuesday’s court order in Chicago requires that Hastert never be left alone with anyone under 18 unless another adult is present who is aware of his conviction in a sex abuse hush-money case.

US District Judge Thomas M. Durkin didn’t explain in his brief order why that and other new restrictions on the 75-year-old were called for now, three months into his two-year period of supervised release from prison.

Others new requirements included barring Hastert from possessing pornography and using ‘any sex-related telephone numbers.’ 

He also must allow – and pay for – the installation of software that records all his computer activity, from browser history to email correspondence and internet chats.

The new restrictions on Hastert came a day after a report filed under seal by his probation officer, which likely explained why the officer felt they were necessary.

Hastert (right) is seen reporting to prison to serve his prison term in 2016. Now on probation, he has been barred by court order from being along with a minor or possessing pornography

Hastert (right) is seen reporting to prison to serve his prison term in 2016. Now on probation, he has been barred by court order from being along with a minor or possessing pornography

In handing the Illinois Republican a 15-month prison term in April of last year, Judge Durkin branded Hastert ‘a serial child molester,’ citing at least four students abused by him when he coached at Yorkville High School in suburban Chicago from 1965 to 1981.

Hastert, the nation’s longest-serving GOP House speaker from 1999 to 2007, pleaded guilty in 2015 to violating banking rules as he sought to pay $3.5 million to a victim referred to only as Individual A to keep him quiet about the sex abuse. 

Hastert couldn’t be charged with sexual abuse because statutes of limitation had long since expired.

Among the conditions Durkin set during sentencing in 2016 was that Hastert undergo intensive sex-offender treatment, which is designed to gauge the risk molesters still pose to children. 

One common treatment for sex-offenders involves a penile plethysmograph, which gauges a known molester’s physical reaction to specific images.

Hastert is seen during his tenure as a wrestling coach in the 1960s. He was convicted for banking violations related to  hush money for teenage boys he sexually abused while coaching

Hastert is seen during his tenure as a wrestling coach in the 1960s. He was convicted for banking violations related to hush money for teenage boys he sexually abused while coaching

Hastert, seen in 1999, was the nation's longest-serving GOP House speaker, from 1999 to 2007

Hastert, seen in 1999, was the nation’s longest-serving GOP House speaker, from 1999 to 2007

The requests to tighten the restrictions came in a report filed under seal by a probation officer Monday in Chicago federal court. 

The filing likely provided other details, including why officials believed they were necessary.

Any adult who Hastert might ask to be present when minors are around must first be approved by a probation officer and the person providing treatment to Hastert, the judge’s order says.

Messages seeking comment from Hastert’s Washington DC attorney, Thomas Green, were not returned.

In August, Scott Cross, one of Hastert’s victims who stayed silent for 37 years about the abuse, said he was ‘disappointed’ to find out that the ex-lawmaker would be released two months early.

‘I was a little surprised,’ Cross told CNN’s Jake Taper on The Lead at the time. ‘I was a little, to be honest, a little disappointed in the sentence that was given out.’

Hastert is seen arriving for sentencing in 2016. It is unclear what prompted the new probation restrictions, which follow a report filed under seal by a probation officer on Monday

Hastert is seen arriving for sentencing in 2016. It is unclear what prompted the new probation restrictions, which follow a report filed under seal by a probation officer on Monday

‘You think about shame, guilt, embarrassment, humiliation – the Hasterts of the world have so much trust and respect over you that you really have a hard time processing and understanding it,’ Cross added. 

In a memo written in advance of his 2016 sentencing hearing, prosecutors spelled out in graphic detail how Hastert sexually molested or inappropriately touched five teenagers who trusted him as their wrestling coach.

And as Hastert rose to power, believing that his wrongdoing would never be made public, his victims struggled with the effects of the abuse, prosecutors wrote.

‘He made them feel alone, ashamed, guilty and devoid of dignity,’ prosecutors wrote. ‘While defendant achieved great success, reaping all the benefits that went with it, these boys struggled, and all are still struggling now with what defendant did to them.’ 

At the time of sentencing, US District Judge Thomas Durkin said he would have given him a longer sentence if it had not been for his age and poor health.   



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