Dennis Hastert, A Powerful, Privileged Child Molester

I've decided to finish this post, but I must tell you, the Hastert case made me sick.  Just looking at this pedophile being rolled around in his wheelchair wanting sympathy, angered me.  I was hoping the judge would announce that he'd  just discovered a little-used law and would use it to sentence Hastert to life in prison.  Unfortunately, Hastert escaped his due punishment for violating those young men and damaging their lives, and will only pay for his financial crime.  Shame.  But here's what I wrote on the day he was sentenced. 

I'm too disgusted to write at length about former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's case, but I have to put on paper how nauseated I am just watching this pervert on television.  Judge Thomas M. Durkin has just sentenced Hastert to 15 months in prison for illegally structuring bank transactions to cover up his dastardly deeds with a former member of the high school wrestling team he coached years ago.

I can only imagine how they must have felt when their coach would pretend to be a humble servant, selflessly committed to guiding the young men on his team when parents and school officials would sing his praise.  His victims knew the truth.  They knew that he was a twisted, evil man that saw them as sexual prey.  They knew that he was a deceiver, but more importantly, they knew the shame of being a teenage boy, an athlete no less, that was being sexually abused.  And they also knew what the consequences would be for telling anyone about the beloved Hastert's dirty secrets.

It all seems so unfair.  Hastert went on to enjoy many years of power, privilege, and prestige in politics, while his victims suffered greatly, mostly in silence.  Can you imagine what they were thinking when Hastert, then a member of the Illinois House spearheaded legislation to combat child abuse?  It certainly had to be crushing to watch Hastert's meteoric ascent to power, and his basking in the limelight while enjoying the respect of millions of Americans, knowing that he should have been in jail.

It's all hindsight now, but parents, teachers and others have an obligation to watch for signs that a child molester is in their midst.  I pay special attention to any adult that makes themselves available to spending time alone with a child or teen.  If that person is in a position of authority or trust, I watch them even closer.  Yes I know, that most people that offer to help a child, be it tutoring, coaching, mentoring or what have you, don't have ulterior motives, but the stakes are too high to give anyone a pass.