Former Speaker Hastert sent to prison for crime he was NOT convicted. Is this right?

[westwall]

He wasn't convicted of child molesting but of structuring bank withdrawals to AVOID breaking the law.!!! Should that even be a crime? Anyway the judge sentenced him as if he had been convicted of molesting. This is not right at all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/us/dennis-hastert-sentencing.html?_r=0

april 27 2016 J. Dennis Hastert, once among the nation’s most powerful politicians, was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 months in prison for illegally structuring bank transactions in an effort to cover up his sexual abuse of young members of a wrestling team he coached decades ago.

While the sentencing hearing was, technically, about a violation of banking rules and regulations, the proceedings focused squarely on the underlying reason for Mr. Hastert’s puzzling bank withdrawals — his abuse of young wrestlers who had viewed him as a role model.

“The defendant is a serial child molester,” said Judge Thomas M. Durkin of Federal District Court, as Mr. Hastert sat impassively, often staring downward, hands crossed on his lap. He added, “Some actions can obliterate a lifetime of good works. Nothing is more stunning than having ‘serial child molester’ and ‘speaker of the House’ in the same sentence.”

Mr. Hastert was not charged with sexual abuse because statutes of limitation for acts in the 1960s and ’70s have run out; the judge noted pointedly that punishment for such a conviction would have been far worse.

Illegally structuring bank transactions to keep such abuse secret — the felony count to which Mr. Hastert pleaded guilty — carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

And that is a criminal offense. Do try and keep up.

 

[WinterBorn]

So why didn't these "victims" press charges or sue back in the 60s and 70s when the alleged crimes occurred.? This is extortion as in the Bill Cosby case.

You're as disgusting as Hastert.

HAHAHA. More namecalling. Address the question. Why didn't these "victims" sue 35 years ago.??

There are any number of reasons the kids didn't say anything.

It seems as though you are more concerned with the child molester than with him getting what he deserves.

 

[WinterBorn]

Hastert sexually abused several boys when he was a teacher and wrestling coach. He deserves no leniency. He needs to be punished. The only sad part is that he will be in a federal prison. I'd rather see him in a state prison and in the general population. That would be closer to justice.