A Republican lawmaker's brother says he was sexually abused by former Speaker of the House
Scott Cross, 53, known in the court filings as "Individual D", is the brother of Republican congressman from Illinois Tom Cross. Tom was a political mentee of Hastert's, Politico reporter Natasha Korecki noted on Twitter.
Cross had "long ago" confirmed he was the "Individual D" listed in the court documents, but asked that his identity remain a secret until he was able to testify against Hastert in court, The Chicago Tribune reported.
Cross says he was abused by Hastert, then a coach and teacher at Yorkville High School in Illinois, when he was 17.
The sentencing hearing in former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert's hush-money case centered on sex-abuse allegations has began this morning at a federal court in Chicago.
Hastert was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair a few minutes before the hearing started Wednesday. An attorney was carrying a walker.
The 74-year-old Republican pleaded guilty to breaking banking law as he sought to pay someone $3.5 million. Prosecutors say it was hush money to conceal past sexual abuse against a student wrestler while Hastert worked at Yorkville.
His plea deal suggests a sentence between probation and six months behind bars. But Judge Thomas M. Durkin has recently made comments suggesting he could impose a far stiffer sentence.