Hastert Case Brings up Painful Memories for Priest Sex Abuse Victim

By Brad Edwards
CBS Chicago
April 13, 2016

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/04/13/hastert-case-brings-up-painful-memories-for-priest-sex-abuse-victim/

Two things former House Speaker Dennis Hastert wanted to avoid: jail time and facing those who accused him of sex abuse when they were boys. Wednesday, a judge cleared the way for both.

Hastert will be sentenced in two weeks in his hush money case and, the judge made it pretty clear: He won’t be lenient.

CBS 2’s Brad Edwards reports on how the pain of sex abuse for some, never goes away.

“With the thing with Dennis Hastert right now, there’s a lot remembrance of what I went through,” said Billy Reidy.

Because for him, it was at a school and it was a person in authority.

Starting when he was 15, he says he was abused, “every single day” from 1976 to 1979 by a priest at Loyola Academy in Wilmette. His life changed.

“I had gone through suicide attempts, I had gone through anxiety attacks, lotta depression,” he said.

It still affects him today. He says he can’t go to the dentist.

“I can’t have anything in my mouth for very long,” he said.

He was awarded a large settlement.

In the Hastert case, alleged victim’s will go under oath, speak and be questioned

The judge hinted he may go above sentencing recommendations of 0 to 6 months’ time because when interview by the FBI, Hastert claimed to be the victim of extortion.

CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller says the judge, “was shocked when he heard that Hastert was trying to say that this kid was blackmailing him for no reason, I mean he’s victimizing the victim…If I were Dennis Hastert, I would be worried that the judge is going to give him more than that six months. That should be his biggest worry today.”

11 days from now, the one-time speaker of the house may hear he’s headed to the big house.