Former House speaker sentenced to 15 months

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in federal prison for a bank fraud case linked to allegations he sexually abused teen boys more than 30 years ago.

Federal Judge Thomas Durkin called the 74-year-old a "serial child molester" before imposing his sentence. Hastert also is ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and be subject to two years of supervised release after leaving prison. He also must register as a sex offender.

“I want to apologize to the boys I mistreated,” Hastert said at court. “They looked (up) at me and I took advantage of them.”

The apology represented the first time Hastert admitted to mistreating some athletes when he was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois before beginning his political career.

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