Dennis Hastert paid to conceal 'sexual misconduct,' ABC News sources say

CHICAGO (KABC) -- Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert allegedly paid hush money to someone in exchange for silence related to sexual misconduct before he began his political career, ABC News sources say.

The alleged misconduct involved a male individual, according to ABC News, and it dates back to Hastert's time as a high school wrestling coach and history teacher in Yorkville, Illinois.

Hastert, who was indicted on bank-related charges Thursday, is well-respected and admired in his hometown of Plano, Illinois, and neighboring Yorkville.

He taught at Yorkville High School from 1965 to 1981. The school district released a statement Friday that it has no knowledge of alleged misconduct when Hastert was a coach and educator there.

Investigators allege Hastert, 73, agreed to pay $3.5 million in hush money to someone, referred to only as "Individual A" in the indictment, to keep quiet on "prior misconduct" by the Illinois Republican.

In Kendall County, that's how many people still think of him: Mr. Hastert, the teacher. Josh Newcomer's parents sat in Hastert's history class.

"He's definitely part of the town. It's very surprising. It's a shock," Newcomer said.

"You're prideful of people that are coming from your community and trying to make a difference in Illinois, so it's just disappointing," said Michelle Riordan, a Yorkville resident.

Since 2010, Hastert has allegedly withdrawn about half of that amount from his bank accounts in transactions of less than $10,000 at a time, which is just below the amount that has to be reported bank officials. Prosecutors said Hastert made 106 transactions of that size.

"It's a lot of withdrawals of cash and it's a lot of effort to go into preventing the government from learning that you're withdrawing large sums of cash," said Gil Soffer, ABC7 legal analyst.

Investigators said he lied about the purpose of the withdrawals, claiming he didn't trust the banks.

Individual A is only identified as a person from Yorkville who has known Hastert most of his life.

"It clearly involved something relating to a relationship that he had with another person. It's only a surmise what that might be. But it does appear whatever it was in fact inappropriate and it further appears that the victim of the misconduct may have also been playing an extortion game," Soffer said.

Born in Aurora, Illinois, Hastert graduated from Wheaton College, where the school of economics and government is named after him. On Friday, Wheaton College said it had accepted Hastert's resignation from that school's board of advisers.

In 1999 amid the turmoil in the Republican Party, the GOP picked Hastert to be Speaker of the House because of his small-town roots and reputation. He was remarkable for being a little-known state lawmaker from suburban Chicago who eventually rose to the third-highest office in the land.

"One of the reasons he was chosen as speaker, it was a time in the Republican Party where there was a lot of dissension, a lot of controversy. They wanted a good guy who could bring people together," said Laura Washington, ABC7 political analyst.

Hastert was the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in history.

He has not been seen or heard from publicly since his indictment. On Thursday, Hastert resigned from his job at a lobbying firm in Washington and his position on the board of the CME Group in Chicago. He has not returned phone calls or answered the door at his Plano estate.

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk released a statement Friday: "Anyone who knows Denny is shocked and confused by the recent news. The former speaker should be afforded, like any other American, his day in court to address these very serious accusations. This is a very troubling development that we must learn more about, but I am thinking of his family during this difficult time."

He left Congress eight years ago. Hastert's wrestling coach was never far from his narrative. His autobiography includes the quote: "There's no one to blame but yourself if you get pinned."

A court date has not been set, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Federal Judge Thomas Durkin, the brother of House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, Ill., was assigned the case. The judge has not sent an order for arraignment as of Friday morning.

TIMELINE OF HASTERT'S CAREER:

1965: Hastert begins teaching history at Yorkville High School and coaching wrestling team.

1976: Hastert named Illinois Coach of the Year after leading Yorkville to state wrestling championship.

1980: Hastert comes in third in Illinois state House of Representatives primary. But GOP chooses him to replace fatally ill primary winner; Hastert later wins general election.

1981: Hastert leaves Yorkville teaching post.

1986: GOP leaders name Hastert to replace freshman Republican U.S. Rep. John Grotberg, who was battling cancer. Hastert defeats Democratic opponent with 52 percent of vote - the closest of his many elections.

1998: Hastert tells incumbent Speaker Newt Gingrich dissatisfaction in GOP ranks makes it unlikely the Georgia lawmaker will hold onto post. Gingrich resigns next day.

1999: Hastert voted speaker of the House of Representatives.

2007: Hastert steps down as speaker after becoming longest serving Republican in position.

2007: J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy founded at Wheaton College

2008: Hastert joins Washington lobbying firm of Dickstein Shapiro as senior adviser.

2015: Hastert, 73, charged with evading bank regulations as he withdrew less than $10,000 at a time to make alleged hush money payments, according to the indictment. Hastert also charged with one count of lying to the FBI about reason for bank withdrawals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.