More on the Hastert hypocrisy/sexual abuse scandal.

[marylander1940]

More on the Hastert hypocrisy/sexual abuse scandal.

 

In Steve Reinboldt’s 1970 high school yearbook, wrestling coach Dennis Hastert wrote that Steve was his “great, right hand man” as the student equipment manager of the Yorkville, Illinois wrestling team.

 

 

But Steve was also a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Hastert, Steve’s sister said today in an interview with ABC News. It is the first time an alleged Hastert victim has been identified by name since his indictment for lying to the FBI and violating federal banking laws to cover-up past misconduct. Hastert, due in court next week, has not responded to the allegations.

 

In an emotional interview, Steve Reinboldt’s sister Jolene said she first learned of her late brother’s purported years-long sexual abuse at the hands of the future Speaker of the House back in 1979 when her brother revealed to her that he was gay and had been out of high school for eight years.

 

“I asked him, when was your first same sex experience. He looked at me and said, ‘It was with Dennis Hastert,’” Jolene said. “I was stunned."

 

https://gma.yahoo.com/exclusive-alleged-dennis-hastert-sex-abuse-victim-named-104016079--abc-news-topstories.html#

[Kenny]

Tragic that the Illinois statute of limitations on sexual abuse, lifted in 2013, is not retroactive.

[+ dutchmuch]

I am wondering if there is another shoe about to drop.

[marylander1940]

A 3rd victim just came out....

 

I wonder if he was in favor or against openly gay Boy Scouts? He did vote for D.O.M.A. and kicked Foley after he got caught chasing the pages.

 

Hypocrisy, our national sin.

[Samai139]

Hypocrisy yes, but the bigger sin is the flaunting of the teacher/student code . If the allegation that he had a sexual relationship with a student is true then he should be a pariah to all of society. Some lines cannot be crossed with impunity. And as a coach/teacher in a high school he had a position of trust which he violated. No ifs, ands, buts, extenuating circumstances can change that, in my opinion.

[+ quoththeraven]

What would have happened if Hastert hadn't paid or hadn't lied about the reason for his cash withdrawals? He's no longer in Congress. Despite the abuse of the teacher/student relationship, which hasn't stopped others like Mary Kay Tourneau, who wound up marrying the student she abused and which people like Barbara Walters have persisted in pitching as romantic, what, exactly, would have happened if he'd refused to pay or hadn't lied about the reason for the withdrawals, especially if the statute of limitations on any underlying crime has expired?

 

Sure, he'd likely have lost his cushy lobbying job. But maybe not, especially if he had said "go ahead, publish" and had defended himself on the basis of making mistakes when he, too, was young, stupid, and didn't know any better. After all, it's not like he's a pedophile. I mean that. He's accused of molesting teenagers (hebephilia). Pedophiles molest the prepubescent.

 

It's not exactly the same because he wasn't a teacher or parental figure, but in 1971 Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary was convicted of, and served three months in prison for, taking "improper liberties" with a 14-year-old girl who went with her 17-year-old sister to Yarrow's hotel room seeking an autograph. He has since apologized for the incident: "It was an era of real indiscretion and mistakes by ... male performers. I was one of them. I got nailed. I was wrong. I'm sorry for it." Jimmy Carter later pardoned him, but it has occasionally become a campaign issue for politicians on whose behalf he is scheduled to appear. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Yarrow#Personal_life As far as anyone knows, he's kept his record clean since.

 

Peter Yarrow put it behind him; could Dennis Hastert have argued that he did the same even though he wasn't prosecuted for it at the time? (This presupposes he hasn't misbehaved since, but if he had, one would expect reports to have surfaced by now.)

 

I am as repelled as anyone by the allegations, but they are so old that they could grow whiskers. I also have no problem with prosecuting him for violating banking laws (and yes, they are criminal laws, despite some claims above to the contrary). But if he hadn't lied to the FBI about it, where would we be now? Most likely nowhere other than upset. If he'd been on the up and up by declining to pay up or to hide the nature of the transactions, he wouldn't be facing criminal charges and could argue that his misdeeds happened so long ago that he had effectively redeemed or rehabilitated himself in the meantime. Or can we not let go of anything until the person is punished for it even if they have corrected their course since then? Is that sensible or humane?

 

If you detect a little bit of a devil's advocate tone here, you're right, but I am interested in knowing at what point people can put misdeeds behind them. To be completely on the up-and-up any so-called redemption or rehabilitation should be accompanied not only by genuine remorse but an attempt to make the victim(s)'s lives better, such as paying for counseling.

[+ sync]

How things have tragically changed, or not. There was a time, when children went off to school, parents felt relieved--their children were in an architecturally sound building, under constant supervision with a medical professional on site. One can only guess how much of this abuse transpired in the naiveté of the good old days.

[Samai139]

Yes there have been many, many cases of adults (including teachers, priests, physicians) who have taken sexual advantage of young people in their care. No, they are not pedophiles, as defined above, but whether men or women, they are guilty of violating a trust which society has a right to believe exists for ALL children, including post-pubescent children.

There have been celebrities who have violated that trust (see above) and have admitted their mistakes and have more or less been able to continue with productive lives. Penitence and possible forgiveness may ameliorate the violations but trust has been lost and cannot be regained.

 

Mr Hastert did not and has not admitted that he did anything wrong, either sexually, financially or legally. To engage in "what ifs" does not serve any purpose, except intellectual gymnastics . Has he done anything in the last 30,40 years to show remorse? Can't we forgive him and move on? Let's wait and see what he does now--and consider forgiveness when appropriate.

 

And finally, Mr. Hastert's alleged behaviour, whether proven, admitted, or swept under some magic carpet , adds to the suspicion that many have about gay professionals---teachers, physicians, even boy scout leaders and a reluctance or even refusal to accept them as trustworthy.

[rvwnsd]

And finally, Mr. Hastert's alleged behaviour, whether proven, admitted, or swept under some magic carpet , adds to the suspicion that many have about gay professionals---teachers, physicians, even boy scout leaders and a reluctance or even refusal to accept them as trustworthy.

 

Um, excuse me...I believe he identifies as being straight.

[Samai139]

LMAO HE may identify as straight but in the eyes of most Americans he is gay.

[AdamSmith]

If you detect a little bit of a devil's advocate tone here, you're right, but I am interested in knowing at what point people can put misdeeds behind them. To be completely on the up-and-up any so-called redemption or rehabilitation should be accompanied not only by genuine remorse but an attempt to make the victim(s)'s lives better, such as paying for counseling.

 

For Hastert to have acted as you rightly say he could and arguably should have, he would have needed a reasonably clear and balanced outlook on his past behavior. What you implicitly make clear is that instead, his reactions have been those of someone guilt-ridden, shame-filled, fearful, panicked. Far from at peace with either his past or present self.

[Vato Loco]

Confirmed sources say that the payment arrangements were made on the private island of Little St James, or “Pedophile paradise” belonging to Hastert's long time friend Jeffrey Epstein. It has been reported that Hastert flew to the convicted pedophile's island on Epsteins private jet close to a dozen times. A pattern of behaviour?

[+ quoththeraven]

Jeffrey Epstein is a scumwad, and Alan Dershowitz's efforts on his behalf seem misguided. See this earlier thread.

 

There is some evidence that at least a subset of men who use positions of trust to abuse minors pick targets of convenience, not preference. What orientation they may have is open to question. If they consider adults sexually unappealing and are married for other reasons, then their sexual orientation looks like it begins and stops with minors. It's not clear how much the gender of the minor matters or whether it's correct or helpful to identify them by the gender of their preferred victim group

 

If they consider adults whom they're in relationships with sexually appealing and molest minors on the side, then they look more like someone who is straight (or gay, depending on their gender preference vis-a-vis adults) who has a paraphilia that isn't related to orientation. Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen discussions about how Jerry Sandusky -- who was conclusively proven to have raped prepubescent boys -- is a gay man who proves that gay men can't be trusted with children. He continues to be treated as the heterosexual man he was presumed to be and may well think of himself as. I don't know what his relationship with his wife is like, nor (unless I miss my guess) do any of you.

 

I don't know how many people associate same-sex attraction in men with pedophilia anymore other than it's almost certainly less, but the limited information I've seen may suggest that rates of pedophilia are lower in populations of self-identified homosexuals than in self-identified populations of heterosexuals. I would not find that surprising because society gives heterosexual men a great deal of leeway on the theory that "boys will be boys."

 

It's easy to be outraged. It's less easy to figure out how to translate that into action and prevention when all we ever do is react after the fact. That's why I raised the kinds of questions I raised. Society will never be prepared to deal with this responsibly unless we have thought about these things in advance of past misdeeds coming to light.