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New lawsuit accuses Hastert of sexual assault

Another accuser filed a lawsuit Friday in Kendall County court, detailing sexual abuse at the hands of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Hastert is scheduled to be released in August from a Minnesota prison, where he is currently serving his sentence for illegally structuring bank withdrawals in an attempt to avoid reporting requirements.

The accuser, named "Richard Doe" in the lawsuit is seeking $50,000 in damages from charges including battery, false imprisonment, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Yorkville Community School District 115 is also named in the lawsuit.

Doe claims to have been a student at Yorkville Community Unit School District 115 while Hastert coached the school's wrestling team and led the local boys' club, court records show.

Hastert is accused of sexually assaulting Doe in a bathroom stall of the former Game Farm Building when the accuser was about 9 years old. The lawsuit also states a few weeks after the alleged assault, Hastert threatened the boy and said his parents would be put in jail if he told anyone about the attack.

About ten years later, Doe went to the Kendall County State's Attorney's Office to file a report, but was met with opposition from former state's attorney, Dallas Ingemunson, according to the lawsuit. Doe and his attorneys with Patterson Law Firm, LLC, wrote in the court filing that Ingemunson played an important role in Hastert's political career at the time.

"Upon hearing (Doe's) report, Ingemunson threatened to charge (Doe) with a crime and accused him of slandering Hastert's name," Doe's attorney's wrote.

Katiesmithdh@gmail.com

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