WASHINGTON: J. Dennis Hastert, who served for eight years as speaker of the House of Representatives, was paying a former student hundreds of thousands of dollars to not say publicly that Hastert had sexually abused him decades ago, according to two people briefed on the evidence uncovered in an FBI investigation.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the indictment of Hastert, 73, on allegations he made cash withdrawals, totalling $1.7 million (Dh6.24 million), to evade detection by banks. Federal authorities also charged him with lying to them about the purpose of the withdrawals.

The man — who was not identified in court papers — told the FBI that he had been inappropriately touched by Hastert when the former speaker was a high schoolteacher and wrestling coach, the two people said Friday. The people briefed on the investigation spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a federal investigation.

It was not clear when the suspected behaviour, which was first reported by The Los Angeles Times, occurred. Hastert was a high schoolteacher and coach in Yorkville, Illinois, from 1965 to 1981, and the indictment said the recipient of the payments was from Yorkville and had known Hastert for decades.

It was also unclear whether the authorities considered pursuing charges against the man on suspicion of extorting payments from Hastert in exchange for keeping silent. Such a prosecution would likely have required Hastert to allege that he was the victim of extortion. But the indictment said Hastert denied to the FBI he was making payments to the individual, saying he withdrew cash because he no longer trusted the banking system.

Hastert, a Republican who had a highly lucrative career as a lobbyist since leaving Congress in 2007, could not be reached for comment at his office in Washington. A spokeswoman for the US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said Friday there was no lawyer of record on file for Hastert.

The allegations against a man who was once one of the most powerful people in Washington have stunned lobbyists, lawmakers and veteran Capitol Hill staff members who worked alongside him as he rose to become second in line to the presidency in 1999.

“The Denny I served with worked hard on behalf of his constituents and the country,” House Speaker John A. Boehner said in a statement late Friday evening. “I’m shocked and saddened to learn of these reports.”

The indictment also surprised Hastert’s former students and high schoolteachers back home in Illinois. Several of them said Friday they were struggling to make sense of the federal charges against him.

“They are all stunned at the news,” said George Dyche of Aurora, Illinois, a coach who competed against Hastert’s team for years, and worked closely with him to develop the Illinois state wrestling association. “They all say, ‘Are they talking about our Denny?’”

In Yorkville, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago, Hastert is a larger-than-life figure, not just because he rose to be speaker of the House, but because the wrestling team he coached at tiny Yorkville High School won the state championship in 1976 — a triumph still listed as a historical event on the town’s official website.

A statement released Friday by the Yorkville Community Unit School District said it had “no knowledge of Hastert’s alleged misconduct, nor has any individual contacted the district to report any such misconduct. If requested to do so, the district plans to cooperate fully with the US attorney’s investigation into this matter.”

Dyche said Hastert helped build the sport of wrestling in his home state, was president of the wrestling association and started a state wrestling newspaper called The Word in the 1970s. Hastert still regularly attends Big Ten Conference collegiate wrestling championships, said Dyche, who said he saw him there this year.

“He was a quiet guy in the corner, not a yelling, screaming coach, very pragmatic, cool under fire,” Dyche said. “I would go up after losing to him and say: ‘Damn it, you did it again. I know what your kids are going to do, but my kids still couldn’t stop them.’”

Dyche said Hastert “ruled his program with a calm but firm hand. He was extremely successful and respected.” And he said he was stunned by the allegations.

“Of all the people in the world, it’s not the Denny Hastert I know,” Dyche said. “He was a man of character, a pillar in the community.”

— New York Times News Service