Dennis Hastert obit

Former House Speaker and “serial child molester” Dennis Hastert dies at 84

 He was not on the list.

CHICAGO (WGN) — Former U.S. House Speaker John Dennis Hastert has died at the age of 84.

According to the Kendall County coroner, Hastert passed away at his home over the weekend “due to natural causes.”

In 2016, Hastert admitted in court that he sexually abused boys while coaching at Yorkville High School. A federal judge sentenced Hastert to 15 months in prison and issued a $250,000 fine. The judge referred to him as a “serial child molester.”

Hastert became the highest-ranking elected official in U.S. history to serve a prison sentence. He represented Illinois’ 14th Congressional District from 1987 to 2007, and was Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007.

Hastert was the longest-serving Republican speaker.

Born in Aurora, Illinois, Hastert earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wheaton College in 1964 and a master’s in education from Northern Illinois University in 1967.

In 2007, Wheaton named its new public policy center the J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy. After Hastert’s indictment, the school removed his name in 2015. Other organizations abandoned associations with Hastert, and his portrait was removed from a hallway outside the House chamber.

Hastert lived his entire life in Chicago’s suburbs, primarily in the Yorkville area. While growing up, he helped his father with the family’s feed business.

Survivors include his wife, Jean, and two adult sons.

A member of the Republican Party, he represented Illinois's 14th congressional district from 1987 to 2007 and was the sixth longest-serving speaker in history, and the longest serving Republican. In 2016, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for financial offenses related to the sexual abuse of teenage boys. He admitted to the abuse at a sentencing hearing, though he was never convicted of any sexual crimes.