Hastert, ex-Speaker branded ‘molester,’ to enter prison

CHICAGO – The hours are counting down to the deadline when Dennis Hastert must report to prison to serve a 15-month sentence.

A federal judge in Chicago ordered the former U.S. House speaker to report to a Rochester, Minnesota, prison by no later than Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Judge Thomas Durkin sentenced the 74-year-old Republican in April for breaking banking law in seeking to pay $3.5 million in hush money.

Durkin branded Hastert a “serial child molester” for sexually abusing at least four boys at an Illinois high school decades ago.

Hastert’s designated prison, the Rochester Federal Medical Center, specializes in health care. Hastert’s diabetic and suffered a stroke last year.

When he arrives, he’ll be subject to a full-body strip search. He’ll be identified by his inmate number — 47991-424.

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