Report: 4 'credible' sex-abuse allegations against Hastert

CHICAGO -- At least four people have made "credible allegations of sexual abuse" against former House speaker Dennis Hastert, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday, citing unidentified law-enforcement sources.

The newspaper said all the accusers are men whose allegations stem from when they were teenagers and Hastert was their high-school coach in Yorkville, Illinois, southwest of Chicago.

The Tribune said it had determined the identities of three accusers. One is dead. The other two are a man identified in court documents only as Individual A and a man referred to as Individual D. The Tribune said it did not know the identity of the fourth accuser.

Individual A and Individual D were popular standout athletes from well-known families, the Tribune reported.

The abuse of Individual D would have occurred not long before Hastert left the Yorkville school in 1981 to take a seat in the Illinois Legislature.

As an adult, Individual D became a successful businessman. Recent court documents indicated he is leaning toward testifying at the Republican's sentencing but has agonized over a final decision.

Hastert, 74, is scheduled to be sentenced April 27. He entered the U.S. House in 1987, and his reputation for congeniality helped him ascend the ranks to become the longest-serving Republican speaker.

He retired from Congress in 2007 after running the chamber for eight years.

He pleaded guilty last fall to violating banking laws while seeking to pay $3.5 million in hush money to ensure Individual A stayed quiet. According to court documents, Hastert managed to pay $1.7 million to Individual A in lump sums of $100,000 cash and abruptly stopped the payments in 2014 after the FBI questioned him.