When the news broke that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was allegedly paying hush money to a former male student whom he had abused, everyone professed astonishment. Everyone except Jolene Reinboldt. When her brother Steve came out to her in 1979, he told her about his first same-sex experience. It happened in high school, Steve said.
“He looked at me and said, ‘It was with Dennis Hastert,’” Jolene told ABC News Friday. “I was stunned.” Why she asked Steve why he never said said anything about the encounter, or any of the ones that followed, “he just turned around and kind of looked at me and said, ‘Who is ever going to believe me?’”
Steve Reinboldt, who died from AIDS complications in 1995, was the student manager for the wrestling team that Hastert coached at Yorkville High School in Illinois. According to Jolene, Steve told her that Hastert abused him for all four years during high school, until he graduated in 1971.
“Mr. Hastert had plenty of opportunities to be alone with Steve, because he was there before the meets,” Jolene said. “He was there after everything because he did the laundry, the uniforms. So he was there by himself with him.” In Steve’s high school yearbook, Hastert praised the boy as a “great right-hand man.”
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Jolene says that the abuse took a toll on her brother. “Here was the mentor, the man who was, you know, basically his friend and stepped into that parental role, who was the one who was abusing him,” she told ABC. “He damaged Steve I think more than any of us will ever know.”
To add insult to injury, Hastert attended Steve’s funeral. Jolene confronted Hastert in the parking lot after the service.
“I want you to know your secret didn’t die in there with my brother,” Jolene recalls telling Hastert. “And I want you to remember that I’m out here and that I know.” Hastert drove off without responding.
Jolene tried to tell her story to the media, approaching ABC in 2006. Unable to corroborate the allegations, the news division did not pursue the story.
Now with the allegations against Hastert public, Jolene is no longer feeling frustrated. “I feel vindicated and that Steve’s vindicated, that Mr. Hastert can’t pull this wool over everybody’s eyes,” she said. “Finally the truth comes out.”
Hastert has yet to respond to the abuse allegations.
Photo credit: ABC News
Matthew Munson
Wonder if we could identify Hastert as LGBT on Wikipedia now.
Stache99
Good for her. I think I would’ve killed him for showing up though.
Giancarlo85
Hastert, like many other republicans, have done such monumental damage to our community and to this entire country. I cannot understand how any gay person on this blog could fathom supporting ANY republican.
Republicans have done damage not only to us but every other citizen in this country. Anyone, who doesn’t have tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, who votes republican is voting against their own interests.
As far as Hastert just another long line of lying bigoted and hypocritical republicans. It is time the republican party just disappears into dustbin of history where it belongs.
man5996853
@Giancarlo85: I loathe the Republicans, especially the gay ones, who say that “I am not a one-issue voter” as justification for voting Republican. Gay rights, and the many things the rights cover, are hardly “one issue”. Clueless dicks.
Tommy
If it’s less than 18, don’t touch it.
polarisfashion
Republicans have done nothing good for the middle class, let alone LGBTQ people. The problem is we can’t seem to get out the vote during midterm elections. That’s the only reason that alcoholic crybaby John Boehner and Mitch McConnell got reelected. If we can’t rally behind Bernie Sanders then we should at least support Hillary Clinton. I’d love to see Bernie mop the floor out of any republican in a debate.
Kangol
So sad. This anti-gay creep got away with this stuff for decades and reached a position so powerful it’s almost hard to describe, but just two steps away from Presidency.
And several reports I’ve seen seem to conflict about whether this poor woman went to the news station or they sought her out, but in either case, the truth about Hastert didn’t come out back in 2006, when Foley got busted after Hastert did nothing about his behavior.
Plus this makes at least three guys who’ve been linked to Hastert: the deceased Steve Reinbold, the guy he was paying off $3.5 million, and a second person whom the government had identified. Not a good profile, Denny, not good at all.
Sounds less like an isolated incident, and more like a pattern.
dvlaries
Unlike the Duggars, don’t wait for anyone in his party to speak up for ‘poor Denny.’ Abusing a male means (in their pointed heads) you’re gay and they hate you; diddling your own sisters, ‘what’s the big fuss…? (Which, of course, shows how much they hate women too.)
Daniel-Reader
Most molesters self identify as heterosexual regardless of the gender of victims. Feel sorry for victims. Congress should fund victim services to make amends but since they are all millionaires who only serve their own interests no one is holding their breath.
tjr101
After so many years in office and being 3rd in line to the presidency only now all of this is coming out? You can guarantee there’s more “family values ” conservative Republicans like this in the current congress. They’re perverts.
Merv
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Airon Cameron
High School? Really? If you’re the same as you were in high school something is wrong.
jockjack5
Setting aside the tragic death of the student due to AIDS, and the politics of Hastert (a fat ugly pig, then and now), he was, after-all, a “student trainer” for the wrestling team.
I wrestled in high school, and the “team trainer” was essentially nothing more than a laundry-boy that picked-up after the team and made sure all the smelly jock-straps and towels were laundered and put away properly.
Speaking from person knowledge and experience while in high school, the boy that aspired to be the team trainer could have SCREAMED from the mountain-top “I’m gay!!”, as if we didn’t already know!
So, anyways, as the wrestling coach, I guess Hastert knew he was ripe for the picking so-to-say…
Cam
“Jolene tried to tell her story to the media, approaching ABC in 2006. Unable to corroborate the allegations, the news division did not pursue the story.””
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What a lie, obviously there were others out there who could have corroborated. What REALLY happened is that ABC, like all other networks doesn’t care about investigating the news. They are terrified that other politicians would stop talking to them. They know that if they go after a prominent Republican, that the party leaders will tell others not to go on ABC, and they wouldn’t want that. So they never investigated.
Note to ABC, people might actually start watching your news again if you actually went back to doing News and didn’t just have windbag politicians on there yelling at each other.
People knew about Hastart, they just didn’t care.
Oh, and if you REALLY want the definition of hypocrisy think about this. With Hastart now known to be a child molester that means that of the three party leaders for the GOP around the time that party was going after Clinton for adultery, two of them later admitted they committed adultery and the other was a child molester.
I’m sure some of the Log Cabin folks will come on here and somehow blame that on Obama.
Giancarlo85
@Cam: The log cabin and libertarian nutters always find a way to blame Obama, Hillary or some other Democrat. Heck, maybe even try to blame Bill Clinton for Hastert’s actions decades earlier lol.
onthemark
“If anti-gay stuff is always coming out of your mouth, something very gay is probably going in.” – Bill Maher
Ogre Magi
@man5996853: Still, I don’t think gay republicans are quite as bad as gay christians
Daxton Norton
It was a long time ago. Who knows what really happened? It could have been consensual.
Evji108
Yes Daxton, somehow it’s okay to have sex with an underage boy just because it was “consensual”? The boy was underage, undoubtedly confused, and his coach was of age, therefore it is illegal. Since it was the coach, he was in a position of power and influence to coerce a young man who, would have wanted to please the coach. It’s called abuse for reason. Abuse of power, sexual abuse of an underage boy, abuse of access, privilege, and position. Daxton you suck.
Rich Russo
I am curious why it keeps being specifically mentioned that his death was AIDS-related. Is this something which holds relevance to the story?
“Steve Reinboldt, who died from AIDS complications in 1995, was the student manager for the wrestling team that Hastert coached at …”
darian
I can Dennis Hastert as the kind of coward to kill himself rather than face what he has done.
James Hart
@polarisfashion: I’m for Bernie!
James Hart
@Ogre Magi: I’m a gay man, Democrat, and Irish Catholic. All of these things are integral and important parts of my reality.
tricky ricky
I’ve been waiting for this to happen ever since he first rose to power as speaker. he gave an interview where he talked about being a wrestling coach. I knew then and there he had abused kids and couldn’t believe that nobody else could figure it out. seemed rather obvious to me, but, I’m autistic. can’t read body language or understand vocal cues in person but I can read people like books if they’re on tv.
tricky ricky
@darian: totally not the type.
tricky ricky
@Evji108: not to mention the fact that Hastert was much larger physically. that in itself is quite intimidating.
tricky ricky
@Kangol: it was both. she went to them then first years ago and when this story started to break they came to her when they realized she’d been telling the truth. things like this don’t get forgotten they get pulled out of the crank file they got put in when the person first came forward.
Kangol
@tricky ricky: Thanks for the clarification, Tricky Ricky. I was wondering what had happened. So disturbing all around.
o.codone
@Evji108: You said: “he was in a position of power and influence to coerce a young man who, would have wanted to please the coach. It’s called abuse for reason. Abuse of power, sexual abuse of an underage boy, abuse of access, privilege, and position”.
Except for the underage thing and the difference in gender of the victim, your comment exactly applies to the pervert Bill Clinton. Abuse of access, privilege, and position. Does it not? Clinton is just as sick as Hastert, and he lied under oath about it like the sleeze he is.
Giancarlo85
@o.codone: Except for the “underage thing”… well, that is statutory rape and a felony charge. Pretty BIG exception… even for someone as dimwitted and stupid as you. And nice attempt to attack Clinton… go take your right wing bullshit somewhere else, oxycontin. Maybe go listen to Rush Lameass.
Bob LaBlah
@polarisfashion: “Republicans have done nothing good for the middle class, let alone LGBTQ people. The problem is we can’t seem to get out the vote during midterm elections. That’s the only reason that alcoholic crybaby John Boehner and Mitch McConnell got reelected.”
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Doesn’t it seem right at inconceivable that those are the very people who vote them back in? NONE of them could win unless they carried the middle class. What gets me is how hard it is to get people to stop and see how a silly ass tax break they walk thru the door demanding to be passed is not in their benefit at all because municipal services and fines only increase to cover the loss and damn near every city in the country is trying to pitch toll roads to the people. $12 bucks to enter Manhattan and the other four boroughs ‘s the toll roads is the going price thanks to Bloomburgs forgetting what else taxes CAN do and help subsidize for the benefit of everyone?
I wonder why no one will ask Christy’s big fat ass why half the employees on the NJ Turnpike are considered temporary with no benefits and on a different pay scale as union employees. Some with over five years of service too. No, welfare ain’t causing all of this Mr. Christy. Not even ol’ Bob will buy that one.
Bauhaus
@o.codone:
The ‘underage thing’ IS the difference, clown. Sexual abuse of minors IS the Hastert scandal, but by all means, drag Clinton into it. Throw some Obama on top for good measure.
Saps48
I disagree with most of the posters on this board. These activities went on for four years, so I guess that there must have been some feelings or emotions between the two. Hastert was only 25 when it started, a young man himself. And Steve must have been about 15 when it began, not exactly a child, and the age of consent in many cultures around the world.
I didn’t spring out a full grown gay man at age 18; I was ready, willing and able to understand my attractions and act on them well before the age of consent. I wish I had a steady mentor, friend, and yes, lover, at that age.
And doesn’t it say something that Hastert went to Steve’s funeral 24 years after Steve graduated? I wonder form the relationship took in those intervening years.
His straight (?) sister, while well-meaning, doesn’t exactly understand the sexual and emotional dynamic between two men, even if they were different ages and positions of “power.” She only see it as abuse, without subtlety or shading. She doesn’t actually quote her brother as complaining about it, only that no one would believe him if he spoke about it…
Giancarlo85
@Saps48: Err wrong. This is still sexual abuse. Someone under the age of 18 cannot consent. And I don’t care whether you were “ready, willing and able to understand”.
Some real perves on here.