The accuser at the center of the Dennis Hastert hush-money case filed a $1.8 million lawsuit against him on Monday, two days before the former House Speaker’s sentencing.
The man known only as Individual A — who says he was just 14 years old when Hastert molested him on a wrestling team trip — is seeking to collect the balance of $3.5 million the politician secretly agreed to pay him.
The payments stopped after federal agents discovered unusual bank withdrawals by Hastert and began investigating.
Hastert was never charged with sexual abuse but pleaded guilty to illegally structuring financial transactions. Prosecutors have recommended a six-month prison sentence; he is asking for probation.
RELATED: Former House Speaker Hastert abused 4 boys: Prosecutors
A filing by prosecutors earlier in the month says Hastert molested four boys while he was a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in Illinois, before he became a congressman.
The lawsuit says that in the years after he was sexually abused in a motel room, Individual A — who filed as James Doe — suffered “severe panic attacks” that led to unemployment, career changes, depression and long-term psychiatric treatment.
The court papers say the man did not blame Hastert, a trusted family friend, for his problems until he learned in 2008 that he had allegedly abused another boy, too.
Individual A confronted Hastert and asked to be compensated for pain and suffering and Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million in what the suit refers to as an “oral contract.”
Individual A said he wanted to bring in attorneys to make the pact “legal,” but Hastert shot down that idea, promising to “pay every last dollar” of the deal.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
Tracy Connor
Alan Cohen