A woman whose brother died in 1995 says he was abused at Yorkville High School by former House speaker Dennis Hastert, ABC reported Friday. Steve Reinboldt was an equipment manager for the wrestling team Hastert coached and was abused throughout his four years at the school, his sister Jolene told the network. Hastert was charged May 28 with violating financial laws while making more than a million dollars in payments to another alleged male sexual abuse victim, identified as Individual A in an indictment, who is still alive.
According to ABC, Reinboldt’s sister has known about the alleged abuse for more than 30 years.
Jolene said she believes the abuse ended when Steve moved away after his high school graduation in 1971. Reinboldt died of AIDS in 1995. She believes Hastert’s alleged actions irrevocably changed Steve’s life for the worse.
“He took his belief in himself and his kind of right to be a normal person,” Jolene said. “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… He damaged Steve I think more than any of us will ever know.”
ABC says it was originally contacted by Jolene Reinboldt after Hastert was criticized in 2006 for his lenient treatment of Congressman Mark Foley, who resigned after he was found to have sent sexually explicit messages to underage male House pages. At the time, Hastert denied her allegations and the network did not air her story publicly.
Hastert is scheduled to make a court appearance next week.
