Wrestling Hall of Fame will evaluate its inclusion of admitted child molester Dennis Hastert
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves court in a wheelchair after his sentencing Wednesday.
Dennis Hastert was honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with its Order of Merit in 1995 and its Outstanding American award in 2000.
On Tuesday, Hastert admitted in court that he sexually abused several boys he coached on the Yorkville High wrestling team in the 1960s and 1970s. The acknowledgment came before the former U.S. House speaker was sentenced to 15 months in prison for paying $1.7 million in an attempt to cover up his crime.
Now the hall of fame has issued a statement saying its ethics committee will review Hastert’s inclusion.
“The ethics committee reviews cases where an honoree has acted in a manner considered detrimental to the ideals and objectives or contrary to the mission statement of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame,” Executive Director Lee Roy Smith said in the statement.
For now, however, Hastert remains an honoree, with a Web page touting his accomplishments as a coach and politician.
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