As former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was released early from prison on Tuesday, two months shy of his 15-month sentence, one his sexual molestation victims spoke out to CNN. Scott Cross, a former Republican legislator himself, explained to CNN’s Jake Tapper that most victims have a tendency to want to “bury” traumatic experiences, and thus “I didn’t say anything for 37 years... and this is just a burden that you carry: you think about shame, guilt, embarrassment, humiliation.” He added: “The Hasterts of the world have so much trust and respect over you that you really have a hard time processing and understanding it.” Cross additionally said that he is “troubled” by the former speaker’s early release from his financial crimes sentence; and that he has since heard from other Hastert abuse victims, noticing “a common theme in kind of how he went about his abuse.”
Scott Cross, who was abused by Dennis Hastert: It was "troubling to hear of the early release" of the former Speaker https://t.co/phJr0zrIYq
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) July 18, 2017
