Dennis Hastert Sentenced to 15 Months, and Apologizes for Sex Abuse

nytimes.com ^ | April 27, 2016 | MONICA DAVEY, JULIE BOSMAN and MITCH SMITH

[SuziQ]

Sounds like the Statute of Limitations had run out on the sexual abuse charges, so they got him on the only thing they could use against him.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Calls are being made again to extend the statute of limitations -- and that's a tough one. I don't know what the answer is.

There are reasons for statutes of limitations, and among the most important is that the more time goes by, the more physical evidence disappears, circumstantial evidence is forgotten, witnesses can't be located, people's memories fail or filter out what really happened. Or even worse, victims' minds can confabulate, a word which means the brain "automatically," without you knowing it, starts to plug in false information to fill out the narrative. The confabulation often --- often --- involves mis-identifying the assailant.

That is a recipe for a proliferation of unsupportable, or even false, charges.

On the other hand, it *can* take years for victims to recover enough even to tell their stories.

And Hastert is clearly guilty as hell.

So... I don't know.