Dennis Hastert pleads not guilty on all counts, Facebook Frat Whistleblower: Penn State Did Nothing for Months After I Told Them About Abuse

Dennis Hastert pleads not guilty on all counts
By Chris Frates, Bill Kirkos and Tom LoBianco, CNN June 9, 2015

Washington (CNN)Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has pleaded not guilty to all charges related to lying to the FBI about $3.5 million he agreed to pay to an undisclosed subject to "cover up past misconduct."

Hastert was arraigned in court in Chicago on Tuesday afternoon, amid reports he allegedly sexually abused former students.

The former House speaker has hired high-profile white collar crime lawyer Thomas Green to defend him in court. Green has defended clients involved in Watergate, Iran Contra and Whitewater.

Judge Thomas Durkin is allowing Hastert to be released on a pretrial release. Hastert had to sign and appearance bond of $4,500 which he forfeits if he fails to appear.

He was also barred from carrying firearms, had to surrender his passport and cooperate in giving a sample of DNA.

Hastert faces charges of lying to federal investigators and hiding bank transactions as part of a plan to pay $3.5 million in hush money to one of his victims, identified only as "Individual A". Law enforcement sources confirmed a second alleged victim was interviewed by them and the sister of a third alleged victim told ABC that her brother had been molested by Hastert....
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/09/politics/dennis-hastert-arraignment-appearing-in-court/


Facebook Frat Whistleblower: Penn State Did Nothing for Months After I Told Them About Abuse

James Vivenzio filed a lawsuit against Penn State today in Philadelphia court. The school “strongly disputes” his allegations.

By Holly Otterbein   June 8, 2015

Did Penn State learn anything in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal?

Not if you believe a lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of James Vivenzio, the 21-year-old whistleblower who told authorities this January that the fraternity Kappa Delta Rho was running a secret Facebook page where members allegedly posted images of nude, unconscious women, drug sales and hazing.


At a Monday press conference about his lawsuit, Vivenzio, a former KDR brother, and his lawyer Aaron Freiwald made a number of stunning allegations about the frat and Penn State. Perhaps the most shocking among them is that Vivenzio said he told university officials about KDR's alleged Facebook page months before he went to the police, but they did nothing.


Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said in a statement that the university "strongly disputes the allegations in this complaint."....

Vivenzio said that he initially told university officials about KDR's alleged hazing by calling Penn State's anonymous hazing hotline. Freiwald said that "was very quickly leaked, he found out, to all the members of the fraternity, and an effort was then made within the fraternity house to figure out who the 'rat' was."

Then, in April 2014 — about eight months before Vivenzio went to the police — he said he met with Danny Shaha, a senior investigator in Penn State's Office of Student Conduct, to discuss his experience at KDR. He said he told Shaha about the alleged hazing, drug sales and Facebook pages, and showed him reams of evidence, including text messages and screen shots. Since then, no one from Penn State has met with Vivenzio to discuss his allegations or to collect the evidence to this day, according to the lawsuit. Freiwald said the first time the university took action to address Vivenzio's concerns, as far as he knows, was last month, when it announced it was shutting down the the KDR chapter for three years. PSU vehemently denied this.

Spokeswoman Powers said the school "offered [Vivenzio] extraordinary assistance on numerous occasions," but "neither he nor his family were willing to file a complaint, provide documentation, speak with State College police or participate in pursuing the formal disciplinary process available to them, despite repeated encouragement from university staff." She also said Vivenzio did not tell university officials about the alleged Facebook page.

Finally, Vivenzio decided to tell the police about his concerns in January of this year. His allegations prompted an investigation into KDR, which is ongoing. Still, according to Freiwald, police only contacted him for a follow-up meeting as recently as a couple weeks ago. Due to scheduling conflicts, he said, they still have not met.
http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/06/08/penn-state-kappa-delta-rho-facebook-frat/