Denny Hastert is almost dead. He's in his mid-70s and just experienced a blood infection and stroke that nearly killed him. But before he goes, he needs to answer for what he's done.

It will come as a tremendous shock to absolutely no one that a homophobic Republican has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple high school boys. We've known about one victim for about a year, and a new investigation by the Chicago Tribune has just uncovered at least three others.

We don't know the circumstances of the accusations (yet). We don't even know if Hastert is gay, since many male pedophiles are not what we would refer to as homosexual—that is, sexually attracted to other men—and Hastert has been married to a woman for more than 40 years. But we do know that he used his position of power in elected office to heap abuse on LGBT Americans, and that his public face was of a moral crusader while he was secretly sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to a man who now says Hastert molested him.

"Mr. Hastert has made mistakes in judgment and committed transgressions for which he is profoundly sorry," said Hastert's attorney, Tom Green, in the new Chicago Tribune reporting. "He fully understands the gravity of his misconduct decades ago and regrets that he resorted to ... an effort to prevent the disclosure of that misconduct."

Okay. Great. Thanks for paying someone to apologize for you, Denny. We're all glad to hear that you regret preventing the disclosure of that misconduct. Now you need tell us what that misconduct was.

I don't relish the idea of attacking a sick old man, but then again, most sick old men did not lead the party that has spent decades trying to destroy the lives of LGBT people — and in many states, still is.

Just to refresh your memory on some of Hastert's greatest hits: he blocked hate crime legislation after the death of Matthew Shepard, even after making a big show to victims' families that he actually cared about their suffering.

"I once sat in a meeting with Denny Hastert where he literally teared up in front of Judy and Dennis Shepard [Matthew’s parents] and committed to doing everything he could to pass the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill and then literally did nothing," said Elizabeth Birch, who was head of the HRC at the time. "Didn’t lift a finger."

Hastert also brought a constitutional ban on marriage equality to the floor of Congress for a vote. He played a lead role in Clinton's impeachment. He voted to ban abortions. He cultivated a squeaky-clean image of a family-values man, which in the context of the Republican party means ruining the lives of queer people and women who exercise control over their bodies.

That's not to say he was all bad. Denny pushed legislation to punish internet predators. “We must continue to be proactive warding off pedophiles and other creeps who want to take advantage of our children,” he said at the time.

Careful what you wish for, Denny. (Mark Foley publicly praised the legislation, and also allegedly privately sexted with underage pages.)

"This bill sends a strong message to the most heinous of criminals who prey upon our children," he wrote. "You will be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

But it looks like he will probably punished to the lowest extent of the law. A judge in Illinois is reportedly holding hearings without telling the public in advance, which looks to me like a blatant attempt to protect Denny's reputation. Prosecutors have asked for the minimum possible sentence if Hastert is convicted.

That's because all of the evidence dates far enough back that the statute of limitations has run out on these cases. The only crime he can possibly be convicted of is illegally structuring payments to one of the men he's alleged to have molested.

Isn't it strange — he pushed forth legislation that would punish online pedophiles, but never seems to have worked on extending the law's statute of limitations. Weird.

Hastert's sentencing is coming up on April 27. Incredibly, he reached out to the families of one of his alleged victims to ask them to say something supportive on his behalf. That prompted the individual to prepare a statement for the court about the allegations, which is welcome news. But I believe Hastert also needs to apologize — in person, not through a lawyer — and to come clean about what it is he's "sorry" about.

I'm not seeking to exact revenge on Hastert for his decades of abusive legislation. He's out of office now, is no longer a threat, and his suffering doesn't accomplish anything. But he needs to be remembered, and not as a sad isolated case of a man whose secrets caught up with him.

He needs to answer for what he's done so his name can endure as a symbol of the harm that his party caused, and continues to cause to this day. The name "Hastert" should live on as reminder that the harder a person tries to claim a moral high ground, the less entitled to it they're likely to be.