Former house speaker Dennis Hastert banned from being left alone with children and watching porn

Dennis Hastert, the disgraced former US House speaker, has been barred from being left alone with children and banned from watching pornography as part of increased restrictions following his release from prison.

Hastert, the US's longest-serving Republican House speaker, who was in the role from 1999 to 2007, was jailed in 2016 for paying an individual $3.5m "hush money" to keep quiet about the sexual abuse he suffered at hands of the 75-year-old defendant.

He was described in court as a "serial child molester" after he abused at least four student athletes when he coached wrestling at Yorkville High School in suburban Chicago from 1965 to 1981.

Hastert was not charged with child sex offences as the statute of limitations had passed. The 15-month sentence in in April 2016 was for perjury and violating banking law.

US district judge Thomas Durkin has imposed further restrictions of Hastert's day-to-day life three months into his two-year supervised release from prison.

Hastert is forbidden from being left alone with anyone under the age of 18 unless another adult who is aware of his convictions is present. Hastert is also banned from possessing or viewing pornography and using "any sex-related telephone numbers".

Durkin has banned him from owning a computer, camera, or any other device with access to the internet without approval of his probation officer and he must pay for the installation of software that records all his computer activity, from browser history to email.

The attorney for the victim Hastert paid the money to, referred to only as John Doe, said the new restrictions were appropriate. Kristi Browne told NBC5: "It's a difficult situation where the defendant was convicted of banking law violations, not the sexual offences themselves.

"But given that Mr Hastert has acknowledged committing the sexual offences, these conditions are reasonable for the protection of the public."