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WDIV consumer reporter Hank Winchester, who was cleared last week in a criminal investigation in Oakland County, spoke on a podcast aired Monday about the pain he endured while dealing with the nine-week probe and media reports. He called the allegations baseless and defamatory.
"This was the worst nine weeks of my entire life," he said on the podcast The Morning After With Kelly Stafford and Hank, which he had been on leave from since Beverly Hills police raided his home in June. "And I've lost both my parents, I've had testicular cancer, I've gone through a divorce... Nothing compared to this because every aspect of your life is touched."
"You want to just scream to America," he said. "I wanted to scream a million times, but you have to be smart about it, and you have to know when it's the right time."
Winchester, who called the allegations completely false, said he voluntarily took two polygraph tests and passed with flying colors. He did not specify what the allegations were, but Fox 2 in June reported that someone alleged that Winchester made unwanted sexual advances during a massage.
His lawyers, Neil Rockind and Todd Flood, held a press conference Friday announcing Winchester had been cleared in the investigation by the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, which declined to file charges. They also held up a photo of the accuser, a man giving what appears to be a Nazi salute.
Winchester has been on administrative leave during the probe. He did not discuss on the podcast his future at the station. Last week, WDIV told Deadline Detroit, "we’ve reached out to Hank to discuss next steps."
Podcast co-host Kelly Stafford, wife of quarterback Matt Stafford, told Winchester she was angry and upset that he had to endure the scrutiny and added that it was hard on her knowing the pain he was going through.
"I hope you felt how much you're cared about and loved... You're one of a kind and you're loved by everyone that knows you."
He said he's not mad at police, who raided his home and seized his phone.
"There was an allegation made against me by someone and police have a responsibility in these situations to investigate allegations. But they should also take the time to investigate the person making the allegations.
"I will say this, and I know this is going to sound surprising to you, but I always do have the utmost respect for police and the job that they do, and in this case for the prosecutor's office and the work that they had to do... and what I just knew I had to do was to rely on my legal team and also do everything I could do to make this happen as quickly as possible.
"I'm very thankful to be on the other side of this, 100 percent clear, no charges. The evidence spoke for itself. It was an emotionally exhausting process."
He said he got a lot of support from Stafford, his partner Jacob, and the public, but he also found it disturbing that some media outlets included blurred photos of his young daughter. "I mean, just horrific stuff."
He said during the nine weeks he spent a lot of time at home, avoiding the public.
"I really didn't talk to anybody other than... my people on the phone... Not that I was alone—obviously I have a partner and wonderful friends and family. But I went from living this incredibly big social life and incredibly big, out-there life on TV every day and with the podcast, to being in my own space. And it makes you just think differently about things. It really does, it changes your perspective."
"I got real cozy in my house, I got real fat."
He said he got a lot of supportive emails and comments from the public when he did venture out.
He said the situation has given him a better understanding of people. It also helped give some clarity about life.
"Everybody's got something... it doesn't necessarily mean you're in the middle of a police investigation. I mean, everybody's dealing with something and it has taught me that the number one thing we can do in our lives is just reach out and just have kindness and love for everybody."
He talked about one eye-opening situation when his young daughter Emma brought home a school-assigned laptop and typed in his name a day after "this happened."
"She was so excited to cone up to me because she knew how to spell my name... and she typed it in and every article popped up. It was the first time she had done anything digital. And I just sat there like 'holy shit,' and in that moment I was like, 'wow.'"
"She couldn't read the words, but I'm just looking at these headlines and looking at her and thinking, 'I have to do whatever is in my power to get on the other side of this in the right way.' And so that was where it kind of where it started for me emotionally."
He said, "Trust me, I know I'm putting on this happy face, or whatever, but I mean this was a very, very incredibly dark chapter of my life. I had some very dark dark moments and I'm not a dark-moment person."
"The lesson is I think you have to tune out the noise, no matter what it is. And you have to just kind of lean into what's important."
"If you're listening to this and you're going through a challenge, whatever it is, you're going to be OK and you're going to figure it out. You just have to surround yourself with the right people and keep a good attitude and just stay true to yourself."
