In an exclusive interview with WGN's The Point, candidate for Chicago School Board President Victor Henderson denies injuring his children or putting his hands on his ex-wife.
"It never went too far," Henderson said Wednesday from his downtown law office.
"(The discipline) was always age-appropriate," said Henderson, adding, "I never, ever touched my wife. Never. That didn't happen."
Henderson is responding to allegations of abuse made by his ex-wife in a 2011 emergency petition to modify a parenting agreement in the couple's divorce. WMAQ-TV first reported the documents.
Henderson's ex-wife alleges that in late 2010, Henderson repeatedly beat one of his sons with the wooden handle of a garden hoe. His ex-wife also alleged in the court filing that Henderson would sometimes come into one son's bedroom in the middle of the night and whip him with a belt while he slept under the covers. According to documents, "This was especially upsetting for (the ex-wife) to hear, since this is the same thing Victor would do to her during the marriage when he was in a violent rage."
"I never put my hand on my wife," Henderson told WGN. "There were difficult moments in my marriage. Did we argue? Yes. Did we fuss? Yes….I really don't want to get into things because she's in a good place, I'm in a good place, my children are in a good place."
Asked about whooping his children, Henderson, without elaborating, says he engaged in "age-appropriate discipline."
"There are a whole lot of people who spank children," said Henderson. "Not only am I raising boys, but I'm raising African American boys. And so in my community, in my culture, when you tell your sons something one time or two times or three times…if they don't hear your warnings because again either they're gonna respect authority in the house or they'll find themselves out on the street."
Henderson said that as a father, if his kids needed to be disciplined, he did so and he did it to prevent them from getting into further trouble.
"I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to be a father to my children," Henderson said.
Henderson says people should look at the results of his parenting. Both children from his former marriage are now grown and successful; one is even helping on his campaign.
Henderson filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage on October 8, 2004. His ex-wife filed a Counter-Petition about six months later. Their marriage was dissolved March 13, 2008.
One of five candidates running in the first-ever election for School Board President, Henderson pins his divorce records coming up in the campaign as dirty politics. He says someone came to him weeks ago with the records and urged him to drop out of the race.
Henderson told WGN that he's not going anywhere.
"This deals with things that are 15-20 years ago in my private life and it's clear to me that someone is trying to scare me out of the race," he said. "And we know that that's not going to happen."
'The Point' airs on WGN and streams on WGN+ each weeknight at 6:45 p.m. CT.
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