(IntegrityTimes.com) – On Monday May 6, Fenia Dukes, former assistant to Dolton, Illinois Mayor Tiffany Henyard, released an incendiary recorded public video message.
The video details her alleged sexual assault by Dolton Trustee Andrew Holmes while on a taxpayer-funded business trip in Las Vegas last May. Dukes was fired shortly after she said she approached Henyard about the incident. She has filed a civil lawsuit against Holmes and Henyard. In it she accuses Holmes of sexual assault, and Henyard of retaliation.
While Henyard has often referred to herself as a Super Mayor, recently people have been calling her the worst mayor in America. There are already ongoing criminal investigations into Henyard’s corruption, sexual harassment and retaliation against political opponents. Dolton trustees voted to hire Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s former mayor and a former federal prosecutor, to head up an investigation into the allegations against Henyard. However, Henyard furiously vetoed that decision on the same day that Dukes released her recorded statement.
In Duke’s description of the events that occurred on the Las Vegas business trip, she recalls walking with Holmes then feeling disoriented, blacking out, then waking in his room. Upon their return, she spoke to Officer Byron Miles, who was on Henyard’s security detail at the time. He advised her to seek medical help and was shortly thereafter removed from the mayor’s personal security team. Miles has also filed a lawsuit against Henyard. Duke also discussing going to Henyard with her account of what happened, being demoted and then ultimately fired.
Henyard is also being investigated by the Department of Human Rights. She is still the current mayor of Dolton as well as the supervisor of the nearby Thornton Township. While the village of Dolton’s trustees are concerned by the numerous lawsuits faced by their mayor and the village’s growing insolvency, they have been dismissive of Dukes’ accusations. They claim that Dukes has not cooperated with their investigations and have characterized her as a “disgruntled” ex-employee trying to make a profit. For her part, Dukes says she is coming forward to “fight for” other women who may have been in a situation like hers.
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