Hank Winchester, the longtime WDIV-TV consumer affairs reporter who was placed on leave this summer while police investigated misconduct allegations, was recently fired from the station, and newly obtained records reveal the detailed allegations against him.
Winchester, 51, an Emmy Award-winning journalist who had been with WDIV since 2001, was accused of inappropriately touching a man at his Beverly Hills home while posing as a massage therapist, despite not having a license as required by state law, according to a police report obtained by Metro Times under the Freedom of Information Act. Police records show investigators seized cameras and other devices from his home after the alleged victim said he feared Winchester had secretly filmed him.
The unidentified man waited nearly a month and a half to file a police report, and a blurred photo of him on social media shows him giving what appears to be a Nazi salute, according to Todd Flood, one of Winchester’s attorneys.
It’s unclear why Winchester was fired. WDIV didn’t return calls or emails for comment, and Winchester and his attorneys wouldn’t provide a statement.
A June 13 search of Winchester’s home, which involved police busting down his front door, uncovered no evidence that photos or videos were taken of the complainant.
According to the police report, the alleged victim first met Winchester on March 19 through Facebook Marketplace, where the reporter was selling a Ralph Lauren leather sleeper sofa. After the complainant and a friend showed up to Winchester’s home to pick up the sofa, Winchester struck up a conversation, telling the man he had been through a divorce “in the not so distant past” and was considering a career change. He offered the men bourbon, but they declined, the report states.
Winchester was previously married to Jeff Grim. As of this summer, he was dating Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Cunningham. It’s unclear if they are still together.
About a week later, Winchester reached out again, this time offering free massage therapy. Text messages later reviewed by police show Winchester portrayed himself as a sports medicine specialist and offered to treat the man and his friends.
“I wanted to talk to you about my venture. I just wrapped [up] my massage therapy certification,” Winchester texted the alleged victim. “I need 75 more hours offering free work – you just need to sign in. That’s all. I specialize in sports medicine and know it could be beneficial for people like you or friends.”
Winchester was not licensed to give massages, according to police and the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
The alleged victim agreed to a massage session on April 10. Because another space wasn’t available, Winchester invited him back to his home, where a massage table had been set up in the bedroom.
The man told police he disrobed and covered himself with a towel. Winchester repeatedly asked if he wanted water, electrolytes, or bourbon, he said. During the massage, the man said Winchester inappropriately touched him in a way that was “not accidental.” The police report redacts the specific allegations.
When confronted, Winchester apologized, the man told police.
The complainant said he then noticed what appeared to be recording devices: a small white camera on a dresser, a black cord dangling from the ceiling where a recessed light should have been, and possibly a third camera across the room.
He also claimed he saw what looked like a small camera attached under Winchester’s shirt with a red light illuminated. No such camera was ever found, and police did not locate a recording device dangling from Winchester’s bedroom ceiling.
“He now is beginning to freak out and wondering if he has put himself in a bad situation,” the report states, referring to the complainant.
The alleged victim told police that as the massage grew “less therapeutic,” he decided to leave. He said Winchester blocked his path briefly and urged him to shower off the oil before going, insisting again that he take a drink. Feeling unsafe, the man declined and decided to leave, according to police.
Before he left, Winchester asked the complainant “to sign a sheet of paper on the kitchen counter.” The man told police he signed his name, and there were “a couple other names” on the page.
After he left, the complainant sent Winchester a text, asking him what massage therapy school he attends. Winchester evaded the question, saying, “Most learning is now online” and then sent the complainant a link to an online massage therapy program at Dorsey College in Madison Heights.
Unsatisfied with the response, the complainant asked, “will you please tell me who your certification is through?”
After getting no response, he added, “I feel uneasy about you not answering. Can you please explain,” according to the police report.
The next day, Winchester tried to call the complainant, according to the police report. The complainant responded in a text message, “Are you a massage therapist?”
Winchester texted back, “If you have any further questions call my attorney, Mike Morse. Thank you.”
The complaint responded, “Thought so. You’re a sick person, are you aware that you’re sick?”
Police called the massage therapy school Winchester mentioned, which said the college prohibits its students from giving unsupervised massages. Police then obtained a search warrant in search of records from Dorsey College. It’s unclear what police found because that section of the report is mostly redacted.
Turns out, Winchester never attended Dorsey College, Lance Craven, president and CEO of the school, tells Metro Times.
He also accused Winchester of stealing his ring, which he told police he put in his pants pocket when he removed his clothes for the massage. Text messages obtained by police show that Winchester, soon after the massage, told the complainant that he left the ring at his house. The man did not want to go back to get it, so Winchester mailed it to him.
The alleged victim reported the incident to police on May 22. In a follow-up interview, he told investigators he felt “severely violated and wishes Hank would be held liable.” He said he was worried there may be other victims.
On June 13, five Beverly Hills police officers and two Oakland County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at Winchester’s house. According to reports, they busted open his front door with a battering ram and seized five Blink cameras, an old Sony camcorder, laptops, an iPad, an iPhone, and a thumb drive, along with a piece of paper listing four names and phone numbers. One of those names matched the alleged victim, but police said the other phone numbers did not appear to correspond to the listed individuals, “and no one answered the phone, and no voicemails were set up” when cops called.
Police also found “sweat and oil splotches” on the massage table.
Images of the alleged victim did not appear on any of the seized electronics. Investigators said they discovered one photo and two videos that were taken around the time of the massage but the data had been “inaccessible.” However, text messages suggest the missing footage may have been taken before the complainant arrived.
The complainant initially told police he arrived at Winchester’s at “approximately 2 p.m.” In a text message, the man told Winchester he was running late and would not arrive until 2:45 p.m. The footage was taken at 2:04 p.m., 2:19 p.m., and 2:38 p.m.
On Aug. 15, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office announced it would not charge Winchester.
“After a thorough investigation, which involved multiple interviews as well as searches of both the scene of the incident and electronic devices, the Beverly Hills Police Department presented their findings to our office,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Williams said. “On the facts of this case, it was concluded there was no cause to file any charges against Mr. Winchester.”
Winchester responded with a statement: “I’m thankful this investigation is over. The allegations made against me were outrageous, unfounded and defamatory. Throughout my 24-year career in Detroit, my mission has always been to help the community I love, protect you from bad actors, and fight for justice. I will always fight for you — just as I’ve recently had to fight for myself.”
At a news conference, Flood also provided excerpts of two polygraph tests Winchester voluntarily took in June and July. Both concluded “no deception indicated,” he said. While inadmissible in Michigan courts, polygraphs can influence charging decisions.
Flood suggested the accuser had ulterior motives. At the news conference, Flood displayed a photo from social media that allegedly showed the complainant giving a Nazi salute. The man was not identified, and his face was blurred.
According to the police report, the complainant said he did not know who Winchester was before the incident.
WDIV initially placed Winchester on leave in June after learning about the allegations.
“As of this time, he has been placed on administrative leave. While the investigation is ongoing — we won’t make any further comments,” Vice President and General Manager Bob Ellis said at the time.
After prosecutors declined charges, Winchester returned to work for about six weeks but wasn’t permitted to resume his “Help Me Hank” consumer investigations unit, sources said.
Ellis did not respond to Metro Times’s request for comment.
Winchester also resumed co-hosting his podcast with Kelly Stafford, the wife of NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford. Calling the ordeal “the worst nine weeks of my life” on his podcast, he said it was more painful than losing both parents, a battle with testicular cancer, and his divorce. He called the situation “insane and horrific and devastating.”
“I will let you know that there was an allegation that was made against me by someone and police have a responsibility in these situations to investigate allegations,” Winchester said on the Aug. 18 episode. “But they should also take the time to investigate the person making the allegation.”
Metro Times has been unable to track down the complainant because his name has been redacted.
On Thursday, Stafford announced she was leaving the podcast due to her “mental health.” Winchester did not join her on the show.
WDIV has not announced Winchester’s termination. His bio still appears on WDIV’s website.
WDIV has let other reporters return to work following allegations of wrongdoing. Reporter Kevin Dietz spent 30 days in jail for drunk driving and was allowed to return to work. In 2016, reporter Lauren Podell was suspended for allegedly using the n-word off air while talking with a coworker, but she was allowed to return until civil rights leaders demanded her termination. She resigned. WDIV personality Jason Carr was permitted to continue working after coworkers made a series of allegations against him, but he was eventually fired in December 2022 after a livestream rant. And meteorologist Brandon Roux continued working at WDIV after he conflated Amazon Prime Day with Juneteenth.
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