Statement from Alderman Scott Waguespack on the Dominguez Investigation
Oct 7, 2026
In 2020, young women who worked as Chicago Park District lifeguards came forward to describe years of sexual harassment and abuse by the adults who supervised them. The public officials in charge treated those complaints as a problem to manage. They questioned the women's motives, let internal processes stall, and protected the institution first. It took public pressure, an independent investigation, and a change in leadership before anyone in power took those young women seriously.
I am hearing that same tone again, and I am deeply concerned.
A woman has said that when she was 17, working in a city summer jobs program, Hilario Dominguez was her supervisor. She says he asked about her dating life, offered her rides home, and picked her up and pressed her against his body when they were alone.
The CPS Inspector General has reopened its investigation, and I will not prejudge the outcome. But Mr. Dominguez's response has been troubling on its own terms. He has blamed her family and called her account “weaponized rumors.” He tells voters he has been cleared four times, yet the only investigation on the public record is the one that never interviewed her and has now been reopened. Someone asking to lead the Board of Education should meet an allegation like this with full transparency. Attacking the person who came forward is the opposite.
What I will not accept is an elected official waving away a young woman's account before investigators have even spoken with her. Rep. Theresa Mah called what this woman described "horseplay." A 17-year-old says an adult supervisor asked about her dating life and lifted her off the ground, pressed against his body, when they were alone. That is not horseplay. When someone in public office reaches for that word, every woman and girl in Chicago hears that coming forward will get them dismissed by the powerful people closest to the accused.
Chicago has seen this inside CPS, too. In 2019, the outside investigator hired to examine how the district handled student sexual abuse reported that the president of the Chicago Teachers Union was the only person she contacted who never responded. Protecting children cannot depend on which side of a political fight you're on.
Anyone who wants to lead a district responsible for hundreds of thousands of children should welcome a full investigation.
I call on Mr. Dominguez to answer every question about this matter publicly and to stop attacking the woman and her family. I call on Rep. Mah to retract her comments. And I call on the Inspector General to finish this investigation thoroughly and without delay.