Former Wheaton candidate innocent of domestic battery charges

A Wheaton business owner whose bid for city council was tainted by a domestic battery case earlier this year has been acquitted, authorities said Tuesday.

Derek Bromstead, 43, was found innocent of misdemeanor domestic battery charges Monday by DuPage County Judge Elizabeth Sexton following a bench trial.

Sexton found Bromstead acted within his authority as a parent when he struck his teenage daughter with a belt in early February. According to evidence at trial, the incident caused no serious injury to the child and followed several instances of her misbehaving at home and school.

“There were numerous, numerous incidents of misconduct by the child that precipitated this spanking, which was not harmful and, as the judge indicated, was perfectly reasonable under the circumstances,” said defense attorney Tim Martin, who argued Bromstead was carrying out a form of “corporal punishment” well within his parental rights.

Bromstead, who owns Genghis Grill in downtown Wheaton and has served as president of the Downtown Wheaton Association, was charged about two months before he lost a five-way race for city council.

On Tuesday, he was unsure whether he would seek political office again.

“I don’t know how much this impacted the race,” Bromstead said. “But the bottom line is, I’m just happy our family is back on track. I think we all learned from this experience. I think we became a stronger, more tolerant family. I’m happy we got through the process, but I sure wouldn’t want to do it again.”

Martin said he is seeking to have the arrest expunged from Bromstead’s record.