Millionaire Colorado businesswoman and boyfriend are awarded $21M after fracking tycoon ex-husband lied that her new partner had sexually abused their three children, a day after they announced engagement

A Colorado businesswoman and her fiancé have been awarded a total of $21million after a jury decided her ex-husband lied about her new partner sexually abusing their children. 

Cindy Hayek, 54, and her fiancé Kenny Hamp were victims of a defamation campaign by her fracking tycoon ex Steven Herron, who lied in order to get custody of their now 17-year-old daughter and twin 13-year-old sons. 

She and Herron divorced in 2016 and were granted shared custody of their kids. But Hamp was arrested and charged with felony child abuse in 2019 - just a day after he and Hayek announced their engagement.

Earlier the same year, Hayek, an oil and gas geologist who also owns a clothing store, had won a $10.5 million settlement after she sued her ex for fraud, claiming he owed her money from the $90million sale of his fracking company.

Hayek, who lives in a stunning $8 million home in Steamboat Springs, eventually had her time with her children restricted after she refused to say Hamp had abused the kids.

Cindy Hayek, 54, and her now-fiancé Kenny Hamp (pictured) were victims of a smear campaign by her fracking tycoon ex Steven Herron

Herron lied in order to get custody of their now 17-year-old daughter and twin 13-year-old sons

'I was asked to choose between my children and the truth. And for four years, I had to choose the truth,' the businesswoman told FOX31. 

Herron was then awarded full custody of their three children, and moved with them to Hawaii in 2021.

'It’s the worst thing you could ever be accused of,' Hamp told the local outlet. 'It was humiliating, shaming, ruining my reputation.' 

Herron's false allegations began with a trip to the doctor where he claimed one of his sons was complaining about a 'wedgie.'

But when interviewed by forensic investigators, his son admitted the father was the one to inform him that he had supposedly been sexually abused by Hamp.

'He said, "You have been sexually assaulted." And then he took me into my room,' one of the sons told detectives about Herron.

Footage of an interview between Herron and Steamboat Springs police shows a detective telling him he would try to get the child abuse charge against Hamp upgraded to sex assault.

Herron then said to the cop: 'I would fu***** hug you right now....

'You made my fu***** day brother, like you’re on my Christmas card list right now.'

Terry Duffin, a court-appointed parenting supervisor, told FOX31 she did not believe the children were abused and did not see evidence of trauma. Meanwhile, she said, Herron showed signs of a scorned ex.

'He for quite a while spoke angrily about how mom got money she didn’t deserve,' Duffin said. 'Steve was very, very angry that mom was even still around, and he was trying to eliminate her from the children’s lives. That’s what it felt like.'

Footage of an interview between Herron and Steamboat Springs police shows a detective telling him he would try to get the child abuse charge against Hamp upgraded to sex assault

'I was asked to choose between my children and the truth. And for four years, I had to choose the truth,' the businesswoman told FOX31

Hakek's home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is pictured above

The case against Hamp was dismissed in 2020 after prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to convict him. Then, in 2021, the Colorado Department of Human Services assigned a settlement declaring the 'findings were overturned' regarding the child sexual abuse claims. 

However, she was still unable to see her children and regain custody. 

Hayek then filed a civil lawsuit against her ex, arguing Herron doctor shopped and lied to police and social workers in order to push his lies of child abuse against Hamp.

She said Herron used 'abrasions on the buttocks' of one of their sons as evidence, but that they likely came from long bike-riding sessions.

The lawsuit stated Herron repeatedly told the child, eight years old at the time, that he was abused until the child believed it. 

Following a five-week trial that concluded in November, Hayek was awarded $7.6 million and Hamp was awarded nearly $13.68 million by a jury.

Hakey now plans to ask a domestic relations judge to grant her re-integration therapy with her children, who she has not been allowed to speak to since a Zoom visit in January 2021

The jury found Herron guilty of defamation, conspiracy, outrageous conduct, abuse of process and malicious prosecution.

Hakey said, however, that she has spent nearly $8million of her own money in the custody battle and subsequent trial, meaning she's still been left out of pocket. 

She now plans to ask a domestic relations judge to grant her re-integration therapy with her children, who she has not been allowed to speak to since a Zoom visit in January 2021.

Herron claimed during the trial the mother and her children have no relationship anymore.