Louise Wightman

Louise Fitzgerald Wightman ("née" Johnson), better known as Lucy Wightman (born June 18, 1959 in Lake Forest, Illinois), is a former Boston and Providence area exotic dancer, radio talk show host, and award-winning bodybuilder. She first obtained notoriety in the 1970s and 1980s while performing under the stage name Princess Cheyenne in Boston's red light district. In the spring of 2007, she again attracted public interest, this time for being convicted of practicing psychology without a license in two south shore Massachusetts communities.

Dance career

Wightman's dancing career started in the 1970s when she was known as Lucy Johnson, and peaked when she was a headliner at the now defunct "Naked i" in Boston's Combat Zone. The "Boston Herald" would later call Princess Cheyenne, "perhaps the most famous exotic dancer ever in this town". [http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=139759 "The unbearable loss of all that possibility"] , by Margery Eagan, "Boston Herald", May 18, 2006. Also on [http://lucywightman.squarespace.com/torri-wightman/ Lucy Wightman's Torri Wightman site] .] The public perception of her was of a Lake Forest, Illinois and New Canaan, Connecticut debutante college girl.Fact|date=May 2007 She also danced at the Foxy Lady in Rhode Island.

Using her celebrity from the exotic dancing ciruit, Wightman later hosted a sex advice radio talk show on local Boston rock station WBCN and posed for "Playboy" magazine (as Lucy Johnson) in March 1986. [http://164.109.57.252/dynamic/images/stories/undercover/evidence_030805.html "Mounting Evidence"] , "Fox Undercover", March 8, 2005, WFXT television] She competed in women's bodybuilding contests and was featured in the May-June 1996 issue of "Women's Physique World." [http://www.getbig.com/magazine/wpw/wpw-0696.htm "May / June 1996 - Table of Contents"] "Women's Physique World"] [http://www.wpw.net/common/themes/wpw/x.asp?t=i&d=/wpwclubs/0-intros/lwightman245/intro&m=/wpwclubs/0-intros/lwightman245&afid=45767768&hid=WP "Session: WPW-V245 - Lucy Wightman"] , "Women's Physique World", photos and videos from WPW session. Retrieved 2007-08-11.] She won the 1993 National Physique Committee Massachusetts championship.

Psychotherapy career

In 1985, Wightman received a bachelor of arts degree from Emerson College, and subsequently earned a masters degree in counseling psychology from Lesley University. She then enrolled at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology for five years, from 1996 to 2001. Wightman then withdrew from MSPP, submitted her credits and hours to an online degree program to which she paid $1,299 to receive a doctorate in psychology from Concordia College and University, an online institution based in Dominica that is not recognized for licensure by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Concordia shows up on lists of colleges and universities not currently accredited by an agency recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The school should not be confused with several legitimate schools in the United States and Canada named Concordia College. During this same period, Wightman founded South Shore Psychology Associates, and began treating patients with psychotherapy in her Norwell office.

Legal problems

In October 2005, Wightman was indicted in Boston, Massachusetts for practicing psychology without a license, filing false health care claims, [http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=986&id=1501 "Hull Woman Indicted on Charges She Practiced as an Unlicensed Psychologist"] , Massachusetts Attorney General press release, October 6, 2005] and engaging in insurance fraud after local FOX affiliate WFXT did an undercover investigation into her therapy practice. Under Massachusetts law, Wightman had been (until her May 14, 2007 sentencing) allowed to practice as a psychotherapist, "not" as a psychologist. [ [http://lucywightman.squarespace.com/ "Lucy Wightman - thinking about..."] , official website] In the indictment, the Commonwealth charged that she never applied for or received a license to practice as a psychologist in Massachusetts, which requires a doctoral degree in psychology from a state-approved program. Trial on those charges began in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, Massachusetts on April 26, 2007. [http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/27/trial_starts_for_ex_stripper_who_had_therapy_practice/ "Trial starts for ex-stripper who had therapy practice"] , By Jonathan Saltzman, "Boston Globe", 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2007-04-27.] On Friday, May 4 (about one week later), Wightman was found guilty of 19 of 26 counts. [http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=198603 "Ex-stripper convicted of posing as psychologist"] , By "Associated Press", 2007-05-04, Retrieved 2007-05-14.] On Monday, May 14 (two days before the anniversary of her daughter's death), Wightman was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation. The six month sentence was suspended, effectively sparing her prison time. Under the terms of her probation, she was sentenced to one year of home confinement, and was barred from practicing as a psychotherapist for her entire probationary period. [ [http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/news04.txt "Former stripper avoids time in jail; Gets house arrest for not having psych license"] , By Dennis Tatz, "The Patriot Ledger", 2007-05-15, Retrieved 2007-05-17.]

Personal life

In 1979, Wightman was engaged to the singer Cat Stevens, but the couple broke up due to her career commitments and his conversion to Islam. [http://164.109.57.252//dynamic/images/stories/undercover/psychologist_022005.html "Posing as a Psychologist"] , "Fox Undercover", February 20, 2005, WFXT television] [http://catstevens.com/articles/00216/ "Lucy Was Cat's Meow"] , by Nancy McMillan, "People", July 1, 1979, from CatStevens.com. [http://web.archive.org/web/20050305234518/http://catstevens.com/articles/00216/index.html Archived] at the Internet Archive, March 5, 2005.]

After the breakup with Stevens, Wightman married and divorced twice; she had a daughter named Victoria (Torri) with her second husband Donald Wightman, a Boston police detective and head of security for the rock band Aerosmith. On May 16, 2006, Torri died as result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Plympton, Massachusetts. She was only 16 years old. [http://cbs4boston.com/entertainment/local_story_137101606.html "Plympton Victim Is Daughter Of Aerosmith Associate"] CBS4Boston, WBZ-TV, May 17, 2006] [http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/17/an_afternoon_planned_for_shopping_turns_tragic_on_route_16_in_plympton/ "An afternoon planned for shopping turns tragic on Route 16 in Plympton"] , by Maria Cramer, "Boston Globe", May 17, 2006]

ee also

*List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
*Diploma mill

References

External links

* [http://www.lucywightman.com Lucy Wightman's website]
* [http://www.lucywightman.squarespace.com Lucy Wightman's blog]
* [http://sscps.org/sscps/default.aspx?section=78240af2-cb2f-4b2e-9155-b8300f58e42a&item=a386940c-556f-4ba6-94db-81970255b625 Torri Wightman Safe Driving Fund]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/01/22/exposed/ "Exposed"] , by Keith O'Brien, "Boston Globe Magazine", January 22, 2006. Also on Keith O'Brien's site: [http://www.keithob.com/stories/2006/07/exposed_2.html] .