Woman discovers she is one of three wives before husband arrested
A woman turned sleuth and uncovered a devastating dual deception about her spouse - which eventually resulted in his detention.
Tonya Betsey encountered Henry Betsey, Jr through Tinder, and the pair wed at the Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville, US, on November 24, 2020.
"Meeting on a dating site and the way he portrayed himself, he sold the perfect person, when in reality he was none of those things," she cautioned.
Regrettably, it wasn't long before Tonya realised she wasn't the sole woman in Henry's existence. His betrayals emerged when she began investigating her husband's name through county court records, making the startling revelation that he possessed marriage certificates to two additional women.
Henry had wed his second spouse Brandy two years following his ceremony with Tonya, in February 2022. Just months afterwards, a third woman, Michele, encountered Henry on the dating platform Match.com, and they exchanged vows at a courthouse in Hernando County in November 2022, having known each other for merely three weeks, reports the Mirror.
"I just started county by county, putting in his name. And that's when I came up with the marriage to Michele and the marriage to Brandy," Tonya revealed to WFTS.
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Betsey Jr. hadn't obtained divorces or annulments before remarrying, and no database exists that cross-references Florida marriage licences between counties. The spouses collectively hold Florida accountable for failing to cross-check marriage certificates across different counties.
Michele stated: "There are no safeguards, and I feel like that's part of where the system failed,".
Tonya further remarked: "If the counties did talk, it would have saved me a lot of heartache, a lot of money, a lot of stress,".
Betsey Jr. entered a guilty plea to the felony bigamy charge in May. During this week's sentencing proceedings, he expressed remorse for simultaneously wedding three women.
"First and foremost, I want to apologise to the ladies and I want to apologise to the court administration and to my family and friends that had to be involved in this. Because ultimately this is something that I didn't wish to be part of," he said.
Given Henry's clean criminal record - and with a separate Virginia case still pending - the judge outlined the legal constraints on the punishment he could deliver.
Judge Charles B. Merritt, Jr. declared: "I'm going to adjudicate him guilty of the bigamy offense, which is gonna make him a convicted felon," and "I'm gonna sentence him to two years' probation with 8 days credit for time served. You're gonna have to do a mental health evaluation, complete a certified battery intervention program."
Betsey's ex-wives and their relatives expressed disappointment that Henry avoided prison time - though they welcomed the chance to move on from the traumatic experience. "While I respect the court's decision and understand the reasoning behind the sentence, I can't say I was completely satisfied with the outcome. I had hoped for a stronger sentence," Tonya expressed in a statement.
"That said, I recognise that the judge weighed all the factors involved, and I accept the decision, even if it wasn't what I had expected.
"While it was not jail time, the fact that he is a convicted felon, that speaks mountains and I feel like that's vindication on our part," Michele added.
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