Boston- A legendary Boston Combat Zone stripper who performed under the name “Princess Cheyenne” is on trial for allegedly posing as a licensed psychologist and treating children with eating disorders and other serious problems.
“This is a case about trust, broken trust and breaking that trust to commit theft from parents and their children,” Assistant Attorney General David Andrews said as Lucy Wightman went on trial in Suffolk Superior Court.
Wightman, 47, of Hull, was a stripper known as “Princess Cheyenne” in the 1970s and ’80s. Prosecutors say she took nearly $40,000 from parents while posing as a licensed psychologist in two Boston suburbs from 1998 to 2005.
She faces 14 counts of felony larceny, five counts of filing false health care claims, five counts of insurance fraud and one count of practicing psychology without a license.
Wightman’s lawyer, Katie Cook Rayburn, said Wightman has a master’s degree in psychology and studied five years at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. Rayburn said Wightman bought a doctorate online from Dominica-based Concordia College & University, believing it was legitimate.
Wightman denies telling people who sought treatment that she was licensed, Rayburn said.
“My client didn’t wake up one day and say, ‘Today, I’m going to pretend to be a psychologist,’ ” Rayburn told the jury. “She intended to help people.”
To obtain a license to practice psychology in Massachusetts, applicants must hold a doctorate from a state-accredited school, complete 1,600 hours of supervised training and pass a special test. Andrews said Wightman had not fulfilled any of the requirements before she opened South Shore Psychology Associates in Hingham and later in Norwell.
