A group of women were allegedly wronged by the same two-timing, con-artist cheat. With no way of getting even by legal means, they took the law — along with one of the victim’s more delicate bits of anatomy — into their own hands.
The story of wronged women and their misguided revenge that’s all over the Internet has become an object lesson in how modern women are dealing with injustice. And while it’s the subject of much giggling and guffawing, it’s a serious issue, former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro and psychotherapist Robi Ludwig told TODAY’s Natalie Morales Tuesday in New York.
“The guy was a cheater. He’s a con man. He was taking money,” Pirro said. “But at the end of the day, the criminal justice system will identify him as a victim; these women will be identified as criminals.”
“This man basically betrayed all these women. He humiliated them. He made them all feel powerless,” added Ludwig. “They needed to all band together in order to feel that justice could be served.”
Sticky situation
It happened last Thursday in a nondescript motel in Stockbridge, Wis. The wife of a man who was cheating with as many as five other women recruited three of those women into a plot to get even with him.
One of the women lured him to the motel, where he agreed to let her tie him up and blindfold him for what was to be a massage. Once he was immobilized, the woman texted the other three women. They entered the room, mocked the man, and allegedly struck him before using a type of super glue to affix his offending appendage to either his thigh or his stomach — news reports differ.
When the man — who, as the victim of a sex crime, has not been identified — started screaming, the women fled, reportedly with his wallet, cell phone and car. He ultimately found his way to a hospital, where he was treated and released, suffering no permanent damage to anything other than what remains of his dignity.
Meanwhile, the four women, including his wife, were arrested and are charged with four criminal counts, including false imprisonment and sexual degradation.
Sisterhood is powerful
And thus, said Pirro, the victimizer became the victim. But in the process, added Ludwig, he empowered and united a group of women who would normally be expected to be rivals.
“This guy was so bad that instead of the women competing with each other, they kind of realized this guy was a con, including the wife. She was kind of the team leader,” Ludwig told Morales. “She said, ‘Hey, listen, I know this guy is kind of a dog. He’s doing this to all of us. Let’s get him back.’
“He almost created a sorority of womanhood where they all banded together, and there’s power when you’re in a group,” Ludwig added.
Pirro pointed out that the sense of powerlessness would be reinforced by the fact that the women knew they’d been cheated, but also knew there was no legal recourse for them; the cad hadn’t broken any laws.