Former Boston Stripper Gets Probation

Former stripper gets probation for posing as psychologist

May 14, 2007

BOSTON --A former stripper who was convicted of posing as a psychologist was spared prison time Monday for treating patients without a license.

Louise Wightman, 47, of Hull, was given a suspended six-month sentence and five years probation. Suffolk Superior Court Nancy Staffier Holtz also barred Wightman from counseling.

Wightman was convicted on 19 of 25 counts of fraud and larceny earlier this month.

Wightman was known as Princess Cheyenne during her days as a stripper in the 1970s and 1980s. But her past was not a prominent part of testimony at the trial.

Wightman, who has a master's degree in counseling psychology from Lesley University, testified she never claimed to be a licensed psychologist when she worked at South Shore Psychology Associates.

She told the jury she dropped out of the school's doctoral program after a dean she did not name confronted her about her past. Wightman said she then paid $1,300 for what she thought was a legitimate degree over the Internet, but later learned it was bogus.

State investigators have said most of Wightman's clients were school-age children and teenage girls with eating disorders.

Boston Globe