BROOKSVILLE, Fla — A Florida man who was arrested after his wife discovered he was still married to two other women pleaded guilty in court Friday morning.
Henry Betsy Junior was charged with bigamy last year after Hernando County detectives determined he was married to three different women in three counties at the same time.
Watch full report on the court hearing from Adam Walser
Betsey arrived 20 minutes late for his scheduled court hearing, accompanied by his current girlfriend.
Three marriages in three counties in two years
Three Florida women from three different counties met Henry Betsey, Jr., on dating websites and married him at county courthouses from late 2020 until late 2022.
“Met him on Match.com,” said his most recent wife, Michele, who married Henry after just three weeks.
“He said all the right things,” said Brandi Betsey, who met him on Stir, a website targeting single parents.
“He sold the perfect person, when in reality he was none of those things,” said Tonya Betsey.
Betsey didn’t get divorces or annulments before marrying again.
He was arrested last year after his three concurrent marriages came to light.
“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 Brandi,” Tonya said.
“She found me and she messaged me, and I had no idea that she was actually still married to him,” Michele said.
“There’s not really safeguards”
Betsey’s wives all blame the state of Florida for not cross-referencing marriage licenses between counties.
“There are no safeguards, and I feel like that's part of where the system failed,” Michele said.
“If the counties did talk, it would have saved me a lot of heartache, a lot of money, a lot of stress,” Tonya said.
Pinellas County Clerk Ken Burke says that because people are so transient, it’s impossible to keep track of everyone’s marital status without a national marriage registry.
“There's not really safeguards to find that out,” Burke said.
When people apply for marriage licenses, they swear or affirm they are telling the truth.
The form asks about any previous marriages and whether they ended in death, divorce or annulment.
If someone lies on the form, Burke says that can potentially constitute a criminal act.
Judge will determine the sentence in July
At Friday's hearing, Betsey agreed to an open plea, meaning he wasn’t promised a specific sentence and will leave it up to the judge at his sentencing.
Since Betsey has no criminal history, he could face anything from probation to a year in the county jail.
Our original story about Betsey and his wives went viral, with 476,000 views on YouTube and thousands of shares on social media in just over a week.
We tried to talk to Betsey after the hearing.
“Unfortunately, I’m unable to talk at this moment,” he said.
Betsey's sentencing hearing has been scheduled for July 31. At that time, all three wives can address the judge before the judge hands down a sentence.
“It's a little nerve-wracking.”
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