BROOKSVILLE, FL – A 50-year-old man in Florida learned his fate in court in late July after pleading guilty to felony bigamy charges this past May in connection with the three separate marriages the individual held without seeking divorce or annulments in any of the unions prior to initiating new marriages.
While marriage rates across the United States have been on the decline the past couple of decades, one could make the argument that Henry Betsey Jr. was merely guilty of trying to pick up the proverbial slack. Back in November 2020, Betsey married his first wife Tonya after the two met on the popular dating app Tinder, rendering their vows before a Jacksonville courthouse at the time. But apparently, one wife wasn’t enough for Betsey.
Prosecutors say that in February 2022, Betsey wed another woman named Brandy in Manatee County, with the two also meeting on a dating app called Stir. At the time of the two’s marriage, Betsey was still married to Tonya on paper.
Not even one year after exchanging wedding vows with Brandy, Betsey would meet Michele Narens on Match.com with the two getting hitched in Hernando County in November of 2022 – all the while with Betsey still married to the two other women.
As if maintaining a single marriage isn’t hard enough, juggling three separate ones with an apparent effort to keep all the women in the dark about each other was a ruse doomed to fail in Betsey’s case, which it ultimately did.
Back in 2024, Tonya had learned of Betsey’s two other wives, telling a local news outlet at the time that a search of marriage licenses across the state revealed the alarming truth.
“I just started county by county, putting in his name,” Tonya stated at the time, adding, “And that's when I came up with the marriage to Michele and the marriage to Brandy.”
The discovery prompted Tonya to reach out to the other women, where she learned the other two were oblivious to Betsey still being married to her. Michele said of the discovery back in 2024, “She found me and she messaged me, and I had no idea that she was actually still married to him.”
Apparently, Florida currently doesn’t have a comprehensive database that compares marriage licenses between the various counties in the state, thus contributing to the multi-marriage fiasco at issue.
Tonya commented on the non-existent cross referencing of marriage licenses in the Sunshine State, saying, “If the counties did talk, it would have saved me a lot of heartache, a lot of money, a lot of stress.”
On July 31st, Betsey was sentenced to two years’ probation for the bigamy charge, with Judge Charles B. Merritt, Jr. justifying the minimal sentence in light of the defendant’s lack of any prior convictions.
Betsey was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation as well as a battery intervention program in connection to an ongoing domestic assault case.
In another interesting but unsurprising aspect related to Betsey’s sentence, the judge also ordered that he remain off dating apps and websites.
Tonya, who was somewhat let down that Betsey wouldn’t face incarceration, said she understood the court’s decision and took solace in knowing that Betsey is now a convicted felon.
“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,” Tonya said in a statement following the sentencing, adding, “I had hoped for a stronger sentence. That said, I recognize that the judge weighed all the factors involved, and I accept the decision, even if it wasn’t what I had expected.”
While marriage rates across the United States have been on the decline the past couple of decades, one could make the argument that Henry Betsey Jr. was merely guilty of trying to pick up the proverbial slack. Back in November 2020, Betsey married his first wife Tonya after the two met on the popular dating app Tinder, rendering their vows before a Jacksonville courthouse at the time. But apparently, one wife wasn’t enough for Betsey.
Prosecutors say that in February 2022, Betsey wed another woman named Brandy in Manatee County, with the two also meeting on a dating app called Stir. At the time of the two’s marriage, Betsey was still married to Tonya on paper.
Not even one year after exchanging wedding vows with Brandy, Betsey would meet Michele Narens on Match.com with the two getting hitched in Hernando County in November of 2022 – all the while with Betsey still married to the two other women.
As if maintaining a single marriage isn’t hard enough, juggling three separate ones with an apparent effort to keep all the women in the dark about each other was a ruse doomed to fail in Betsey’s case, which it ultimately did.
Back in 2024, Tonya had learned of Betsey’s two other wives, telling a local news outlet at the time that a search of marriage licenses across the state revealed the alarming truth.
“I just started county by county, putting in his name,” Tonya stated at the time, adding, “And that's when I came up with the marriage to Michele and the marriage to Brandy.”
The discovery prompted Tonya to reach out to the other women, where she learned the other two were oblivious to Betsey still being married to her. Michele said of the discovery back in 2024, “She found me and she messaged me, and I had no idea that she was actually still married to him.”
Apparently, Florida currently doesn’t have a comprehensive database that compares marriage licenses between the various counties in the state, thus contributing to the multi-marriage fiasco at issue.
Tonya commented on the non-existent cross referencing of marriage licenses in the Sunshine State, saying, “If the counties did talk, it would have saved me a lot of heartache, a lot of money, a lot of stress.”
On July 31st, Betsey was sentenced to two years’ probation for the bigamy charge, with Judge Charles B. Merritt, Jr. justifying the minimal sentence in light of the defendant’s lack of any prior convictions.
Betsey was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation as well as a battery intervention program in connection to an ongoing domestic assault case.
In another interesting but unsurprising aspect related to Betsey’s sentence, the judge also ordered that he remain off dating apps and websites.
Tonya, who was somewhat let down that Betsey wouldn’t face incarceration, said she understood the court’s decision and took solace in knowing that Betsey is now a convicted felon.
“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,” Tonya said in a statement following the sentencing, adding, “I had hoped for a stronger sentence. That said, I recognize that the judge weighed all the factors involved, and I accept the decision, even if it wasn’t what I had expected.”
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