VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., May 16 (UPI) -- A Virginia restaurateur has been arrested after five women accused him of spankings and beatings that left them bruised, officials said.
Prosecutors called Henry Allen Fitzsimmons, 54, of Virginia Beach a "predator" who allegedly bestowed "scholarships" on women in financial trouble with the warning they would be spanked if they broke "rules," The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Monday.
Fitzsimmons has been charged with sexual battery, assault and abduction, and object sexual penetration.
Fitzsimmons' lawyer claimed the case was a concoction by an opportunistic former employee and others.
"There's a whole back story that's different than what appears here," attorney Robert Byrum said.
Prosecutors presented a judge with photographic evidence of the alleged injuries suffered by the women.
"He set them up under what's called this Spencer Scholarship Program" and disciplined them if they broke any of its guidelines, prosecutor Paul Powers said. "How are they disciplined? By spanking their bare bottoms."
The "Spencer Plan" is on a Web site that advocates a plan of "carefully regulated corporal punishment" between domestic partners and describes spanking techniques using belts and straps, court documents revealed.
