Mr. Loza and the 'Crazy Woman'
I first became aware that Leo was a con artist when I heard him talking
on the phone after Sterling was born. He was laughing and he kept
calling the caller Therese. I was confused because I thought I had met
all of Leo's friends, and the only Therese I knew of was the 'Crazy
Woman' that Leo had been trying to get away from in Houston.
Therese was not only crazy, she was dangerous. She had stalked Leo and
chased him around with a gun. In fact, Leo was sure she was going to
kill him--he had seen her outside his home trying to get to him with a
gun in her hand. I insisted that Leo move to Austin to avoid this
'Crazy Woman' so he could start over without fearing for his life.
Going back a couple of years, Leo and Therese had at one time been
friends, best friends. She had money and they took trips together, even
riding in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon. Leo told me he
could share everything about his life with Therese--she was a Virgo,
and he got along really well with Virgos. Leo told me Therese knew as
much about him as I did, and that was saying a lot. He said Therese
knew about when he was first molested at age five (he said it was the
best orgasm he ever had, that his heart felt like it was busting
through his chest); he said she knew about the other men who molested
him, about his involvement with pornography as a teenager, about his
drugs--they shared ecstasy together--and about all his quirks and
habits.
Then she got violent. She got crazy. She became obsessed with Leo and
everything changed. Therese wanted to own Leo, and he had spurned her.
She sued Leo for money. She called him, harassed him, and threatened
him that he was going to die. That's when Leo learned that Therese was
a 'Crazy Woman' and began fearing for his life. Leo called it Fatal
Attraction. I feared for him, too.
As I listened to Leo's phone conversation, I was confused. Leo was
enjoying the conversation, as with an old friend. When I mentioned it
later, Leo just told me, "Oh, that was Therese--I just didn't want to
upset her." Since Leo had been the one who made the call, I tucked it
away in my mind. It didn't make sense, but then, it wasn't my life on
the line--not yet.
The violence was increasing, and Leo was extremely possessive of
Sterling, always telling me that I would never raise him. (That is why
I sought legal custody of Sterling before he was even born.) I tried to
remain with Leo so I could nurse Sterling during infancy and maybe make
the relationship work, but the violence was increasing, in both
frequency and harm. I was scared.
After the Rescue 911 episode, I kicked Leo out. When Sterling began
showing signs of harm, saying what 'daddy Leo' was doing to
him, I sought to protect him. The agencies quickly rallied around Leo
and treated me with disdain. Children's Protective Services (CPS)
assessed me with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, depression, and
poor parenting skills--all false--and assigned Priority 0 to
investigations. Mark Ashworth, the guardian ad litem assigned to the
case, lectured me on how I was responsible for eliciting Leo's
violence. The children's Day Care provider treated me cordially.
Until then, I had hoped that others would see this was simple case of a
violent, unstable man who needed help before he could safely interact
with children. I remembered Leo telling me that he had shared
everything about his life with Therese, and I knew he was involved with
a lawsuit with her in Houston. I called the Harris County court
administrator and learned Therese's last name by asking for the names
of anyone involved in a lawsuit with Leo. I then called information,
hoping she still lived there. I first supplied the contact
information to the guardian ad litem so he could talk with her before I
had any contact with her, so as not to taint a potential witness, but
he never called. Prior to a court date, I finally made the call myself.
I fully expected a lunatic to answer.
Therese was calm, pleasant, and well-spoken. She laughed when I told
her that I had thought she was dangerous and that she had chased people
with guns--she told me she was terrified of guns. Therese testified
what she knew about Leo in court, but nobody at the judicial end
believed her. They said I had convinced Therese to lie for me.
It was then that I realized that I was the new Therese--the new 'Crazy
Woman'--the one the courts and agencies had to protect Leo from. And
they did, just like I protected Leo from Therese.
That is how I lost my two youngest children.
I know a lot about being conned. I am the new 'Therese'.
* * *
Therese told me more than she would tell the court because she did not
want Leo to retaliate--he had threatened her before. Leo owed Therese
large sums of money. Because Therese drove Leo to the bank to cash his
insurance check--the one he received as a result of staging his own
break-in--Therese was afraid Leo would accuse her of being an accessory
to a crime. Thus she limited her testimony to only what
might affect his parenting ability.
I have since learned that sociopaths sometimes get compliance by involving others in shady activities, and
they stay quiet to stay out of trouble.