A wealthy New York businessman who tried to save a prostitute by giving her almost $130,000 is suing her after she went back to selling sex.
Robert Brot, 57, says he fell in love with 26-year-old Lindsey DeLeon after meeting on an internet dating website in October 2008.
Ms DeLeon, who was broke with two children, worked as a stripper and escort until the Manhattan property developer reportedly gave her close to $130,000 to clear her debts and start a new life as his wife.
The case mirrors the hit 1990 movie Pretty Woman in which Richard Gere plays a businessman who attempts to rescue a call girl, played by Julia Roberts.
But unlike the romantic film, Ms DeLeon was reportedly not prepared to leave behind her former life.
"He's got a really big heart, and he intended to help rescue her," the New York Post reported Mr Brot's lawyer Andrew Miltenberg as saying.
"He fell in love with a woman, and he thought he was helping her turn her life around … [but] she had other ideas for him and his money."
The suit alleges that Mr Brot helped Ms DeLeon move to New York, where she agreed to pursue a career in real estate.
Mr Brot eventually paid for her to return home to Oklahoma to fight a custody battle with her ex.
But four months after returning to Oklahoma, Mr Brot alleges he found Ms DeLeon's selling her services on the internet.
One of Ms DeLeon's ads described her as a "sweet southern redhead with natural DDDs" who had "a very naughty side".
Mr Brot, a divorced father of two, is now suing her for the $114,500 she allegedly still owes him plus legal costs.
"For Robert, it was a real relationship," his lawyer was quoted as saying.
"The guy got his heart broken."
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