Melissa Berry’s career had just taken off. Once merely a run-of-the-mill stripper at Tampa’s Thee Dollhouse, she’d just landed a coveted position on the Tampa Breeze, one of the entries of the soon-defunct soon-to-launch Lingerie Football League.

Then she met “healthy dating and sexual assault” expert Mark Dawson.

The 25-year-old Berry started dating the 45-year-old Dawson, who based on his apparent career as relationship expert probably seemed a safe bet at the time.

Yeah, and so did the stock market 3 months ago. (More photos of Ms. Berry after the jump.)

The TAMPA TRIBUNE reports on allegations from Berry about Dawson’s despicable behavior during their relationship:

But the 24-year-old model and lingerie football league player draws the line at a former boyfriend - a safe dating expert - posting nude and intimate photos of her on the Internet.

Berry sued her former paramour Mark C. Dawson in Hillsborough County Circuit Court today, saying he tried to extort, humiliate and hurt her by showing the photographs to her mother and friends and posting them on MySpace.com without her permission.

OK, so Dawson allegedly took unauthorized nude photos of Berry and then showed them to her MOTHER? Wot?

One small detail in all this though - Berry’s main job is still as a stripper. And she’s apparently smiling in the nude photos. Dawson claims that because of her primary occupation, and her reaction in the photos, her claims aren’t legitimate. He also alleges that she destroyed the phone that contained the photos and wants $500 in return. (He had already already downloaded the nudie pix to his computer tho, zing!)

Meanwhile, she’s suing for $15,000 in damage, also claiming Dawson threatened to make the photos public if she didn’t reimburse him for the phone.

It appears that no matter the outcome of this mess, the whole thing could be a major career setback for Dawson, a “motivational speaker who specializes in communication; interpreting body language and mixed signals; and promoting respect and personal responsibility.”

Then again, he could always inquire about that open DJ’ing gig at Melissa’s workplace.

OK, maybe not.

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