Janese Trimaldi
Janese Trimaldi.com: Profile on Janese Alain Trimaldi.
Janese Alain Trimaldi danced as a child and teenager. In the early 1990's, she worked as a hairstylist and freelanced as a make-up artist for a New York modeling agency. In the early to mid 1990's, after obtaining A.C.E certification, she juggled her time between being a personal trainer, waitressing in a seafood restaurant, and competing in televised aerobics/fitness competitions which allowed her to pursue her passion for dancing. At the age of 25, she was part of the cast in the 1998 ESPN show "Flex Appeal with Kiana Tom" which was filmed at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida where she lived. This helped her career as a personal trainer sky-rocket. In 1999, however, a back injury forced her to take her dancing shoes off, and she concentrated on her studies instead.
With the intent on becoming a biomedical engineer (she had titanium screws inserted in her back enabling her to walk again), Janese Trimaldi enrolled in studies with the goal of designing thought-controlled, bio-robotic prosthetics for amputees. After graduating near the top of her class (Magna Cum Laude) with a preliminary Chemical Engineering degree in 2005, she was hired at Procter and Gamble. However, she decided to give the position up in order to become a physician. She enrolled at the University of South Florida's Medical School in 2005, and graduated with her M.D. in 2009.
In 2012 Janese Trimaldi was involved with efforts to influence Florida representatives to protect the privacy of its citizens. This was inspired by her becoming the target of an internet mugshot extortion scam. Her story is not at all uncommon.
Shortly after Janese began residency, she met a Chicago man who then moved to Florida to be closer to her. After a brief time she realized he was a con artist. Unfortunately, Florida laws restricted her from demanding that he vacate her apartment because he legally lived with her.
One night, Janese informed him the relationship was over and locked the bedroom door behind her. Enraged, he got a kitchen knife and used it to break into the bedroom. He (6'6", 240 lbs) picked Janese Trimaldi up (5'0", 97 pounds), and threw her across the room onto her back. Thankfully, the prior spinal procedure wasn't affected, nor did the blunt impact break any bones in her spine. While defending herself, Janese scratched him and screamed loudly enough for the neighbors to hear and call the police.
Oddly, when the police arrived and questioned the pair, it wasn't him but rather Janese Trimaldi who was arrested. With a shirt strap torn off, and shorts that were ripped up to her waistline on both sides, they mistakingly pinned her as the aggressor. He had succeeded in convincing the police that the scratch on his chest wasn't at all a scratch, but rather a gash from a steak knife....the very knife he used to enter her bedroom.
The next day he recanted his statement by hand-writing a letter to the judge. Shortly after, he fled from the state. The charges were dropped and Janese Alain Trimaldi was released within 48 hours, but the memory of that night was far from over.
Janese had a mugshot online for a crime she did not commit. After a few months, one mugshot turned into 2 mugshots, then 3 mugshots. The photos were multiplying rapidly. To her dismay, her address was also included, along with her birth date and place. No matter what Janese Trimaldi did, the mugshots remained. The fact that Janese Trimaldi had been attacked and was innocent mattered not.
Even more troubling was that an arrest from over 15 years ago had been unearthed from the archives of Florida Law Enforcement's mugshot database--a database that is supposedly secure and encrypted. Those charges (from 1996) had been dropped immediately when law enforcement realized she was an innocent bystander. Unfortunately, Janese found the old mugshot side by side with the new one, on anywhere from 5 to 10 different mugshot websites at a time. Janese Trimaldi found herself portrayed in a false light because the charges and photos were there, but the case dispositions were not.
She is not the only one. The mugshot racket is pervasive. Site owners make their profit by charging hefty "take-down fees,"(sometimes upwards of $1000 at a time) knowing full well that an arrest is extremely damaging to one's professional reputation, as well as any potential future personal relationships--it can even prevent one from obtaining housing. In addition, the personal information below the picture leads to loss of privacy and exposure that puts people at an elevated risk of identity theft problems.
In early 2013, legislation in Florida was introduced as House Bill 677. It explained that anyone who was falsely charged, arrested, or otherwise acquitted had the right to sue for defamation of character if their mugshot was found on any of the sites. The operators of these websites portraying the images were also subject to fines from the government. However, the broad speech used in the bill was met with much backlash from journalists and consequently was rejected. Hopefully, it will be reintroduced in more stringent terms.
Janese Trimaldi is looking forward to practicing medicine, and is also excited to know that she is part of a profession that enables her to be a lifelong "student" in a dynamic field where new discoveries are being constantly made. There is also the realization that after all these years (14 years of education/training, to be exact) she will finally be able to do what deep down had inspired her from the start, and that is helping people and saving lives.
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