Former Police Chief Turned Pin-up Model Charged With Workers' Compensation Fraud

Brenda Lynn Cavoretto, a former Washington state police chief, has been accused of illegally collecting $67,000 in compensation benefits for workers while working as a pin-up model.

Cavoretto served as police chief for Coulee City, Washington, until 2012 when the body of a man who had hanged himself fell on her inside a barn.

She suffered from shoulder, back and abdominal injuries since then, the Washington Times reported.

She then filed for compensation, saying she couldn't continue working or being around other people. Cavoretto indicated she also had severe psychological trauma from the incident.

Cavoretto briefly switched employment and worked as an officer in Soap Lake before collecting wage replacement payments. The ex-police chief began seeing a therapist in 2015 and complained of nightmares and the inability to leave her home.

In 2019, the state Department of Labor and Industries began an investigation into Cavoretto's case after seeing that no progress was being made on her condition after four years of treatment, the New York Post reported.

The investigation found she worked as a pin-up model while telling the authorities that it was impossible to work because of the injuries she sustained as police chief.

As a model, Cavoretto wore sexy clothes, posing in the style of Betty Grable. She had modeled under the names "Tuff As Nailz" and "The Black Widow Bettie," the New York Post reported.

The 47-year-old currently faces charges of making false, misleading statements that have led to the collection of more than $67,000 in workers' compensation benefits from the state.

The investigation by the Department of Land & Industries uncovered that Cavretto was also photographing pinup models and organizing some of the fundraisers and pageants.

She did post on social media that she was activating a fundraising drive for pin-up dolls. She has also appeared in various albums spanning three magazine calendars and 52 publications while attaining compensation under the pretense that she could not normally work in law enforcement or otherwise.

The activities were through the publication Electric Pinup Magazine and the nonprofit group, Electric Pinup Dolls, which had raised money for law enforcement, firefighters and veterans.