In the immediate days that followed my financial rape, I was depressed, withdrawn, humiliated, ashamed. My soul ached the very moment my eyes opened and I dreaded being conscious. Now not only did I have to work through this fog of grief, but I also had to take on a second job to pay back the monies Tim Blair had stole from me via American Express and other credit card accounts as an Authorized User under the fraudulent pretenses of a fictitious business deal partnership. Gradually, over weeks, my depression turned to an anger that would become my fuel. In the middle of this pain, an American Express' collection rep tipped me off that Mr. Blair had had fictitious businesses in California and was "probably doing the same thing" in Georgia. Stunned, I asked why they had allowed the deal to go through if they had access to this type of information. She quickly and coldly stated that I was the primary user and therefore I was responsible to pay back the money. As I began to reflect on how and what had happened to me, I realized that this predator had demonstrated expertise in his schematic manipulation of my trust. I painfully realized he would only continue to financially rape more women and their children if I did not force myself to go to the police and publicly tell what he had done to me. I was ashamed and humiliated as I told my story, seeing the condemnation in the others' eyes, but more so I was convicted that if I did not - I would then be an accomplice to Tim Blair's future crimes against other women and children.
I am Esther Blazer Pilgrim. I am a typical, hard working middle-class, single mother of two. I am a Persian Gulf war Army veteran who served my country proudly. I am a nurse, serving women and children in my community through education. My life was and is about my children with the goal of empowering them to fly their highest potential. I grew up in foster care and so being able to provide a stable home and ample opportunity for my children was and is especially vital to me. Tim Blair, who purposely befriended me and posed as a caring friend, gained privy to these details and used them to gain access to my trust and ultimately my money. He strategically positioned himself, listened and then plotted out his fictitious business plan to use on me. The multiple "alleged" victims who have contacted me for help and hope in obtaining their own justice against this predator, fit no particular mold, other than they are kind people and dedicated mothers.
I would prefer to tell you that my journey to justice was not a difficult one, but I would only be guilty of misleading you to believe it will be easy for you, too. I still look at my kitchen table and remember the sleepless nights I sat at it and cried, feeling so sad and broken hearted. It genuinely grieves me to recollect how disenheartened I was to discover that the same country I left my children for to defend, did NOT want to defend me. I was never able to get a single police officer to take a police report from me, even with a letter in hand from Curtis Johnson, Jr., a Memphis lawyer, who had written a letter stating a crime had been committed against me with written instructions to contact the police and District Attorney's office. He even listed the Mississippi Criminal Codes in this letter that had been violated by Timothy Blair. I try to add humor to my story by saying I had to lay in front of the DA's car to get his attention. I did not really do that, but it may have been easier now that I think about it. Let me say though that the less than a handful of law men who did offer compassion and who did hear my screams for help, were good men who did the best they could with the little resources they were allowed to provide me. I will forever pray God pours favor on them and their families.
Through this traumatic ordeal, I have become acutely aware of the weaknesses and flaws in the system that have enabled and empowered this rapist for allegedly over a decade. From law enforcement, to the credit card companies, to appointed leadership, to celebrities, multitudes of people who were made aware and chose to do nothing, to civilians who were apathetic. The truth is, we are either part of the problem or part of the solution. By our actions or inactions, we choose which side we are on. In silence, we are both a victim and an accomplice. To the best of my ability, I refuse to be either.
If you were or are a victim or near victim, national or international, with documented evidence to provide, please contact me and I will forward you the email address and contact info for law enforcement.
