A grand jury has indicted Missouri Governor Eric Greitens with a felony invasion of privacy charge for allegedly taking a nude photo of a woman with whom he had an affair in 2015. He was briefly taken into custody.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said Greitens, a Republican, was indicted on a Felony Invasion of Privacy charge for an incident that happened on March 21, 2015. The governor is accused of photographing a woman “in full or partial nudity” without her knowledge and consent.
“Under Missouri law, the Grand Jury has found probable cause to believe that Governor Greitens violated Missouri State Statute 565.252, which was in place at the time of the violation,” Gardner said. It comes just weeks before the statute of limitation for the offense was set to expire.
Greitens was taken into custody and booked, after which he was released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. CT on March 16.
Specific details about the case were not immediately released, but the governor has strongly denied allegations from the woman’s ex-husband, who claims Greitens took the compromising photo and threatened to release it if she spoke about their affair.
The woman was allegedly bound and blindfolded when the photo was taken.
“As I have said before, I made a personal mistake before I was Governor. I did not commit a crime,” Greitens said in a statement on Thursday. “With today’s disappointing and misguided political decision, my confidence in our prosecutorial system is shaken, but not broken. I know this will be righted soon.”
Greitens also referred to Gardner being a Democrat, saying: “The people of Missouri deserve better than a reckless liberal prosecutor who uses her office to score political points. I look forward to the legal remedies to reverse this action. This will not for a moment deter me from doing the important work of the great people of Missouri.”
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