Missouri Gov. Indicted Over Alleged Compromising Photo

Eric Greitens denies blackmailing woman with whom he had affair
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 22, 2018 6:28 PM CST
Missouri Gov. Indicted Over Alleged Compromising Photo
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens outlines his tax overhaul plan to supporters at Doyle Manufacturing Monday, Jan. 29, 2018, in Palmyra, Mo.   (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A St. Louis grand jury has indicted Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on a felony invasion of privacy charge for allegedly taking a compromising photo of a woman with whom he had an affair in 2015, the city circuit attorney's office said Thursday. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner launched an investigation in January after Greitens admitted to an affair with his St. Louis hairdresser that began in March 2015. He was elected governor in November 2016. Gardner declined comment beyond a brief news release, but spokeswoman Susan Ryan confirmed the indictment stemmed from a photo Greitens allegedly took of the woman, the AP reports. Greitens was taken into custody in St. Louis and released on his own recognizance, Ryan said.

The indictment states that on March 21, 2015, Greitens photographed a woman identified only by her initials "in a state of full or partial nudity" without her knowledge or consent. The indictment said Greitens "transmitted the image contained in the photograph in a manner that allowed access to that image via a computer." The woman told her husband, who was secretly taping the conversation, that Greitens took the compromising photo of her at his home and threatened to use it as blackmail if she spoke about the affair. A news release from Gardner says it is a felony if a person transmits an image "in a manner that allows access to that image via a computer." Greitens has repeatedly denied blackmailing the woman, but has repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether he took a photo. (More Eric Greitens stories.)

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