‘Revenge porn’ law signed in Missouri
Outgoing governor approves 77 new laws and grants pardons in flurry of last-minute activity
Just hours before he left office on Friday, former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens signed scores of new laws, including a measure that makes it a crime to try to threaten a person using a private sexual image — the same allegation that led to his downfall.
In the flurry of last-minute activity, the scandal-plagued governor approved 77 new laws, granted several pardons and commutations and won at least a temporary reprieve in a court battle over campaign records.
He posted a long Facebook message touting his accomplishments — without any mention of why he was quitting — and quietly left Capitol about an hour before his resignation took effect.
Weighing charges
His departure cleared the way for fellow Republican Lieutenant-Governor Mike Parson, who was sworn in a short time later.
The ‘revenge porn’ law creates a felony that will apply to cases when someone threatens the nonconsensual dissemination of a private sexual image by coercing another person to refrain from an action.
The governor has been accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015 and warning her he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter.
He has acknowledged having the affair but denied criminal wrongdoing and refused to directly answer questions about whether he took the photo.
Greitens cannot be charged under the new law because it was not in effect at the time.
Refiling of charges
But a special prosecutor is still weighing whether to refile an invasion-of-privacy charge against Greitens under a different law.
In a news release announcing the bill signings, he touted bills such as a corporate income tax cut and changes to the state foster care system.
Later, he announced he had pardoned five people and commuted the sentences of four others, including several whom he said had been wrongfully convicted of murder.
Greitens has similarly insisted that he has done nothing worthy of being forced out of office.