Missouri Gov. accused of invasion of privacy
ST. LOUIS — 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.
Greitens’ attorney issued a scathing statement challenging the indictment.
“In 40 years of public and private practice, I have never seen anything like this,” attorney Edward L. Dowd Jr. said in a statement. “The charges against my client are baseless and unfounded. My client is absolutely innocent. We will be filing a motion to dismiss.”
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 penalty for firstdegree invasion of privacy in Missouri is up to four years in prison.
Greitens was taken into custody in St. Louis and released on his own recognizance, said Susan Ryan, a spokeswoman for Gardner, a Democrat.
Another Democrat, state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed of St. Louis, called for an impeachment process to begin immediately.