Charges against Stormy Daniels dropped shortly after arrest

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Prosecutors dropped charges Thursday against Stormy Daniels just hours after the porn star was arrested and accused of illegally rubbing undercover police officers’ faces against her bare breasts during a performance at an Ohio strip club.

Her attorney said she was “set up” in a Columbus police sting operation, calling it an “absurd use of law enforcement resources.” Police said they routinely conduct such undercover operations.

By early afternoon, prosecutors said they were dropping the case because Ohio’s law against physical contact between strippers and customers applies only to someone who “regularly” performs at a club. In Daniels’ case, it was her first appearance at Sirens in Columbus.

Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted afterward Daniels “refuses to be intimidated” and would “return to the scene of the ‘no crime’” and perform again Thursday night at the club.

Police said Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, smacked the faces of two female officers and one male officer with her bare breasts dur i ng We d nesday night’s show. Officers knocked on her tour bus’ door after the show and took her into custody. Avenatti said the arrest left her “traumatized and rattled.”

She was booked under a 10-year-old state law known as the Community Defense Act that says dancers at “sexually oriented” businesses are prohibited from touching customers and vice versa.

Police said two other dancers were arrested along with Daniels. Prosecutors will decide whether to pursue charges against those women.

Police said Daniels’ arrest was part of a long-term human trafficking investigation of adult clubs. They said they have made numerous arrests under the no-touching law but did not immediately provide a number.

The police department “engages in these operations routinely,” said spokesman Sgt. Dean Worthington.

A person who answered the phone at the strip club declined to comment.

Daniels has said she had sex with President Donald Trump in 2006, when he was married. Trump has denied it. Before the election, she was paid $130,000 to stay silent in a deal handled by Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen. She is now suing to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement.

GETTY IMAGES FILE Adult film actress Stormy Daniels was arrested in Ohio for reportedly allowing a customer in a club to touch her in a “non-sexual manner,” according to tweets from her attorney, Michael Avenatti (right).