(Bloomberg) -- Missouri Governor Eric Greitens was charged with invasion of privacy for allegedly taking a compromising photo of a woman he was having an affair with before he was elected in 2016.
Greitens, 43, was indicted by a St. Louis grand jury under a state law that makes it a felony to transmit on a computer a nude or partly nude photo of someone taken without their permission. He was taken into custody and released Thursday by a judge without bail and allowed to travel throughout the U.S., according to a spokeswoman for St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner.
His lawyer quickly filed a request for dismissal of the case, saying the relationship with the woman was consensual.
āThe charges against my client are baseless and unfounded,ā Edward Dowd, the governor's attorney, said in a statement. āMy client is absolutely innocent. We will be filing a motion to dismiss. ā
Previously a Democrat, Greitens announced his candidacy for governor in 2015 as a Republican, campaigning on a platform centered around ethics reform, according to Wikipedia.
Greitens said that while he acknowledged making a mistake, he didn't commit a crime.
"With today's disappointing and misguided political decision, my confidence in our prosecutorial system is shaken, but not broken,ā he said in a statement. āI know this will be righted soon.ā
To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Bross in St. Louis at btbross@gmail.com.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg
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