A grand jury has indicted Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on felony invasion of privacy charges following reports that he used a dirty photo to blackmail a woman he was having an affair with.
The indictment, which was handed down Thursday afternoon, is directly related to the blackmail allegations, .
The 43-year-old Republican governor was taken into custody around 3:45 p.m. and booked at the St. Louis Justice Center.
He is accused of violating a Missouri statute, which makes it a felony to transmit images contained in photographs or film in a manner that gives someone access to that image via a computer or cellular device, the Post-Dispatch reports.
Greitens allegedly snapped a pic of his former hairdresser — whom he was sleeping with — on March 21, 2015 while she was bound, blindfolded and partly undressed. The woman claims he kept the photo and threatened to release it if she ever mentioned their relationship to anyone.
While the married republican has admitted to having the affair, he has strongly denied the blackmail allegations.
“In forty years of public and private practice, I have never seen anything like this,” Greitens’ lawyer, Edward Dowd, Jr., said Thursday in response to his indictment.
“The charges against my client are baseless and unfounded,” he added. “My client is absolutely innocent. We will be filing a motion to dismiss.”
With Post wires