Republican Missouri Governor Indicted and Arrested Over Blackmail Allegations

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens was indicted and arrested on Thursday afternoon late Thursday afternoon on one count of “felony invasion of privacy.” His arrest is in connection with a lengthy police investigation into allegations he’d taken incriminating photographs of a bound, blindfolded sexual partner, and threatened to release them publicly if the woman spoke out about his marital infidelity.

In a statement on the indictment, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner explained that Greitens, a Republican, was being charged with a felony, as the picture he’d taken was able to have been transmitted “in a manner that allows access to that image via computer.”

According to reporters at the scene, Greitens was detained and lead away by officers with the St. Louis Sheriff’s department.

Gardner, who headed the investigation into Greitens, described the indictment as “essential” for Missouri residents to feel “confidence in their leaders.”

“They must know that the Office of the Circuit Attorney will hold public officials accountable in the same manner as any other resident of our city,” Gardner said in her statement. “Both parties and the people of St. Louis deserve a thorough investigation of these allegations.”

The allegations against Greitens have cast a pall over the state for the past month. Just this week, lawmakers there debated a bill which would have classified the public release of revenge porn images as a felony.