By John Celock
A St. Louis grand jury has indicted Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) on felony invasion of privacy charges.
St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced the indictment Thursday based on a March 2015 incident where Greitens is accused of taking nude photographs of the woman he was having an affair with to use to blackmail her. The indictment accuses Greitens of taking the photographs against the woman’s will and then sending the photos to himself for potential future use.
Gardner said in a statement that the three year statute of limitations on the crime was set to expire in a few weeks.
Social media reports from Missouri indicate that Greitens has been taken into custody by the St. Louis sheriff.
Greitens has been under investigation since January when reports of his 2015 affair with his then hair stylist emerged and he was accused of taking the photographs. At the time, Greitens denied the charges. Gardner opened a probe into Greitens after the allegations emerged. Greitens said that he had told his wife, Sheena, about the affair in 2015.
Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, emerged on the Missouri political scene in 2016, defeating several better known candidates in the GOP primary governor governor and then Attorney General Chris Koster (D) in the general election. He had previously said that he no intention to resign after the allegations first emerged. Several lawmakers – from both parties have called on Greitens to step down.