US Governor indicted over sexual misconduct allegations

Washington Feb 23 (IANS) Eric Greiten the Governor of US Missouri state has been indicted amid looming allegations of sexual misconduct and blackmail following an admission of an affair last month the media reported.

He was charged in St. Louis on Thursday with a first-degree felony invasion of privacy according to the Missouri court system.

In a statement Greitens denied committing any crime and instead called the situation "a personal mistake" from his time prior to taking office reports CNN.

"As I have said before I made a personal mistake before I was Governor. I did not commit a crime.

"With today s disappointing and misguided political decision my confidence in our prosecutorial system is shaken but not broken. I know this will be righted soon. The people of Missouri deserve better than a reckless liberal prosecutor who uses her office to score political points. I look forward to the legal remedies to reverse this action. This will not for a moment deter me from doing the important work of the great people of Missouri."

Missouri s KMOV TV station published a report last month where a man said his now-former wife had an affair with Greitens in 2015.

The report included details of a recording of a woman saying Greitens had tried to blackmail her to keep quiet about their sexual encounter.

Greitens denied he resorted to blackmail but admitted to an affair and the circuit attorney for St. Louis Kimberly M. Gardner said they had launched a formal investigation reports CNN.

The indictment alleges Greitens took a picture of a person in "full or partial nudity" without the person s knowledge or consent and that the Republican Governor then transmitted the image "in a manner that allowed access to that image via a computer".

Following the indictment Greitens will no longer travel to Washington D.C. to participate in Republican Governors Association events on Friday.

--IANS
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