Charges Dismissed Against Montana TV Political Reporter
Update on Feb. 24th, 2023: Charges were dismissed against a former MTN political reporter. This story has been updated to reflect that new information, including a new photo featured above. Some of the originally reported info has also been updated.
Initial Post from Friday Nov. 5, 2022 w/ Update and Charging Documents Below
A Montana TV news reporter was arrested on a felony burglary charge according to publicly posted information on the Missoula County Detention Facility website.
The reporter at the time was the senior political reporter covering state politics and the state capitol in Helena for the Montana Television Network. According to the jail roster for the MCDF, the 29 year old was still behind bars as of Friday afternoon. No other details are available. (Shortly before publishing this article, she was reported as being released from jail at 3:15 p.m.)
Calls and emails have been placed with the Missoula Police Department, the Missoula County Attorney's office, and with the TV station in Helena for more information.
Update 4:00 p.m. Friday: We received charging documents from the Missoula Police Department. According to the affidavit of probable cause, the reporter broke into her ex-boyfriend's house and tried to steal his dog that the two had previously shared.
According to the KTVH-TV website:
Before swapping to broadcast reporting, her articles appeared in publications such as the Detroit Free Press, The Marshall Project and most Montana papers. During the 2020 Presidential Election she covered mis- and disinformation trends in Michigan.
More recently noticed the reporter's byline covering the very contentious Montana Supreme Court race between Justice Ingrid Gustafson and James Brown, the Chairman of the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) where she consistently provided biased coverage in favor of the liberal soft-on-crime Supreme Court Justice.
*Note: Story was slightly altered on Jan. 12, 2023 to remove some of the references to the initial affidavit and charging statements. The reporter is no longer employed by the Montana Television Network.
*UPDATE, July 2023: This article was updated to remove identifying information about the woman charged after we were provided with court documentation indicating the charges were removed.
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