State Senator requests investigation regarding former Senator Mike Groene
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Nebraska State Senator Megan Hunt has put forth a request to the Attorney General, Superintendent of Law Enforcement and Nebraska State Capitol Security to investigate former State Senator Mike Groene on Saturday.
State Sen. Mike Groene submitted his resignation Friday afternoon after denying accusations that he took sexually inappropriate photographs of a female legislative aide.
Hunt provided three newspaper articles in regards to Groene’s accused actions, as well as the following email:
Gentlemen:
Like many in state government, you learned that State Senator Mike Groene announced on February 18, 2022 that he would be resigning his legislative seat after it was discovered that he had taken and shared nonconsensual photographs of a member of his legislative staff.
According to news reports, which I have included for your reference, Senator Groene apparently took several photographs without the knowledge or consent of his female staffer.
He then apparently shared some of these photos with others and purportedly shared these images with accompanying sexualized or crude commentary. It is not clear from media reports, but it seems to be that these photographs were possibly taken or stored using a state-owned computer.
It does seem that the photographs of the staff person were taken at the workplace, on state property, in Senator Groene’s state office in the Capitol building. It also seems that a number of other senators may have known of Senator Groene’s actions prior to it becoming publicly known. Finally, senators in leadership positions may have communicated with the female staffer who was objectified by Senator Groene’s actions and after she had lodged a formal complaint within the Legislature. This situation presents possible criminal wrongdoing.
From my review of the attached news stories, there are several criminal laws that may be implicated:
● Depending on the type or nature of the photographs that Senator Groene took, they could be a violation of Section 28-311.08, Unlawful Intrusion, which makes it a felony for any person to photograph or record an image of the intimate area of another person without their knowledge or consent. This is a Class IV…