Charlotte woman charged with falsely accusing Eaton County deputy of raping her
HASTINGS — A Charlotte woman was charged Friday with making a false rape allegation against an Eaton County Sheriff's Office deputy.
Kellie Bartlett, 35, was charged in Barry County with 10 felonies and four misdemeanors in connection to the false rape report, according to a news release from the Barry County Prosecutor's Office.
Bartlett was working in the Eaton County Sheriff's Office in late 2015 when she began a relationship with the deputy, according to the release. The relationship ended in the spring of 2017 when the deputy requested Bartlett "cease contact with him," Barry County Prosecutor Julie A. Nakfoor Pratt said.
Bartlett did not stop contacting him, Nakfoor Pratt said, and the deputy informed his supervisors and had a team assigned to investigate Bartlett for stalking. As of December 2017, Bartlett no longer worked at the sheriff's office.
She filed a complaint with Michigan State Police in January, alleging the deputy had sexually assaulted her in March 2017.
State police investigated, then turned the results of the investigation over to the Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd, who recused his office because of a conflict of interest. The case then was assigned to Barry County.
"My review of the evidence from both investigations raised suspicion that the allegation against the deputy could be false," Nakfoor Pratt said in the news release.
Nakfoor Pratt said the material in the case was "voluminous and multifaceted," which is why it took months to review.
Bartlett was arraigned Friday in Eaton County on charges of:
- Two counts of using a computer to commit a crime
- Two counts of identity theft
- Three counts of unauthorized access to a computer
- One count felony conspiracy
- One count false report of a felony
- Two counts misdemeanor stalking
- One count of intentional dissemination of sexually explicit visual material
- Two misdemeanor counts of using a computer to commit a crime
Her bail was set at $50,000 cash or surety. She was still in custody in the Eaton County Jail on Friday afternoon.
Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.