Multnomah County Sheriff/Bellevue Police Idunn Schneider was charged after falsely accusing Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett of sexual assault.
Idunn Schneider is a Washington state woman charged with falsifying documents after she falsely accused Bellevue, Washington Police Chief Steve Mylett of sexual assault.
King County prosecutors charged Schneider, 45, with two counts of tampering with physical evidence and two counts of malicious prosecution, according to court documents.
The charges come after Schneider falsely accused Mylett of sexual assault. Police said Schneider had falsified emails and forensic evidence against Mylett in a 56-page report they released after a two-month investigation into the charges.
Schneider also accused former police officer John Kivlin of assaulting her, KING reports. Kivlin said the extramarital affair was consensual.
Kivlin spent 49 days in jail and resigned from the police department while the charges were investigated. Police determined that Schneider falsified evidence against Kivlin as well and doubts were raised about her allegations. Investigators said Schneider previously admitted to making other false rape allegations in 2009 and 2010.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Idunn Schneider Accused Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett of Sexual Assault
Schneider accused Mylett of raping her at his Bothell home in 2016 after claiming they met online on a fetish website for people who like rough sex, The Seattle Times reports.
Mylett spent two months on paid leave while the Bothell Police Department investigated the allegations.
The Bothell Police Department released a 56-page report in October clearing Mylett of the sexual assault allegations.
Investigators found that although Mylett used to live in Bothell, he had moved before the time that Schneider claimed the assault happened.
Police also determined that a DNA test taken from underwear Schneider said she wore on the night of the assault did not match Mylett.
2. Police Cleared Mylett & Said Schneider Faked Electronic Evidence
The Bothell Police Department said that Schneider went to great lengths to falsify electronic evidence against Mylett.
“A search of Schneider’s emails showed she had subscribed and purchased two different background search services, numerous burner phone numbers and additional phone lines. Also located were 17 different versions of the two emails sent to BPD on [August 13]. The 17 different versions show Schneider altered the dates, times, email addresses and content of the emails before sending the final product to BPD claiming it was evidence,” an investigator wrote in the October report.
“It was also determined that the internet protocol address from the original email header Schneider sent to BPD was traced to a website that provides email spoofing,” the report said. “Spoofing is a fraudulent or malicious practice in which communication is sent from an unknown source disguised as a source known to the receiver (Technopedia.com definition). lt is clear that Schneider provided BPD with evidence she had manufactured to substantiate her claim of rape against Mylett.”
Schneider has been charged with two counts each of malicious prosecution and tampering with physical evidence.
Mylett held a press conference after he was cleared of the charges.
“I think people should be held accountable for their actions,” he said. “I think the process of the claims that were made against me worked, and I think another process will take place and I am confident that the right decisions will be made.”
3. Schneider Also Accused Officer John Kivlin of Assault
Schneider made the allegations against Mylett as part of a larger investigation into claims she made about Bellevue Officer John Kivlin and another officer, both of whom Schneider met online, The Seattle Times reported.
Her claim that the other unnamed officer sexually assaulted her after a night of drinking was investigated but did not lead to charges. Her allegations of assault against Kivlin landed the officer in jail.
KING reported that Schneider had an extramarital affair with Kivlin that ended in April 2018 after she accused him of assault and claimed he violated a protective order that she had obtained. He was arrested and jailed.
Kivlin admitted to a consensual relationship with Schneider and police found no evidence he violated a court order.
Kivlin spent 49 days behind bars over three different jail stints and resigned from the police department.
4. Police Found Evidence Schneider’s Allegations Against Kivlin Were Faked
Police say Schneider “maliciously and without probable cause” made the allegations against Kivlin and “knowingly presented or offered false physical evidence.”
“The result of [the woman’s] fabrication was that law enforcement arrested the officer for crimes he did not commit, prosecutors filed charges against him for crimes he did not commit, and he was held in custody for order violations he did not commit,” prosecutors said in charging documents.
Police say they found evidence that Schneider had created a fake name and email account to communicate with Kivlin and then used the messages to make it seem that he had violated the court order.
“Investigators found no evidence in Schneider’s phone records to support the claim that Kivlin sent any of the suspected text messages,” a detective wrote. “The only time Kivlin’s phone number shows up on Schneider’s phone is when Schneider initiated phone contact with Kivlin on August 15, 2018, at 0439 hours. Similarly, there is no evidence in Kivlin’s email account records to support the claim that Kivlin emailed Schneider at any time from August 9, 2018, through August 15, 2018.”
The detective added that the emails she claimed Kivlin sent “actually originated at the IP address associated with the email spoofing service [emkei.cz].”
5. Schneider Admitted to Making Prior False Rape Allegations
The King County Sheriff found that Schneider had a history of seeking men out on Craigslist for consensual sex and later reporting them for assault to the police, The Seattle Times reported.
“Additional facts surfaced in this and other investigations that severely called into question the credibility of Ms. Schneder,” sheriff’s Detective Christy Marsalisi wrote in an affidavit filed in court Tuesday. “The facts include that on two occasions in 2008 and 2009, Ms. Schneider reported to authorities that she’d been the victim of rape. She later admitted that in both instances the allegations were fabrications.”
“Because of concerns about Schneider’s mental health, investigators did not recommend that she be charged with any crime in connection with the previous allegations,” a sheriff’s spokesman told The Seattle Times in October.
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