Charlotte woman pleads guilty to lying about being raped by sheriff's deputy

Kara Berg | Lansing State Journal

LANSING — A Charlotte woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to police about being raped by a sheriff's deputy in 2017.

Kellie Bartlett initially faced 16 charges related to her clerk job at the Eaton County Sheriff's Office and her report to Michigan State Police that a sheriff's deputy raped her.

Most of those charges were dismissed in exchange for Bartlett's guilty plea to false report of a felony, unauthorized access to a computer, identity theft, stalking and lying to a police officer.

As a part of the plea deal, Bartlett's sentencing is delayed for 11 months. If she is successful during that time, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady III will dismiss the felony unauthorized access to a computer and identity theft charges.

Any jail sentence she receives will be served with curfew tether in lieu of incarceration.

Bartlett told Michigan State Police in January that the deputy had sexually assaulted her in March 2017. A further investigation determined Bartlett was a "willing and consenting partner in this act," Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Erik Darling testified in a hearing that led to criminal charges.

They made that determination, in part, because of texts she exchanged with her husband the morning after she said she was raped.

The texts were "sexual in nature and mock(ed) the sexual encounter she had with (the deputy)," Darling said at a hearing that led to criminal charges for Shane Bartlett, Kellie's husband.

"Had (Kellie) Bartlett been a victim of (sexual assault), these messages could be considered so grossly inappropriate as to shock the conscience," Darling said.

Bartlett worked at the sheriff's office from 2008 through December 2017, when she was fired. She was in a relationship with the deputy from late 2015 through spring 2017. The State Journal is not naming the deputy because he has not been charged with a crime.

After they broke up, she began stalking the deputy, Darling testified. She repeatedly tried to contact him and his then-girlfriend, who is now his wife, despite repeated requests to stop.

The identity theft charge is for faking a note from a physician in order to receive compensation for time off from the Eaton County Sheriff's Office.

Bartlett was charged in September by Barry County Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor Pratt, who the Attorney General's office appointed as a special prosecutor because Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd recused his office.

Bartlett was initially charged with:

Five counts of using a computer to commit a crime

Two counts of identity theft

Three counts of unauthorized access to a computer

Conspiracy to commit identity theft

False report of a felony

Two counts of stalking

Intentional dissemination of sexually explicit visual material

Aggravated stalking

Shane Bartlett, who at the time was the chief of police in Potterville, was charged with misconduct in office, lying to a police officer and false report of a felony. His charges are connected to his wife's charge of filing a false rape report.

He is set for a preliminary hearing Jan. 2 to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial. Nakfoor Pratt is also prosecuting that case.

Kellie Bartlett will have a sentencing hearing Jan. 30.

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Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.