The story of our species first space crime accusation took a turn.
The wife of NASA astronaut Anne McClain has been accused of making up her claim that McClain illegally accessed her bank account.
Summer Worden had been officially charged with making false statements after an investigation into her claims from last year.
Anne McClain and Summer Worden have been involved in a bitter separation and parenting dispute.
Last January, Worden accused her ex-wife of illegally accessing her accounts. She thought it was strange McClain knew things about her spending and account history
One of the computers that accessed her account was traced back to a NASA computer system. Which is interesting, because at the time, McClain was on the International Space Station.
Worden said of the incident:
"I was pretty appalled that she would go that far. I knew it was not O.K."
When she was questioned about it, McClain did not deny she accessed the account.
This story gets more and more interesting.
McClain claimed she was not guilty of committing the first ever space crime, identity theft.
According to her, she had been granted access through the relationship and was "merely shepherding the couple's still-intertwined finances," as she had always done.
McClain says she always kept track of their finances during the relationship, and Worden never gave confirmation on the account's recent off-limits status.
And while the idea of a lesbian, space crime sounds like a genre thriller come to life, it seems that topic will remain in the realm of fiction.
Prosecutors have charged Worden with two counts of making false statements in relation to this investigation.
One of those counts relates to the date the account was opened, but the indictment is also for granting McClain access and not revoking it in the timeframe it was accessed.
If convicted, Worden could face up to five years in prison for each charge, and up to a $250,000 fine.
Worden maintains she made a mistake that she immediately corrected.
"They're trying to send me to prison for five years, which is the penalty, because I mistakenly recalled when I filed this FTC report that I had opened the account in September 2018."
"But in fact, it was April. Then I went back and I made them aware of that."
"I brought that to the attention of NASA IG investigators."
She is scheduled to appear before a US magistrate judge later this month.
This sounds really complicated. We might need some kind of special department to investigate these space crimes.
Luckily, we have space force.
McClain has not commented on the recent development in this investigation, but back in August 2019, she maintained her innocence.
"There's unequivocally no truth to these claims. We've been going through a painful, personal separation that's now unfortunately in the media."
McClain has been cooperating with investigators as they looked into the claims of identity theft.
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