King County prosecutors filed criminal charges this week against an Issaquah woman who falsely accused Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett of sexual assault.
Idunn Schneider, 45, is charged with two counts of tampering with physical evidence and two counts of malicious prosecution, according to charging documents. Schneider has also been requested not to contact Mylett or former officer John Kivlin.
Chief Mylett spent more than two months on paid leave while the Bothell Police Department investigated Schneider's allegation that she and Mylett met online in 2016 and that he raped her at his Bothell home soon after.
Bothell police released a 56-page report in October exonerating Mylett of sexual assault. They said a Schneider came up with an elaborate story that the two of them met online through a sex networking website. She even faked emails and forensic evidence, police said.
Schneider said she was sexually assaulted at a Bothell residence. Though Mylett used to live in Bothell, he was no longer living there at the time Schneider claimed the assault happened, the detective found.
Investigators also found that Schneider went to great lengths to fake electronic evidence that she and Mylett had been in contact. A cellphone Schneider claimed to be using when she said she was corresponding with Mylett was wiped clean, according to the detective.
Former officer John Kivlin had previously engaged in an extramarital affair with Schneider, but the relationship ended in April 2018 after Schneider accused Kivlin of assault. In August, she claimed Kivlin was violating a no-contact order she had obtained, and he was arrested and jailed at the time.
According to investigative documents obtained through public disclosure, Kivlin confirmed that he met Schneider online but insisted their sexual contact was consensual. No evidence was found that Kivlin had violated the no-contact order, and doubts were raised that he assaulted her in April.
According to charging documents, prosecutors said Schneider "maliciously and without probable cause" accused Mylett of rape and Kivlin of violating a no-contact order. In both cases, prosecutors said Schneider "knowingly presented or offered false physical evidence."
In Kivlin's case, investigators also cited prior false reporting by Schneider, including rape allegations in 2009 and 2010 that she eventually admitted were not true.
"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,” the prosecutor in the Kivlin case wrote.
Kivlin collectively served 49 days behind bars and resigned from the Bellevue department.
In October, one investigator described Schneider's effort to concoct evidence of Mylett's guilt:
"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. 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. 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 went to even greater lengths to fabricate evidence against Kivlin. A detective found evidence that Schneider created a fictitious name and email account and communicated with Kivlin.
Later, Schneider used some of Kivlin's correspondence to create text messages that appeared to show Kivlin violating a no-contact order obtained by Schneider.
"Investigators found no evidence in Schneider's phone records to support the claim that Kivlin sent any of the suspected text messages,” the 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 found evidence that emails Schneider claimed were sent by Kivlin "actually originated at the IP address associated with the email spoofing service [emkei.cz]."
