No charges to be filed in the Kennings hoax

You may recall this story from my earlier posts here, and here. The prosecutor has decided not to file charges in the case. This was what I thought would be the likely outcome. I still don't believe in Mr. Brenner's innocence in this story. Hopefully his career in journalism is over.

Open Post- Bright&Early and Outside the Beltway

CARBONDALE, Ill. - No laws were broken by a woman who duped Southern Illinois University's student newspaper with a tale that she was the guardian of a motherless girl whose father was a soldier in Iraq, a prosecutor said.

"I can't see any crime here," State's Attorney Mike Wepsiec said Monday, explaining his decision not to seek criminal charges against Jaimie Reynolds of Marion.
An investigation indicated Reynolds did not profit from the scam, which Wepsiec said could have elevated it to a criminal act.

Reynolds, who graduated from SIU last year, has said she and Michael Brenner, a former editor of the school's Daily Egyptian, concocted the story of the anguish of 8-year-old Kodee Kennings at seeing her dad go to war to help Brenner's career.

Brenner denies her claim. Wepsiec did not address whether he thought Brenner had any role.

The Daily Egyptian had reported about Reynolds and Kodee for nearly two years, publishing supposed letters from Kodee about the difficulty of being apart from her father.

The ruse unraveled in August when the student newspaper heard the soldier had been killed in Iraq, and subsequent investigations by it and the Chicago Tribune reveal that he did not exist.

A 10-year-old girl who posed as Kodee in public appearances and a man who pretended to be her father have said they were unwitting participants in the scam and believed they were acting in a film.

The case remains under review by the university's School of Journalism. Director Walter Jaehnig said Monday that no disciplinary action had been taken against any student or faculty member in connection with the hoax.