A Florida woman who runs a true-crime Instagram page has been charged with felony unlawful wiretapping over a recording of Christopher Clancy, the father of Patrick Clancy, that she allegedly posted without his knowledge. Scituate Police say 46-year-old Shawna Gramkow of Sanford, Florida was identified through a warrant to Meta after Christopher Clancy reported the post himself. She was charged on October 20, with an arraignment scheduled for next month.
According to the account of the case, Christopher Clancy told police he may have accidentally answered an unfamiliar call around August 6, leaving an open line while an unknown caller recorded his remarks. Police allege that whoever was on the other end captured his comments without his knowledge or consent, and that the recording included him discussing his eldest son, Brian, according to Fox News. Massachusetts requires all parties to consent before a call or conversation can legally be recorded, a rule laid out in Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272, Section 99, which governs interception of wire and oral communications.
From Instagram Post to Police Report
Police say Gramkow posted a video to Instagram on August 30 describing an unknown person calling a number she claimed belonged to Patrick Clancy, according to the same Fox News report. The clip surfaced on an account identified as saltylunatics. Christopher Clancy recognized his own voice in the recording and went to the Scituate Police Department on September 4 to ask investigators to look into the post, per the Substack account of the case.
That report triggered a formal investigation. Hingham District Court issued a search warrant on September 17 seeking records tied to the saltylunatics account, and Meta provided records on September 25 identifying the account holder as Shawna Leigh Gramkow, the same account notes. The criminal complaint that followed on October 20 alleges that Gramkow unlawfully intercepted, attempted to intercept, or procured someone else to intercept a wire or oral communication.
What the Evidence Does and Does Not Show
The available police narrative does not expressly identify evidence showing that Gramkow herself placed the call, recorded the conversation, or instructed someone else to do so, according to the Substack report. Florida officials confirmed to Fox News that Gramkow had not been arrested at the time of that report. In a Facebook video, Gramkow said the allegations were false and easy to prove, Fox News reported.
Gramkow runs several true-crime social-media accounts with a following Fox News describes as more than 50,000, while CBS News Boston puts her Instagram following at 54,000 and describes her feed as containing hundreds of videos promoting conspiracy theories about Patrick Clancy. Her arraignment in Hingham is scheduled for November 20.
The Case That Thrust the Clancy Family Into the Spotlight
The recording controversy emerged against the backdrop of intense online attention to the criminal case against Lindsay Clancy, Patrick Clancy's ex-wife, who has admitted to killing their children while suffering from postpartum psychosis, per CBS News Boston. That trial became a national obsession, and Patrick Clancy testified at Plymouth Superior Court on July 29. After his testimony, he became a focus for online sleuths and influencers who developed theories that he himself had killed his children, according to CBS News Boston's reporting. Patrick Clancy has said the online accusations were painful and made public life difficult, the outlet reported.
Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy's case on September 4 after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict, Fox News reported. Gramkow's charge now sits alongside that unresolved case as another legal thread tied to the Clancy family's year in the public eye.
