UPDATE Below Deck’s Kate Chastain formally charged with strangling girlfriend Ro Hernandez

The Florida State Attorney’s Office has filed formal charges against Below Deck star Kate Chastain after she was arrested in June for allegedly biting and strangling her girlfriend Rocio “Ro” Hernandez. On Wednesday, August 3, Kate was charged with domestic battery by strangulation (a third-degree felony) and battery domestic violence (a first-degree misdemeanor).

After Florida Today posted a story about the charges being filed, Kate responded on Twitter by sharing a video of what looks to be a wedding ceremony with the sound of singing (she recently attended a family member’s wedding) along with the tweet: “When @Florida_Today slanders u 4 ad $…This is my family; I come from love.”

Kate would later retweet a response by one of her followers that reads: “@Florida_Today this does not make since. @Kate_Chastain is at most 5’2″ 115# soaking wet. Her ex is 6′ & a pro athlete. #somethings missing.”

Clearly, Kate is still of the belief that the arrest was a big misunderstanding, and as she stated previously, “the truth will come out.” That being said, it’s not slander for Florida Today (or us) to publish the fact that formal charges were filed. It says nothing of Kate’s guilt or innocence, merely that the Florida State Attorney’s Office thought there was enough evidence to move ahead with the case. (Click here for more of Kate’s response to the arrest in a blog post she made a couple weeks after.)

Speaking of moving ahead with the case, Kate’s next scheduled court date is September 13, which is exactly one week after she returns to Below Deck for Season 4 on September 6. In the trailer for the new season, which was filmed prior to the incident in June, Kate’s relationship with her girlfriend Ro looks to be featured prominently:

Here is a screen grab of Kate and Ro from the clip:

On a positive note, Kate appears to be recovering from the traumatic events in June a bit as she has returned to social media with her trademark sharp wit and sense of humor. As an example, here is one of the best tweets about Pokemon Go that I have seen from anyone:

I've been playing Pokemon Go for years; a game where u go out, search for/obtain cute monsters in hopes they'll evolve…it's called dating.

— Kate Chastain (@Kate_Chastain) July 17, 2016

It’s good to have Kate back! I hope she is right about the incident in June, and hopefully once she is able to share her side of the story with a judge (or jury), the charges will be dropped. Stay tuned to find out.