Miss New Jersey Keeps Her Crown

By: Shannon Gossage

An unknown person reportedly pulled the racy photos of Polumbo from her Facebook page and then sent them along with letters to Miss America and Miss New Jersey officials threatening to make the photos public unless she relinquished her crown. Polumbo refused to be blackmailed and actually made the photos public herself. She said that she decided to release the photos because "photos were being released to newspapers that were not even of me."

The five-person Miss New Jersey board held a meeting in Ocean City, New Jersey and decided to let her keep her crown. I guess they deemed the photos not racy enough to dethrone her. Polumbo reportedly said, "I am allowed to make mistakes and move forward." Polumbo appeared on the Today show and revealed the photos that included her boyfriend biting her breast through her shirt and a picture of her sitting, fully clothed, with her legs spread wide open. She said, "They were from the last four years of college. They were meant to be between my friends and I for memories. I never ever would have thought that someone would want to do something like this to me."

It has been reported that the New Jersey attorney general is investigating the person who sent the pictures and letters that referred to themselves as "The Committee to Save Miss America." Polumbo said of the person or persons behind the dethronement campaign, "I think they are a miserable person. I am praying for them." She slammed rumors that this was all a publicity stunt and said, "I never thought my actions fighting against this blackmailer would lead to all of this. I’ve been stressed out, I am emotionally and physically exhausted from this experience. This was not a publicity stunt."